~*~ KISAME'S POV ~*~
Still holding Itachi's hand, I lead the two of us back outside. The other four are still waiting for us when we get there, and when Konan sees our entwined fingers, she squeals. Pein's eyes widen as far as it's possible to go, and Zetsu smirks. Tobi however, squeaks with delight, and runs over.
"Itachi-san and Kisame-san are dating now?" He yelled, jumping up and down and clapping his hands. Itachi reaches forward and pats the masked teen on the head.
"Yes."
"Yaaaay! Tobi was wondering when Itachi-san and Kisame-san would!"
"Whatcha mean, Tobi?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"Tobi knew that Kisame-san liked Itachi-san and that Itachi-san liked Kisame-san!"
"Uh.. How?" Pein asks, walking over. "I had no idea.."
"Tobi's different. He sees stuff other people don't." Zetsu replies, hooking his arm around Tobi's neck. "It's almost as if he's psychic sometimes."
"Yaaay! Tobi is special!" I blink as Tobi says this. Although the words were like him, his tone contained an almost bitter edge.
"Tobi is very special." Zetsu grins. Behind him, Pein raises an eyebrow.
"So yeah.. Um.. Me and Itachi are gonna head off now.." I say, scratching the back of my head with my spare hand.
Konan smirks.
"Wow, all the way on the same night you confess?"
At the same moment, both and me Itachi flush bright scarlet. At this, Konan giggles.
"Leave them alone, Konan.." Pein says in an exasperated voice, clearly tired from all the fighting of the night.
"What's my motivation?" She asked. "My dream has finally come true and I can't gloat on it?"
I sigh, before pulling Itachi against me and kissing him full on the mouth. Konan squeals again as Itachi winds his arms around my neck and pulling me against him even more. I pull away after biting Itachi playfully on the lip and grin down at him when he glares.
"You're gonna pay for that." He mutters darkly.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." I smile. "That was your motivation, Konan." I add.
"KONAN-SAN!! THAT'S EVIL!!"
Both me and Itachi jump out of our skins in unison and turn back to be met with a scary sight. Tobi is latched onto Konan's back, his hands clamped over hers. They seem to be fighting over something, but I can't tell what. Zetsu is holding onto one of Tobi's ankles and is trying to pull the boy off, but he's holding on tight. Pein has Tobi's other ankle and is tugging with all his might but his efforts are all in vain. Konan is trying to force her hands out of Tobi's grip, but the boy is determined. And when Tobi got like that, it was damn near impossible to snap him out of it.
"Uh.. What's she done..?" Itachi asks, his arms still wound around me.
"NOTHING!" Konan shrieks, trying to wriggle away from Tobi again.
"KONAN-SAN, DON'T LIE! KONAN-SAN WAS VIDEOING ITACHI-SAN AND KISAME-SAN!!!"
Itachi twitches. "She's what..?"
"Tobi spotted her camera phone and snapped. He just jumped on her and we can't GET HIM OFF!" Pein yells, giving Tobi's ankle another almighty tug.
Zetsu sighs with frustration and drops Tobi's foot. Under Pein's confused stare, he walks over to Tobi and places one hand on the side of his mask.
"Let her go Tobi, or I'll take this off."
I half expected Tobi to ask what the big deal was, but his reaction was quite the opposite. He immediately released Konan's hands, and she shoved her phone back into her pocket. Pein let go of Tobi's foot, and the boy stumbled a little as he stood up, his visible eye all the time fixed on Zetsu. After Konan had backed a safe distance away, Zetsu let go of the mask. Tobi's arms folded over his chest, and I don't know if it was just me being paranoid, but I swear his red eye darkened and gained a glint of malice once more.
"That was mean, Zetsu-san.." Tobi grumbles angrily.
"Had to be done." He replies in a matter-of-fact tone.
"What Konan-san did wasn't fair!"
"I admit it wasn't Tobi, but that's still no excuse to jump on her and half strangle her."
"But-!"
"Tobi. Give it up." Zetsu's voice became stony. The boy realised he should push his friend no further, and lapsed into silence.
Konan was still massaging her neck. I could see from where I stood that the places Tobi had been clinging on were slowly developing into bruises. Pein was looking a mixture of confusion at Tobi's behaviour and anger at how he had hurt his fellow gang member. I turned to Itachi. He looked back at me and simply shrugged.
"Yeah.. Well.. We're going now.." I said, turning. "See you guys soon."
"Wait. We'll come with you."
Moments later, Zetsu and Tobi marched past. Zetsu's hand was clamped around Tobi's arm, and the boy looked less than happy. In fact, he was struggling to free himself from Zetsu's grasp, much like a child would if it's parent was about to shout at it. As they vanished into the black night, I sighed and wound my arm around Itachi's shoulders. He shuffled closer and placed his arm around my waist. I smiled as he rested his head on my shoulder as we walked.
"Tobi sure is acting weird tonight." I say.
"I know what you mean. As soon as we told him and Zetsu what we'd heard from Sasori's phone, he went all crazy. And Zetsu looked a bit pissed off too."
"Yeah, and did you notice the damage he did to Kimmimaru's arm? I mean usually, it's a couple of bites and the sucking of some blood. But he bit that guy to ribbons.." I point out.
"I've never seen Zetsu that angry." Itachi mutters, shuddering. "I mean, I've seen him annoyed and that's dangerous at the best of times, but never so much so that he's willing to let a kid die of blood loss."
"I know. And as for Tobi.."
"Yeah. Total angel child one moment and violent psychopath the next. And he's never attacked one of us before, especially not Konan. She's like his mother.."
"I know.. What got into him? Maybe he was really angry at her invading our privacy?"
"It wasn't exactly private though, was it?"
I laugh. "True."
We round the corner of the path and see the gates in plain sight. Zetsu and Tobi are there, two silhouettes against the night. We watch as the taller of the two, Zetsu, starts waving his arms around wildly.
"Wonder what they're talking about." Itachi mutters, raising an eyebrow.
"I dunno, but it looks like it's getting a bit violent."
Just as these words leave my mouth, Tobi rushes forward and pushes Zetsu. They both start bellowing at one another, and they're so loud, me and Itachi can catch words of what they're saying. I distinctly hear Tobi saying stuff about hurting and betrayal, then Zetsu calling him stupid and ignorant. Me and Itachi exchanged a look of confusion, and when we looked back, both boys were rolling about on the floor, throwing punches and kicks at one another.
"HEY!!" Itachi yelled, releasing me and sprinting forwards. Still shocked at the two best friends' behaviour, it took a few seconds before I joined him.
By the time we got there, Zetsu's nose was bleeding heavily, and several bruises littered his face. A steady stream of blood dripped from the back of his head. Tobi's mask was cracked, revealing the bottom half of his face. His skin was incredibly pale, and his lip was cut and bleeding. There was a severe looking bite on his hand. Itachi secured both his arms around Tobi and hauled him off Zetsu, while I pinned the green haired boy to the floor by pressing my foot down on his chest.
"What.. The hell.. Is up.. With you guys?" Itachi gasped, out of breath from the run.
"Ask him." Zetsu spat, nodding at Tobi. "He's the one who's going over the fucking top about nothing."
"Nothing?! You call my feelings nothing?!" Tobi yelled furiously, struggling to free himself from Itachi. I noticed he'd dropped the whole third person way of speech; something he only did when severely angry.
"Guys, what the fuck?!" I shout, pressing my foot down harder on Zetsu's chest when he opened his mouth to retaliate. "You're the best of fucking friends! What the fuck's got into you?!"
"I've told you, ask him!" Zetsu hissed.
I turn to Tobi. "Well?"
"He is a total betraying bastard!" Tobi bellowed, his voice high. "I put my full trust into him and he breaks it!"
"Bullshit!" Zetsu yelled.
Tobi opens his mouth to snarl something back, but Itachi jerks his arm up and holds him in a tight headlock, half cutting off his breathing circulation. The boy chokes, before shutting his mouth again and shooting a furious glare up at Itachi. He returns it.
"Guys, seriously.. What the fuck is going on here?" I say, massaging my temples with my hands.
"Tobi overreacts about the tiniest little thing. He sees one thing, assumes the worst and then screams at me for something he took totally the wrong way." Zetsu growls.
I hear Tobi struggling against Itachi, who refuses to let go. I sigh, then look back down at Zetsu.
"Explain? What has he taken the wrong way?"
"Tonight at the dance. Why do you think we only got halfway out of the window? Tobi brought something up that he'd seen earlier that he'd taken totally wrong, and had a go at me for it. We ended up fighting, and only remembered our plan when we heard Konan knocking on the other side of the door."
"What did he see Zetsu? What happened?"
"You know that bitch in our year, Ino Yamanaka?"
"Yeah.."
"She's been telling me all year about how much she loves me, how much she wants to date me. But the bitch just won't take no for an answer."
Tobi began to writhe and struggle against Itachi and tried to speak even though he was still locked in Itachi's hold. The raven haired boy had no option but to slap his hands across the boy's mouth. All that was emitted was a muffled shriek of annoyance.
"Thanks Itachi. Anyway, tonight, she saw it as her grand chance, so to speak. I was hiding away from Konan while trying to find Tobi at the same time. Bloody tough, cos Tobi is the best at hiding. Anyway, she somehow manages to corner me in a room and fucking kisses me. I know right?" He says when he spots mine and Itachi's shocked expressions. "As soon as she's on me, I push her away cos you know, it's disgusting and -"
"OW! FUCK!!"
"BULLSHIT, ZETSU!!"
I whirl around. Itachi's hand is dribbling blood, and flecks of it are on Tobi's mouth. In an attempt to support his injured hand, he'd lessoned his grip on Tobi, who had struggled free and towered above Zetsu, breathing fire. I feel intense anger boiling up inside me at the sight of Itachi's blood, and I take a step towards Tobi, who turns to glare at me. However, before I can take another step, a strong hand forces itself onto my shoulder and holds me back. I turn to see Zetsu behind me.
"I'll handle this. You tend to Itachi."
"..Alright."
Keeping both eyes fixed on Tobi, I pull Itachi to me and we both settle on the grass by the gates. I gently turn Itachi's hand over in my own, examining the bite. It's not too deep, and the blood has stopped, but it still makes me livid to see him hurt. And because of a friend, no less. Tenderly, I wipe away the smeared blood across his hand. If it hurt him, he didn't show it in his face. That done, he smiles one of his rare bright smiles at me, before we both look up at the other two.
"Tobi. What I've told you is the truth."
"You're lying!! I saw you! I saw you kiss her!"
"It may have looked that way Tobi, but I promise -"
"Your promises mean nothing!!"
Zetsu rolls up his sleeve, revealing his wrist.
"What's this then?!" He snarls.
Tobi's red eye widens through the mask as he sees whatever it is on Zetsu's arm.
"What is it..?" Itachi asks, as confused as me.
Zetsu shoots us a side glance, before sighing. He turns to face us, and tilts his arm slightly so that it catches the dim lamp in the grounds. The underneath of his wrist faces us, but what should have just been pale skin, was intricate colourful lines. Me and Itachi stood and studied his arm closer at the exact same moment. Inked into the skin was a jet black marking that I knew at first glance to be the Japanese Kanji symbol translating as 'love'. This symbol was enveloped in several brightly coloured flames; fiery orange, coal black, vibrant yellow and emerald green. The flames spread around the entire 'love' symbol, and were all outlined by a thick, scarlet line. My jaw dropped as I took this bizarre sight in.
"Zetsu... Is this real?" Itachi muttered.
"Yes."
"When did you get it done..?" I whisper in awe, staring at the tattoo.
Zetsu looks directly into Tobi's visible eye as he answers.
"Near to the end of the summer holidays." He turns back to us. "Hurt like a bitch, I can tell you."
"What's with the weird colour scheme..? I mean, the yellow and green I get, because they're your hair and eyes, but what's with the orange and black?"
Like before, he looks over to Tobi. The boy seems to be rooted to the spot, his eyes fixed on Zetsu's tattoo. He didn't say anything as Zetsu continued to stare at him, and after a few seconds, the green haired boy sighed.
"Doesn't matter.."
I blink. Before, Zetsu had been furious, his tone stony and full of anger. Now it seemed.. Well.. Depressed. Even his eyes seemed to have lost their usual lamp-like glow. Itachi's noticed this too, because he looks concerned.
"You okay Zetsu?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I'm gonna head off now.. See ya later.."
And with that, he wrenched his arm out of mine and Itachi's hold, and walked off out of the gates. Itachi and I stared after his slowly disappearing back, highly confused. What had just happened? Why had Zetsu's mood changed like that? What did that tattoo mean? Everything Zetsu did, it had a reason. He tried hard in school to prove to his disapproving parents that he was a son worth keeping. He became Tobi's best friend as soon as it became clear the young boy couldn't take care of himself. He didn't like the idea of getting piercings, and I knew for a fact that he was jittery around needles. So why the hell he got a tattoo was beyond me.
Just then, a weird sound interrupts me from my thoughts. A smashing noise.
I whirl around and see Tobi's foot smashing again and again on something on the floor. I spot shards of orange before they disappear beneath his boot and turn to chalky dust. I raise an eyebrow, before Tobi looks up. And I get the shock of my life. The mask is gone. I realise quickly that this was what had been on the floor a few seconds beforehand. But Tobi wasn't anything like I expected him to be. His skin was chalky white due to all the years keeping away from the sun, but his eyes were bright and shiny, crimson in colour. They seemed to glow, like Zetsu's. Raven black hair just like Itachi's fell over his right eye, while the rest of it hung back to near his shoulder blades, fanning out across his back. But the shock didn't end at seeing Tobi's face for the first time in six years. As he turned his eyes up to look at me and Itachi, I saw tears begin to pool within them.
"I gotta go.. I've got a lot of growing up to do.." He mutters, his voice deep yet airy, like he still retained a little of the immaturity.
Then, without another word, he turned and sprinted off the way Zetsu had left. After a few seconds of him vanishing too, I turn back to Itachi. I was pleased to see he looked equally shocked.
"Wow.." Was all I managed. Itachi just nodded, staring wide eyed at the place both boys had disappeared. I cleared my throat, before slipping my hand back into his. He jumped, then grinned as he turned to face me.
"Your place then?"
