Sculpting for Dummies
An: Fun with spell-check: Zetsu equals Zesty!
And a special thanks to 4eversleeping for beta-reading this chapter and helping me fix all the mistakes.
Chapter 20:
Tobi dreamt about finding his family in Konoha until Kakashi came in the next morning to wake him. The silver-haired man shook him awake and dropped something on the floor beside the futon.
"Our packs!" Tobi exclaimed.
"I'll take you to a shower, and you can change clothes before your audience with the Hokage."
"Deidara too?" Tobi asked. He looked beside him, but the space Deidara had slept in was empty. How had he not noticed?
"He's already in the shower. I'll take you to the bathroom as soon as Iruka brings him back," Kakashi said.
Tobi dug through his bag and pulled out a clean outfit. He knew that after days of wearing the same sweat-stained clothes, he'd have to smell pretty foul. It was no wonder the Hokage wanted them cleaned up before she sat down with them again. Selfish motives aside, Tobi was grateful to the Konoha ninja; he couldn't wait to get himself clean.
"Thanks, Kakashi," he said to the jounin. "Did we…used to be friends?" he asked hesitantly. Kakashi nodded.
"We didn't always get along, but I think we were friends," the copy ninja confirmed.
Tobi smiled behind his mask. He'd never really had a friend before. Zetsu-san had been his master, Deidara his partner and lover and center of his being, and the rest of the Akatsuki his coworkers…but none of them were really what he thought you'd refer to as 'friends'. The closest he'd come to friendship was with some of the people he'd met in Thorn: Lin, her mother, the next door neighbors. They smiled and greeted him whenever they saw him, and baked food for him, and were so friendly that Tobi didn't charge them when they needed his shinobi skills.
"Then maybe we can be friends again," he declared. Kakashi's eye curved as he smiled back at Tobi.
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Physically, Deidara felt better than he had in days. He was clean and fed, his wounds were healed, and he'd slept well on a soft bed beside Tobi.
Mentally, though, he thought he'd lose his breakfast at any second.
He'd slept, but the only thing he'd dreamed about was the negotiations with the Konoha ninja. His body was healed, but his insides gave a stab of pain every time Tobi mentioned the family he hoped to discover. He'd eaten, but he was too nauseous with anxiety to appreciate the meal. And his body was clean and clothed, but Tobi didn't notice or show any signs of wanting it. Now that his partner had been offered a new life, Deidara wasn't enough for him any more.
"Sempai, do you think I have nieces and nephews?" Tobi asked when he came back from his shower (wearing only a fluffy towel and his mask, which he kept on until Kakashi left). He dressed quickly. "I've always wanted nieces and nephews to spoil. I'd be a good uncle, wouldn't I?"
Tobi didn't even notice (or maybe he didn't care) that Deidara didn't respond. The idiot didn't realize…even if Tobi did find a home, and a family, and his past, he'd lose it all the moment he tried to help Deidara escape. The artist knew, even with the information they held, there was no way he wouldn't go to a maximum security prison. People didn't forgive crimes like his. Tobi would break in and rescue him, and even if everything went as he planned and they escaped with their lives, the brunet would never be able to return to Konoha.
And, because this longing for his past had been opened up, Deidara would no longer be able to fill the empty spaces in Tobi's life. The masked man would go back to Thorn and be miserable there, longing for a family he couldn't have.
"Do you think I have a grandmother somewhere? I hope I do! She could bake me cookies, and tell me long, boring stories that I don't want to hear, and wear little old-lady clothes."
Tobi paced around the room, fantasizing out loud about the home he hoped to rediscover. Deidara didn't want to tell him that some families weren't like that. Some families would hurt you, betray you, and leave you.
Deidara hoped Tobi's family wouldn't be like that…except it didn't matter, did it? Tobi would never get to meet them…and he'd spend the rest of his life wondering about them and longing for them.
Unless…
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The Hokage followed the set of standard questioning procedures for the negotiations. They would interview the two Akatsuki members separately in order to get the information- it would be harder for them to collaborate to hide facts when they didn't know what the other had said.
Tobi went first. Voluntarily, Iruka thought. The chuunin wasn't sure if his eagerness was to see his sempai out of harm's way, or to find out more about his past. If it was the latter, he put the issue aside as soon as negotiations started.
The man's requests were predictable: to let Deidara go, or if that wasn't possible, to place him in a good room in a prison facility that wouldn't abuse him; extra meal rations and plenty of visiting hours for Tobi.
The information Tobi offered was a little disappointing, but still helpful. He could pinpoint where Sasuke had been hiding out after Deidara's battle, and showed them the location of the Akatsuki hide-out they'd sent him to. After that, however, all he could show them was the myriad of the various locations to which Itachi and Kisame might have led Sasuke's group. With the trail more than two months cold, the Uchiha and his partner might be at any of the indicated bases, spread far across the map.
"We can't search all of them, Tobi. Is there anything else you can tell us?" Tsunade asked. Tobi shook his head.
"Sempai might be able to help. He's much smarter than I am. He usually catches things that I miss," Tobi assured them.
He went back to the cell and Deidara took his place in the interrogation chair. Tsunade slid a copy of Tobi's demands over the table.
"This is what your partner wanted in exchange for information about Sasuke. Do you have anything to add or change or are they satisfactory to you as well?"
Iruka watched as the young blond man swallowed and shook his head shakily. He looked more nervous than the chuunin had ever seen him, even more so than the day he had been forced to narrate his life's story.
"I…I want you…to let Tobi…to let Tobi stay here, in Konoha. Give him back…his family…his home, un."
The room resonated with a shocked silence.
"What about you?" Iruka asked.
The artist shrugged. "You won't be able to tell Tobi where…where you decide to put me. He'd try…to break me out of jail, un. And if he finds me, you have to promise…that you won't kick him out…if he tries to rescue me. That's all," he told them.
"No nice prison-cell with a view? No visiting hours and extra desserts?" Tsunade pressed. Deidara shook his head.
Tsunade nodded. "Ok, we have a deal. Now see if you can add anything to what your partner told us."
The Hokage broke protocol as she handed him a written sheet of what Tobi had told them, but it was faster than listening to the story twice. Maybe she figured Deidara had nothing left to hide.
Deidara flipped through the pages and frowned over a certain paragraph. "Itachi and Kisame? Tobi didn't tell me they were using Leader's jutsu," he murmured to himself. He looked up.
"Is there a map here?" He asked. Shizune flipped through the notes she'd been taking and found the map Tobi had marked the location of the hideouts on.
Deidara examined the map and gestured at the markings. He looked like he wanted to add something, so Iruka took one of his grading pens from his pocket and gave it to the artist.
"The jutsu Itachi and Kisame used to appear to Tobi has limits, un," he explained as he started drawing on the map. "Only the Leader can do it over distances. The rest of us have to be within a certain range. Zetsu is always on location when we met, so Tobi wouldn't know how it works, un."
Tobi had marked a dot over Market Village where they had been when the Akatsuki members had appeared for their rings. The blond man drew a circle around the dot. "That's the range Itachi and Kisame would have. That means they were probably staying here, un," he pointed to a mark on the map. He drew an arrow from the first hide-out to the second.
"With Sasuke's group in pursuit, they wouldn't have gone back this way," he crossed off a few cities that doubled back on the arrow. "I'd say Itachi is probably here," he circled one of the points on the map, "or here. If you find Itachi, you'll find Sasuke, un."
The Hokage stared at the map Deidara had butchered. "Thank you for your cooperation. We'll see to it that Tobi is made welcome here," she told him.
Iruka escorted Deidara back to the cell. He wondered what Tobi would do once he found out what Deidara had traded his chance at freedom for.
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Tsunade turned to Shizune. "Well, you've heard what the others have thought, and you've heard Deidara yourself. What do you think I should do with him?"
Shizune looked up. "I-I think you should let him go," she said. She sounded like her own words surprised her.
"Is that so?" Tsunade asked. Shizune nodded.
"I didn't think we should until just now. I mean, he's an S-ranked criminal. He should spend the rest of his life rotting in some prison cell…"
"But?" the Hokage questioned.
"But…he didn't ask to save himself. He knows he deserves punishment. And he seems to want Tobi to be happy. A criminal wouldn't care about things like that." She paused, and her expression became firm once more. "I wouldn't allow him to set foot outside of his cell until that chakra seal has been reinforced, though. We have to find a way to make sure he never touches his chakra again. And we'll need to keep surveillance on him, carry out random searches every few months. I won't let Thorn Village be put at risk, even if they aren't allied with Konoha."
Kakashi stood up. "I can do all that I've been researching ways to modify seals to help keep the Kyuubi contained, and I'll swing by Thorn village when I'm nearby on missions to make sure he's not getting himself in trouble." Anything to allow Tobi to stay in the village where he belonged. Besides, now that he had seen proof of the artist's feelings for Tobi, the Copy Ninja's opinion of the artist had risen dramatically. He wouldn't mind going out of his way for the surveillance, under the circumstances.
Tsunade cleared her throat. "You aren't forgetting that the final decision lies with me, are you Kakashi?" she asked. Kakashi froze with his hand on the door.
"Of course not, Hokage-sama."
The pigtailed woman sighed. "My best advisors think he should be released. I must take advice from lunatics," she mumbled to herself. "It's less paperwork for me, I suppose. And if we're wrong about him, I can blame the brats." She cleared her throat. "He can't stay in the village, by any means. We'll escort him back to Thorn and make sure he knows he can't return. Have him pack his things, Kakashi. He'll leave this afternoon."
"And Tobi can stay?" he asked.
"Yes, Tobi can stay for as long as he wishes," she confirmed.
"Are the restrictions lifted? I'd like to take him to the bridge, and the memorial stone, and a few other places."
"That's fine," Tsunade waved him off. "Go before you wear a hole in the floor."
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Deidara looked kind of ill when he came back from his meeting with the Hokage, so Tobi set about cheering him up. He pulled a pair of pants onto his arms, pushed his legs through the armholes of an old shirt and walked around the cell on his hands.
"Idiot," Deidara muttered. The artist gave his legs a shove. Tobi tumbled down. Deidara gathered his tangled limbs before pulling Tobi into his lap. The masked man kicked out of the shirt and threw off the spare pair of pants so he could curl up around Deidara. The artist pressed his cheek into Tobi's hair.
"It was worth it," he whispered.
"What was, sempai?" Tobi asked. Deidara poked him in the side.
"Nothing. Who said I was talking to you, un?" the blond hissed defensively.
"Oh, I see. You were talking to all those other people in the room. I can't believe I didn't get that," Tobi teased.
"And now I'll tell them how heavy your fat ass is, un," Deidara grunted.
"You're the one who put me on your lap. It's not my fault," he argued.
"You're the one who stayed where I put you. Move, un."
Tobi pushed Deidara down and rolled them over so they were on their sides.
"Better?" he asked. Deidara reached out a hand to touch Tobi's arm, but pulled back before he made contact. He shrugged.
"At least you're not crushing me now," he agreed.
Tobi scooted a little bit closer. "So, did it go ok, sempai?"
"It went fine. I figured out where that kid and his posse are most likely headed. They'll probably send out a squad to catch him soon," Deidara said.
The cell door slid open. "Hopefully Tsunade-sama will give us more of a break than that before she sends us out again," Kakashi exclaimed as he sauntered into the room. Tobi hopped off of the floor.
"What did she say? What's going to happen to us?"
Deidara stood up slowly. Kakashi turned to him. "Pull up your shirt," he ordered. Deidara hesitated, but eventually lifted the hem.
Tobi watched the hand seals that Kakashi formed, deciphering them without effort. The Copy Ninja pressed a new seal around the Five Elemental Seal that was already in place over Deidara's stomach.
"Tsunade-sama has ordered your return to Thorn Village, with the understanding that you will not return to Konoha or tell anyone about your time here. A ninja will arrive this afternoon to escort you home, and you will be kept under surveillance to make sure you do not resume Akatsuki activities. Is this acceptable to you?" Kakashi recited.
Tobi gasped. "Sempai, this is perfect! You're free!"
Deidara nodded his head. He looked surprised, but that was understandable. He was free now! He could return to Thorn!
"I leave this afternoon?" he asked. Tobi froze.
"Yes. You can pack your stuff, eat lunch, and get on the road." Kakashi answered
"It's a good thing we didn't unpack yet, sempai!" Tobi exclaimed with enthusiasm that was fading quickly. He shoved his pants and shirt back into his bag. "We're almost ready to go right now." Almost ready to leave…He had to laugh aloud to mask the panicked sob that the thought extracted from him.
Kakashi hesitated. "Tobi…we'd hope you'd stay for a little while. We haven't taken that blood-test yet, and you wanted to see some of your old hang-outs, didn't you?"
"You mean I'm allowed to stay?" Tobi gasped. For a split second, his heart stopped. When it started again, the beats were erratic, filling Tobi with a flushed warmth.
"You're welcome in Konoha for however long you want."
Tobi danced around the cell excitedly. "This is wonderful! Can we go right now? Can I see where I grew up?"
Kakashi smiled at him. "Of course. Come on, and let me take those cuffs off of you."
Tobi started to walk out of the room with Kakashi, but stopped and turned back toward Deidara.
"Sempai, you don't mind if I stay here for a few more days, do you? I'll be back soon, ok?"
The blond snorted. "Just go," he muttered. Tobi was out the door before Deidara finished speaking.
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It hurt. The pain came as a surprise to Deidara, although it really shouldn't have. Just…wasn't he supposed to feel warm and happy inside, knowing that, for the first time in his life, he'd done the right thing, put someone else first?
He didn't.
It was no wonder there were so many horribly evil people in the world, when being good left you feeling like someone had stabbed you through the heart with an icicle.
"'I'll be back soon.' Yeah, I've heard that one before, un," he laughed to himself. His chuckles became dry sobs within the span of a second. He wiped his watering eyes.
"I should pack," he told himself. His belongings and Tobi's were mingled within the two backpacks, so he'd have to sort through them unless he wanted to lose his things forever.
"I was starting to think we could last forever. I really thought that, un. I'm so fucking stupid," he told himself. He dumped Tobi's bag onto the futon. Their belongings had become so indistinguishable Deidara could barely tell what was his and what was Tobi's anymore. He set the slightly shorter pants and barely smaller shirts aside for himself. He folded the rest back up and stuffed it back in the bag. He repeated the process with his bag.
"What…what's this?" he saw a cloth head sticking out from beneath a sock. "He packed those?"
Gingerly, Deidara lifted the plush Tobi from the pile. The fabric Deidara dangled from the red thread. Neither plushie had a mouth, but Deidara could see the smiles in their tiny thread eyes, mocking him.
"'Stuck with you forever', huh?" he growled. He snapped the thread with his bare hands. The Deidara-doll fell to the ground.
"If you want to stay here, that's fine, un!" He tore open the doll's stomach and ripped the stuffing out. Small pieces floated through the air like snowflakes.
Deidara searched the room with his eyes and focused his gaze on the shelf that served as a desk. He tore it from the wall with one jerk and tore at the splinters of wood. His bloody fingers came out with two iron nails. He used the board of wood as a hammer and pinned the doll's feet to the ground with the nails.
"Stay here forever! See if I care, un!" he screamed at the sorry piece of fabric. He threw the board down and continued stuffing his clothes into his bag, ignoring the blood dripping on everything he touched. When he finally zipped up the bag, he pulled it so hard it almost broke the zipper. He hurled the bag at the wall beside the door.
He wished his escort would hurry up and get here. He just wanted to go home.
Deidara slid to the ground and held his head in his hands. The blond plush toy watched with unseeing eyes from the floor beside him; Deidara pushed it away with bleeding fingers that left crimson stains on the doll. He thought back to the day Tobi had sewn it for him and remembered the clay heart he'd molded and placed inside. A heart made of clay…had it shriveled up and cracked already, or was it still wet and vulnerable? He should have made it out of something stronger. Clay was too fragile. If it was dry, it could shatter, and if it was wet, it could be smashed.
A knock on the door startled him. The chuunin, Iruka, came in. "I'm supposed to take you back to your village. Would you like to eat before you go?"
Deidara shook his head.
"All right, then, grab your things and we'll leave," the chuunin instructed.
Deidara picked up his bag, but didn't put the plush-doll inside. Instead, he tugged open one of its seams and plucked the heart out of its stuffing-filled chest. The clay was still wet and pliant, and an unconscious squeeze left the right ventricle completely crushed.
Deidara stared at the lopsided sculpture for a moment. He blinked to clear his eyes and fixed a scowl on his face. With no more deliberation, he tossed the heart on the floor and stomped on it.
"I'm ready. Let's go," he said.
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AN: Once again, I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I'll try to get the last few chapters up after the holidays are over. That being said, I hope everyone has/is having a great holiday season!
Oh, and there should be another section of the side story to correspond with this chapter...gosh, I need to get that written up. It might not happen til Christmas, but it'll be there eventually.
