Unbeta'd.

It doesn't take him long to finish reading. Obito purses his lips and runs his fingers against the dried ink on the paper. He leans back and lays on the floor, folding his arms to pillow his head. Obito stares at the ceiling for a while, eyes following the wooden support beams. He glances at the doors that lead to the garden.

He sees Deidara's silhouette sitting on the edge of the wooden deck.

Obito stays there, on the ground, for a moment before he gets up and heads to the doors. He reaches to slot his fingers into the handle, but he stops himself just short, staring at Deidara's silhouette.

He just sits there. Obito bites his lower hip, takes a deep breath, and slides the door open.

Deidara turns around the moment the door opens. He stares at him with wide eyes and Obito looks back at him. He opens his mouth, pauses, then closes it. Obito taps his fingers against the frame of the door. He stares at Deidara's hands, but he notices his rapid breathing. He shuts his eyes and says, "Do you want to come in?"

When he receives no response, he opens his eyes. Deidara hasn't moved. He takes another deep breath and gestures to the inside of the room. "I think it's better if we talked inside," he says. "So other people won't overhear us."

Deidara flinches at the sound of his voice. He sits there for a few moments more before he stands up. They stare at each other, right into each other's eyes. Obito gestures at the room again. He can see Deidara tense, his fists clenching and unclenching.

Obito licks his lips. "I won't hurt you," he says, "I promise."

It takes a while, but Deidara eventually takes a step forward. Obito gives him a small smile and steps back into the bedroom. He sits down in front of the letter and doesn't look up until he hears the door slide close.

Deidara sits down across from him, eyes still on him. Obito waits until he is completely seated and still before he speaks.

"So," Obito says slowly, "you're Deidara."

Deidara nods.

Obito nods as well. "You helped your sister run away to Suna because she's already in love with someone else."

Deidara nods.

Obito rests his elbows on the table and leans on them. He watches Deidara for a while. His jaw is clenched and he is staring straight at his lap. Obito's gaze trails down his chest and back onto the table. He looks down at the letter.

"That really does put a lot of sense to things," says Obito. He pauses, eyeing Deidara, then he heaves a sigh and says, "I suppose that's not enough to break your silent spell?"

Deidara's gaze flickers up to him but he says nothing. He looks back down at his lap.

"What are we going to do, then?" asks Obito.

Deidara looks up, eyebrows furrowed.

Obito waves a hand. "We can't hide it forever. They're already suspicious about it now. What kind of person refuses to talk to their own husband for half a year?"

Deidara frowns.

"Yeah, yeah," murmurs Tobi. "Regardless, I hope you've thought of something to hold my family back because they've been wondering."

At Deidara's expression, Obito chuckles to himself. "I guess you're wondering why I'm so calm. Let me tell you something funny. I've heard this story before," he says slowly. "I think it was about half a year ago, just a day or two after the—well, you know – and that's when I heard it."

He pauses to watch Deidara, but Deidara isn't looking at him. He is staring at his lap once again.

"Don't think too much about it. God knows I've had too much time to mull over it myself," says Obito. "What we need to focus on right now is what we need to do moving forward."

"Hold on—" says Deidara.

"—Ah, he speaks—"

"—You've known?"

Obito shuts his eyes. "It's great to hear you speak, even though it's not the voice that I expect. Though I must admit, it's been a while since I've heard it."

"You knew, hm."

"Well, yes," says Obito. "I might be a bit slow on a few things but I'm certainly not stupid."

Deidara scoffs. He reaches for his letter. Obito slaps his hand down on the paper. Deidara pulls his hand back.

"The day after," Obito explains, "I went to grab you for lunch. You were talking to Sakura and I overheard."

Deidara folds his hands on his lap. He nods.

"I thought it was disgusti—weird at first, but then I had more time to think it over and while I probably wouldn't do exactly what you are doing now, I would do something similar for my brothers. They're annoying, but they're still my brothers."

He looks down at the letter. "I admire you, you know," Obito says. "I would never… I can't see myself doing something like this. It takes a lot to do what you're doing. You're very brave."

Deidara rolls his eyes. "It was touching the first five times I've heard it, yeah."

Obito frowns. "Who else have you told?"

"The servants."

"Ah," Tobi nods. He crosses his arms and leans back. "That makes sense."

"So, what now?"

"Well, it depends on whether or not you want to stay here," Obito says. He looks down at the letter again. "I'm assuming you want to."

"I've nowhere else to go," murmurs Deidara.

Obito hums, but he says nothing. "You could go to where your sister is. If you're there, you won't have to pretend to be someone you're not."

"Are you kicking me out?"

"I'm—Well, it's just… I don't want you to suffer."

Deidara shakes his head.

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to stay here?"

Deidara narrows his eyes.

Obito holds up his hands. "I'm just asking. I'm not trying to get rid of you, I promise. I think… I think if I understand why, I'll be able to help you more."

"I feel… I feel like I'm safer here," Deidara says.

"How so?"

"I don't know," he says through gritted teeth. "I just do. I feel like my father has always been really controlling and he never lets me do anything I want, yeah."

"Making art?"

"Having friends."

"He doesn't let you have friends?"

Deidara shrugs. "Something about how I looked when I played with others as a kid."

"Strange."

"And I don't want to live in the middle of the desert. As much as Ino is great company, I think I've grown to quite enjoy the luxurious life of being the wife of the great Uchiha samurai, hm."

"Alright," says Obito with a smile, "but if you want to stay here, we have to do something to convince the others. Do you have anything in mind?"

"What?"

"I mentioned before that my parents are expecting some grandchildren soon," says Obito. "Obviously, we can't give them that and they're not going to accept 'we're not ready' anymore."

"Why not?"

"They've heard it too much," says Obito with a shrug.

"Having children should be the decision of the parents, not grandparents, hm."

Obito lets out a soft laugh. "That it is," he says, "but what if I want kids, too?"

Deidara frowns. "Do you?"

Obito shrugs. "I don't know. I don't mind."

"You don't know, or you don't mind?"

Obito shrugs again. "Forget it," he says, "we have other things to worry about."

Deidara makes a huffing noise. "We can pretend," he mutters.

"What was that?"

"We can pretend we are expecting," Deidara says with a grimace. "Then we can say we lost it. They won't bother with us about it for a while if we did that, hm."

Obito's eyebrows furrow. He taps at his elbow. "That could work," he says. "They'll also understand why you'd want to stay in and leave you alone."

"Alright," says Deidara.

"It's a deal," Obito says. He reaches out a hand.

Deidara stares at his hand, eyes occasionally glancing back at Obito's face. Obito keeps a steady smile. Deidara takes a deep breath and shakes his hand.

"It's a deal, hm."

Hey guys, Red here!

I have no excuses as to why I've split "The Confession" into four parts when it could be split into two instead. I made a mistake in reading my notes and that's my bad. I hope this chapter is of an acceptable word-count range because I'm much better at writing dialogue than without.

Thank you for reading! Follow me on Tumblr (redskiez dot net) and I also have a ko-fi (ko-fi dot com forward slash redskiez). Please consider supporting me for what I do and buy me a coffee.