Sculpting for Dummies
An: Sorry that this chapter took so long. Classes were ending last week, so I had papers to write. The good news is, the way my exams are falling the next two weeks, I should have plenty of time to get the next couple of chapters written.
Chapter 19:
When Deidara finally finished telling them the story of his life, Iruka didn't know what to say. A thick, stifling silence fell over the Hokage's office. The artist remained standing, but his shoulders sagged with exhaustion. Now that Iruka knew the weight they had borne, he wanted to guide the young blond to a chair and let him rest. His past didn't justify his crimes, but it explained them, and Iruka couldn't honestly convince himself that he would have acted differently under the circumstances. The chuunin's life had been hard enough as an orphan in a loving community; Deidara's abusive and poverty stricken village must have been immeasurably worse…
"Can I go back to my cell now, un?" the Iwa ninja asked shakily. His voice was hoarse from the long history he'd narrated.
Tsunade nodded. "Shizune, escort him to the basement," she ordered. "But give him a minute to collect himself before you put him back in there with Tobi," she added in a whisper.
The medical ninja guided Deidara out of the room and slid the door closed. Tsunade turned to Iruka and Kakashi. "Well," she sighed. "What should I do with them?"
"We can't send him back to Iwa, Hokage-sama. They might have a claim to him, but even he doesn't deserve what they'd do to him. It wouldn't be justice, it'd be cruelty," Iruka exclaimed. She nodded.
"That means we won't be able to extradite him anywhere, though. Wherever we send him, Iwa will hear about it and want to get their hands on him. We won't be able to officially do anything with him," Tsunade pointed out.
"It's a good thing he's not officially here, then," Iruka said.
"You didn't answer my question, though. You've told me what not to do with him, but not what I should do."
Iruka thought for a moment. "I have an idea, but I need to observe the prisoners more before I'll know whether it's plausible."
Tsunade nodded. "You know where the hidden window is. Find out what you need to know and help me figure out what to do with that boy. And you, Kakashi?" she asked the silent Copy Ninja.
"I don't care what you do with him. Just don't hurt Obito in the process," the silver haired ninja said.
"Kakashi, go with Iruka and watch them. See if you can discover Tobi's identity, and come to some sort of agreement with Iruka over what to do with them," she ordered. Iruka frowned. An agreement with Kakashi? The jounin was too stubborn to listen to reason, and all he cared about was fooling himself into believing that his dead friend was still alive.
"Fine," Kakashi agreed. Well, if the Copy Ninja thought he could manipulate Iruka into making a wrong decision about what to do with the prisoners, he was about to find out differently.
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The book had only taken Tobi an hour to read, but he continued staring at it for long after that. There was a timeline in the appendix that detailed the changes in Iwa that pertained to the orphans. Tobi's mind kept reminding him how the entries related to Deidara. The 'orphans removed from village orphanages to make room for clan members' became 'Deidara loses his home', 'budget allotted to care of orphans cut' meant 'Deidara goes hungry'…he had to stop reading. Tobi stuffed the book under the futon.
He wondered how Deidara was doing in the room upstairs. Was this the story he was telling them? (Why hadn't Deidara ever told him?) What was he supposed to do when Deidara came down? Pretend like he didn't know? If Deidara didn't want him knowing, that might be for the best.
Footsteps in the hallway tore Tobi away from his train of thought. The door to his cell opened, and Deidara staggered in, pale and tired. Tobi forgot any thought of the book and whether or not he should know what he knew; he ran to his sempai's side and wrapped his arms around him.
"Are you ok?" he asked. Deidara slumped against him and let his head rest on Tobi's shoulder. Crap, that meant it was bad. He didn't usually lean on Tobi so fully.
"'m fine," the blond murmured. "Stop squirming, un."
Tobi held himself still and supported Deidara's weight. "W-what did they want to know, sempai?" he asked, because the artist would be expecting him to ask something like that, and he didn't want him to be suspicious. Maybe he would confide in Tobi; there was always a faint chance.
"My past, my art, people I killed, un," the artist replied vaguely. He made a strangled chuckle. "Now they're probably gonna execute me, un,"
"Don't laugh about things like that! If you die, I'll die too, sempai!"
Deidara's head moved off of his shoulder and all at once he was shoving Tobi away from him. "So you'd just fucking throw your life away? You god damned moron! Don't say things like that, un," he hissed.
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Iruka and Kakashi stood side by side, peering into the window that overlooked the basement cell. They could hear the argument that the prisoners were having on the other side, although quieter sounds were lost.
"Sempai, it's true. I won't let you be alone anymore."
Deidara's eyes widened. "You're stupider that I thought, Tobi. Do you think I'd do the same for you? Think I'd die for you? Because I wouldn't! I couldn't care less if you sacrificed yourself for me, as long as I got what I wanted, un," the artist said coldly.
"That's harsh," Iruka muttered to himself.
On the other side of the two-way glass, Tobi shook his head. "That's a lie, sempai. You've been trying to trade your life to save mine ever since we got captured," the masked man revealed.
"Why should I make a sacrifice for you when you're just going to throw it away, un? I'm not stupid like you."
Kakashi moved a little to the side to see Tobi better, and bumped into Iruka. "Sorry," he mumbled without looking at the chuunin.
Iruka groaned, but moved back. He looked at the window from over Kakashi's shoulder.
"So I'm stupid for wanting to save you?" Tobi asked angrily.
"Yes. There's no reason for you to get involved. I'm not afraid of dying," Deidara argued.
Tobi shook his masked head in disbelief. "No reason? Sempai, sometimes I think you're just as dumb as I am." He stepped forward and hugged Deidara once more. The blond didn't return the embrace, but he didn't struggle against it either. He just let Tobi hold him.
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The interrogation with the Konoha ninja had sapped Deidara's energy. He felt like the words had bled out of him rather than been spoken by his reluctant tongue. Now that it had been drained away, he felt empty, like a shell of a person. He let Tobi hold him up because otherwise he wasn't sure he could keep standing.
"I promise I'll protect you, sempai. No one will ever hurt you again," Tobi whispered to him. The words were what he expected from Tobi, but the way he said them sounded…strange.
"Tobi, what's going on, un?" he asked. Tobi's arms tightened around him. Was he acting more clingy than normal? Deidara was too tired to think.
"Nothing," Tobi replied. Deidara nodded. He'd think about it later.
"Sleep, un?" he asked. Tobi half-dragged, half-led him to the futon and lowered him down onto the cushions. The artist lay down on a lump.
"What the hell, un?" he asked sleepily. His hand groped under the futon and found the source of the protrusion.
"A book?" Deidara pulled it out and glanced at the title. His mind woke up immediately.
"Tobi, what the fuck is this?" he growled. Tobi tried to take the book from him.
"It's nothing. Kakashi gave it to me to read. He thought I might want to know more about it," the brunet explained. The same strangeness was there in his voice, only now Deidara could recognize it- pity.
"I'll kill you for reading this, un!" He yelled. Tobi took a step back. He held up his hands imploringly.
"Sempai, please, it's just a book. I just wanted to know more about you," he pleaded. He dodged the punch Deidara threw at him.
"Why? So you could feel disgusted very time you look at me? So you could pity me? There was a reason I never told you Tobi, because I knew it's be like this, un!" Deidara wanted to take off Tobi's mask so he could see Tobi's reaction. He probably was appalled, now that he knew what Deidara had done.
"Sempai, I would never, never be disgusted with you," Tobi whined.
"But you feel sorry for me, un," and that was just as bad. He kicked at Tobi's ankles and tripped him up. He pinned the masked man to the ground with his body.
"Yes," Tobi admitted. "How else am I supposed to feel?" he asked defensively.
Damn it, it didn't matter how he was supposed to feel! But being pitied by Tobi was unthinkable. Deidara could endure scorn or sympathy from anyone else, but not Tobi. He was supposed to be different.
"What makes you think that book is even true, huh?" the artist demanded. He grabbed the book and flipped to the author's bio on the back cover. "See, it was written by a mist journalist. The author wasn't there; how is he supposed to know what happened in Iwa, un?"
Tobi read the page that was shoved in front of his face. "Sempai…"
Deidara took the book back and started scanning the pages. "This isn't accurate at all, Tobi. This is sensationalized nonsense, un," he declared. He ripped out the page he was reading and waved it in Tobi's face. "See this? It's a lie!"
He flipped to the next page. "These numbers are off, and the 'orphan demonstrations' are a complete fabrication, un." He ripped the page out and tossed it in the air.
"'Victims of bullying from those with parents?' They never had anything to do with us. We only beat each other up. Lies, un," he proclaimed. The pages joined the others on the floor.
"This book is a piece of fiction, Tobi," he yelled, ripping out more pages and throwing them around like confetti. "Don't think you know anything about my life, un!"
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Kakashi watched Deidara deface his book. Tobi cowered a little under the Akatsuki member's anger; Kakashi recalled Obito doing the same when he pissed off their jounin sensei.
"You gave him that book?" Iruka asked from behind him. Kakashi jumped a little when he spoke. He hadn't forgotten that the chuunin was there; much the opposite, he was actively ignoring him and the heat of his body pressed against Kakashi's back as they leaned forward to hear what was being said.
"Yeah," he admitted. He hadn't thought he'd be getting Tobi in trouble with it, though. And now that he'd heard what Deidara had been through, he could understand the reaction. "Maybe we should get Tobi out of there for a while and let Deidara cool off," he suggested. He wasn't averse to spending more time with Tobi. If he could bring the other man to some of the places Kakashi's team used to frequent, maybe they could trigger some of Tobi's forgotten memories.
"No, we should let them work it out. The fight's almost over," Iruka insisted. Had the chuunin always had such a nice physique? Kakashi had never been in close enough proximity to appreciate it if he had. It probably wouldn't hurt to give the prisoners a few more minutes to work out their problems.
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Tobi picked up the fragments of the book Kakashi had leant him and threw them in the corner. "You're right, sempai. I'll never understand what happened, but I'll always be here to protect you and make sure you never have to be alone again. Whatever happened in the past doesn't matter. What I care about is our future."
Deidara flopped down on the futon and huffed. "You always have to make everything cheesy, un. Just shut up so I can sleep."
"Sorry, sempai," Tobi apologized. He tried to lie down beside Deidara. The artist pushed him away.
"'m still had at you, un," he spat. Blue eyes glared at Tobi until he stood up and walked over to the other side of the room.
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Iruka and Kakashi finally tore their eyes away from the two-way glass when Deidara fell asleep and Tobi started making origami out of the torn pages of the book.
"Have you seen what you need to see, Kakashi?" Iruka asked. The silver-haired man shrugged.
"He moves like Obito did when he's scared," he declared.
"I meant about what we should do with Deidara," Iruka said. 'Talk about a one-track mind' he sniggered to himself.
"I don't know. What do you think?" Kakashi asked.
Iruka took a deep breath. "I think we should let him go back to Thorn." He braced himself for Kakashi's reaction.
"What? You actually want to put an S-ranked criminal in that village? They don't even have a militia, let alone a ninja force capable of protecting them from a member of Akatsuki."
"They won't need them. I don't think Deidara is going to hurt them. Up until now, he's only attacked people as a reaction to what's been done to him. He told us himself he was forced into the Akatsuki. I don't think he even wants to be a ninja; it just never occurred to him to stop until now," Iruka explained.
"What do you think he'll do if we let him go free?" Kakashi asked exasperatedly.
"I know exactly what he'll do. He'll go back to his home and make pots, like he was doing before you interfered and brought him here. Don't you see, Kakashi? The first real chance he found to leave the Akatsuki, he did. If he were really a threat to the peace, do you think he would've settled down in a nowhere village like Thorn and started up a pottery shop?"
Kakashi paused. "Why are you fighting for him, Iruka? He killed children. Academy students."
"He was an academy student. People were hurting him, and when he got the chance, he hurt back. I'm not saying he was right, but can you say he was wrong to do it? Would you have done differently? Think about how hard it was for you and me, growing up as orphans, and we had the Third looking out for us. He had no one to help him. No one ever taught him right from wrong, and now we're supposed to kill him for not knowing the difference?"
"If he doesn't know the difference, how do we know he won't do it again?" Kakashi argued.
"He's got Tobi now. He's learning from him." Iruka paused. "That's why you don't want to let Deidara go, isn't it? You're afraid if he leaves, he'll take Tobi with him."
Kakashi shook his head. "It's not like that," he protested.
"If we save his lover from execution, we'd be making an alliance with Tobi. I'm sure that once this is all over, he'll want to know more about his past, and you'll get your opportunity to find out if he's who you think he is," Iruka reasoned.
"You think so?" Kakashi pressed. Iruka nodded.
"Shall we go talk to the Hokage, then?" Iruka asked. Kakashi grunted his affirmation. They walked up the stairs to Tsunade's office together, and Iruka thought to himself that maybe Kakashi wasn't quite as unreasonable as he'd thought.
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A paper tiger attacked a paper rabbit, quietly though, so as not to wake Deidara. The rabbit crumpled, and Tobi found another torn page to make an origami ram to battle the tiger.
The door to the cell opened quietly, and Kakashi poked his head inside.
"Tobi, we want to speak with you," he said. Tobi put his paper creations down and stood.
"Sempai is going to stay here, right? No one will see him until I get back?"
"No one will disturb him," Kakashi promised. Tobi followed him back to the Hokage's office.
"First off, we have come to the decision that Deidara will neither be killed nor extradited to any other village," the Hokage told him. Tobi breathed a sigh of relief.
"We'll begin negotiations for the information you have about Uchiha Sasuke tomorrow. But for now, we have another matter to settle with you," the pigtailed woman continued.
"What would that be?" Tobi asked.
Kakashi spoke up. "Tobi, we think you might belong in this village."
"We'd like to take a blood sample," the Hokage's assistant told him.
"And take you to a few places that might trigger some memories," Kakashi added.
"After we've finished negotiations," the scarred chuunin asserted, directed more to Kakashi than to Tobi.
"I…do I have family?" Tobi asked.
The Konoha ninja looked at each other. "If you are who we suspect, there are a few surviving members of your clan," the Hokage said.
"We won't say who you are yet, though. It'd be better for you to remember on your own than for us to tell you," the assistant explained. She gave him an apologetic smile.
"Oh," Tobi said. He was overwhelmed. Deidara had told him of the Konoha ninja's suspicions, but to have them confirmed outright…and the possibility of a family…Tobi had given up on his past a long time ago, but now there was a chance to reclaim it.
"You'd better get some rest now. We'll talk more tomorrow," the Hokage said. Kakashi brought him back to the cell. Forgetting that Deidara was mad at him, he flopped down on the futon beside him. A family…
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Deidara had woken up when Tobi left the room, and had been too nervous to fall back to sleep. They wouldn't hurt him, would they? Only Deidara was allowed to hurt him.
He was only gone for a few moments, but Deidara could see a change in him when he entered the room. He crashed into the mattress, not even noticing that Deidara was awake.
"Tobi…"
"Oh, sempai…I forgot," he exclaimed, and started to move. Deidara put a hand on his shoulder.
"You're ok, right? They didn't do anything to you, un?"
"I'm fine. They told me they aren't going to execute you or send you away, and we'll get a chance to negotiate tomorrow."
That couldn't be all. "And?"
Tobi was silent for a moment. "They really think they know who I am."
"I know who you are. You're Tobi, un," Deidara said. Did Tobi need more than that? Deidara would've gladly forgotten his past.
"I'm serious, sempai. I might have a family, a home!"
Deidara had to grab Tobi's hand in his own to remind himself that Tobi was there; it felt like he was miles away, and the artist was afraid if he let go, he'd lose Tobi for good.
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AN: For the people that have asked: yes, there are hints of KakaIru. Before DeiTobi stole my brain, that was what I wrote. I can't help but put a few hints in.
