Sculpting for Dummies
Thanks to 4eversleeping for beta-ing me again! Everyone cheer for her and give her imaginary cookies!
Chapter 23
The sun rose in the sky over Thorn village, and all the responsible villagers began to yawn, stretch, hop out of bed, and get ready to start the new day.
Tobi and Deidara were still fast asleep in bed, bare limbs tangled together, breathing in unconscious unison.
A beam of light shone through the window at just the right angle to land a strip of light across Tobi's eyes. The sun heated his face. He frowned and tried to turn over, but the solid body on one side and the edge of the bed on the other left him no room to maneuver. He groaned and opened his eyes in slits.
As soon as he opened them and saw the bright light, he screwed them shut again. He tried instinctively to raise his right arm to shield his face, but he found his limb was held immobile by a blond head. His arm had fallen asleep under the weight, and he felt pins and needles in his fingers when he moved them, but he didn't try to move Deidara. The artist's arm rested casually on Tobi's chest, and one of his legs was nestled in between Tobi's. The brunet doubted he could free himself from Deidara without waking the other man up.
Tobi didn't mind. He twisted his neck so he could watch the blond sleep without the sun burning out his eyes. Deidara smirked as he dreamt, and every once in a while he let out a half-mumbled cackle. 'Probably dreaming about blowing stuff up,' Tobi decided. He brushed a lock of golden hair out of the artist's face with his free hand. He wondered if Deidara would play with his hair if he ever woke up first.
The pale man didn't want to wake Deidara, so he couldn't go make breakfast yet…he could just pretend to be asleep and wait for Deidara to get up. There was no telling what his sempai's reaction would be when he woke up. He might kick Tobi awake and demand his omelet, or he could just as likely 'wake' Tobi with kisses and gropes. Maybe he'd reveal some affectionate side of himself that he usually hid from Tobi, or cuddle with him and sigh.
Tobi lay his head back down on his pillow, closed his eyes, and waited for Deidara to wake up.
Five minutes later, he started poking Deidara's cheek lightly. If he could stir Deidara gently enough, the blond would think he'd woken up on his own.
Three minutes of poking-in-vain later, Tobi started shifting in his 'sleep'. Deidara mumbled sleepily. The arm on his chest gripped his shoulder and the leg brushed against Tobi's groin.
The ninja gasped at the feel of the contact. He hoped Deidara would wake up soon and take care of the growing problem Tobi now had. He rolled his shoulder again, a little more roughly this time.
Deidara grunted and lifted his head. Tobi stayed still and waited.
The hand on his chest slid down and stopped on his lower stomach. Warm fingers traced nonsensical patterns on the sensitive skin. Tobi bit his tongue to keep from laughing.
"Hmmph," Deidara snorted. His mouth hovered beside Tobi's ear, and he felt each hot, moist breath the artist took.
"I know you're awake," Deidara whispered. "You're smiling, un."
Tobi tried to straighten out his expression. It was impossible to do, now that he was trying. He kept his eyes closed and didn't move. The hand on his stomach slid lower.
"It wasn't nice of you to wake me up, un," the blond muttered. His lips brushed against Tobi's earlobe. "And you don't even have breakfast ready for me."
Deidara's fingers tapped the head of Tobi's erection. "I'm so hungry, I might have to eat this," he murmured.
Tobi felt his smile widen. He stopped trying to hide it.
"But I can't do that while you're sleeping. Too bad. I'll just have to starve, un," the blond lamented.
Tobi's eyes snapped opened. "Good morning. Oh my, sempai, you look famished this morning," he proclaimed. "It must be time to feed you."
Deidara's predatory smile showed off his canine teeth. "Yes, it is, un," he agreed.
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The Thorn villagers stepped out of their houses, shut their doors, and scurried off to work, or to school, or to the stores to run errands. A few stopped by the pottery studio, but Deidara and Tobi didn't answer the door, so they figured they must still be asleep.
Morning was well underway when a knock came upon the village gate. The old guard posted there peeked over the wall from his post and saw the ninja. Two of them wore Sound Village headbands openly on their foreheads, while the third proudly displayed hers around her waist.
The people of Thorn were simple folk, they'd admit, and even a little too trusting and ready to see the good in people than was good for them. But one thing they were not was stupid. They weren't expecting the arrival of these ninja like they had Tobi's, and they'd heard stories about the Hidden Village of Sound.
"Will you open the gate?" One of the Sound Shinobi asked the guard politely.
"No," the man replied, adding "thank you," for manner's sake.
The ninja scowled. They didn't leave. The guard watched them nervously and waved down a passerby on the inside of the wall.
"Bring the Village Elder," he ordered quietly. "And tell everyone else to keep away from the walls."
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Tobi hobbled into the kitchen, hair disheveled, clad only in boxers, and wearing the most satisfied grin to ever grace his face. He found a carton of eggs in the refrigerator and cracked a few into a bowl.
The omelets were going to have to be for brunch instead of breakfast. Deidara had woken up very hungry, it turned out.
The brunette switched on a burner and placed a pan on the stove to begin heating. He hummed while he beat the eggs. Across the hall, he heard Deidara turn on the water and step into the shower. The image of wet Deidara in his head made Tobi light-headed. He almost burned his hand on the frying pan when he went to pour the eggs in.
When the rapping sound came from the other side of the door, Tobi dropped his spatula in surprise. He'd forgotten there was a world outside of their home.
Tobi turned the heat on the burners down, slipped on his mask, and opened the door.When he saw the grave expressions on the faces of the Village Elder and the leading citizens of Thorn behind him, Tobi almost shut the door again. Nothing good would come from people gathering like that at his door. He kept the door open, but blocked the entrance with his body and gripped a kunai in the hand he had behind the door. If he and Deidara had been found out for Akatsuki members… he thought they could escape without hurting anyone, but he would be ready to defend himself.
"Tobi, we need your help," the elder pleaded. Behind him, the men nodded. Tobi sighed in relief. He tucked the kunai back into its hidden sheath on the wall.
"There are three Sound Ninja at the village gate asking for entrance," the elder elaborated.
"Don't let them in!" Tobi shouted. He'd heard from Zetsu-san what Sound ninja did to small border towns that couldn't defend themselves…
"We haven't. But they are insistent. We've told them to leave, and they will not comply. I don't know how to negotiate with ninja. Will you speak with them?"
Tobi nodded. "Let me get dressed," he murmured. The brunette shut the door and switched the stove off. Hurrying to his room, he dove into the first wrinkled shirt and pants he found crumpled up on the floor. Before his arms were all the way through the armholes, Tobi was pushing past the door and back out to the villagers.
"Is there a back way out of the village?" he asked frankly. He strode out ahead of the group. They had to jog to keep up with him on the way to the gate.
"There's a small path hidden in the woods for emergencies. Should I begin evacuating?" The elder asked. Dissent rose in the ranks.
"Why should we leave? There are only three of them, and a whole village of us?" The butcher complained.
"The wall is the only protection we have. If they find us in the woods, we'll be helpless against them," the doctor protested.
Tobi stopped. He turned to the butcher. "Three ninja of unknown capability could be more than a match for a village. There are some ninja strong enough to destroy a ninja village single-handedly." The masked man raised his voice and addressed the rest of the group.
"Don't set a foot outside of the village until I've checked to make sure it's safe. There could be more of them out there that you can't see. The Sound strategy is to lie in wait and allow the enemy to underestimate them." His steps quickened, leaving the men behind to stare in shocked silence.
Instead of jumping to the top of the wall, Tobi climbed the ladder like a civilian. He kept his body pressed low to the wall as he peered over. His eye swept the scene. A curse slipped from his lips.
Descending the wall as silently as he'd scaled it, Tobi met the elder's eye and shook his head.
"Show me the back path," he ordered. The old man led the way as quickly as his shaky frame would allow. As they walked, Tobi spoke to them.
"There are at least five more ninja out there, hidden in the shadows. The three that spoke to you were distracting you from noticing the rest," Tobi revealed. He winced at the terrified response his news received. Some of the men shivered outright, and even the most capable of the crowd gulped and paled.
The elder guided the men to a back section of wall with a barely noticeable seam. This time, the masked man scaled a tree and scouted out the forest beyond the wall. His sharingan eye immediately caught sight of a branch the swayed slightly against the wind.
Tobi dropped from the branch. "They're out there. I only see two, but there might be more. Keep a guard on this door, but don't let anyone open it," he commanded. The elder nodded to one of three sons, who took his place beside the hidden door.
"What do they want from us?" one of Tobi's neighbors asked.
"If we give them our money, they'll leave, won't they?" another speculated.
"Surely they won't bother us if we comply with them," a third man reasoned.
Tobi snorted. "You think they'd come all the way out here for money?" he snapped. "What they're looking for is a place to conduct their research away from Hidden Villages that would stop them…and in a new research facility, they'll need all new test subjects. They won't let you leave alive even if you cooperate with them."
The men blinked. Tobi wondered if he'd been too blunt.
"You mean…they use… people? That's not human!" Someone protested.
"You're kidding us, aren't you, Tobi? They don't really…do they?"
"Of course he's kidding! That's ridiculous. Sound ninja can't expect to just come in and get away with a crime like that," the butcher hissed. His voice shook; he wasn't far from hysterics.
Tobi threaded his fingers through his hair and sighed. He could deal with the villager's fear, but their outright denial of their situation baffled him. How could he help them if they wouldn't work with him?
He turned to the elder to appeal to the wise old man. "Elder-"
"Is there anything we can do, Tobi, or is the village lost?" The leader interrupted. Tobi smiled a faint smile, but it quickly faded.
"You need ninja to fight ninja, Elder. Civilians would be more of a burden than an asset on the battlefield," he said flatly.
"Can you fight them?"
Tobi counted to himself. Eight at the front gate, two at the back. "There are too many for me. I'm not strong enough to deal with ten men."
The elder bowed his head in despair. The other men groaned.
"But there is one person in the village who is strong enough," Tobi continued. He looked down the road in the direction of his house.
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Deidara dried his dripping hair with a towel as he plodded into the kitchen. Tobi wasn't there, and neither was his breakfast. The blond scowled.
"I thought I had him better trained, un," he grumbled. He poked a cold, half-cooked pan full of eggs a poke with a spatula. With a disgusted grunt, he tipped the pan into the trashcan and let the egg-mush slump into the trashcan.
The artist dropped the pan in the sink and sank down into a chair. He nibbled on an apple as he waited for Tobi to come back from wherever he was and feed him properly. That masked bastard was going to get punished for making him wait. Deidara had been perfectly clear about his expectations about breakfast, and he hadn't even complained when Tobi put it off until almost lunch time. But leaving Deidara with a half-made omelet and just disappearing, that was unacceptable.
Tobi's punishment would involve handcuffs, Deidara decided. He smirked into his apple. He'd wait until Tobi cooked him his omelet (because he was still hungry, damn it!), then he'd cuff him to the bed and eat it in front of the taller man. Then he'd leave Tobi for an hour or two, see how he liked it.
The handcuffs might come in handy later, too, the lecherous portion of his mind sniggered.
When the door opened, Deidara set down his apple, crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow, and waited for Tobi to come into the kitchen.
Tobi came into the kitchen, but he didn't apologize and beg forgiveness like he was supposed to. The brunet grabbed Deidara's wrist and dragged him to the bedroom.
"What the fuck are you doing, un?" the artist demanded. (He didn't struggle against Tobi's hold, though, because he was curious what it would lead to.)
Tobi didn't answer. He pushed Deidara down on the rumpled bed and knelt down. Deidara took a deep breath…and promptly exhaled when Tobi crawled under the bed and began searching through Deidara's belongings. The man wiggled out covered in dust. His hands clutched Deidara's clay pouch.
"What's going on?" Deidara asked again.
Tobi dropped the pouch in his lap and tugged Deidara's shirt over his head.
"There are Sound ninja at the gate, trying to get in. The village needs you to defend them," Tobi said.
"What?" Deidara gasped. "My chakra is sealed, un. I can't help," he pointed out.
Tobi's hand seals flashed by too rapidly for Deidara's eyes to follow. Even with his power sealed, Deidara felt the chakra like static electricity, sizzling on Tobi's fingertips.
"Sempai, Kakashi's extra seal is clever, but I watched him put it on you. I know how to remove it. Hold still." Deidara's eyes widened. How…he still didn't understand how Tobi could master any jutsu that he saw performed. What an annoying, but useful, ability. At least he could remove the seal.
The first unlocking of the seal felt like nothing more than a poke in the stomach. The second sent him reeling. He didn't faint, but he might have blacked out, just for a moment, at the onslaught of chakra rushing through his veins for the first time in months. The intoxicating thrill of power made his eyes water.
Tobi stood over him as he recovered. "Sempai, there are eight at the gate, and two at the back of town. I'll take care of the read guard; you go for the main force." His partner's voice sounded far away and muffled.
Deidara molded chakra in his arms and flexed his muscles. They protested a little under the strain of the surging power flowing through them, but a few months of inactivity couldn't counteract a lifetime of training and conditioning. After a few moments of basic chakra exercises, he felt as if his power had never been sealed.
He'd forgotten how good it felt. He wanted to use his strength, prove the might of his explosion jutsu, reassert his S-rank class. Yeah, he was Akatsuki, feared across the world, and he was going to show those Sound Ninja why. It was time to introduce them to true art.
Momentary pain stabbed in his hands as his palms tore open and tiny mouths appeared. The little orifices dribbled blood and gaped for exploding clay.
"Sempai, are you listening?"
Deidara unzipped the pouch and fed his palms until they couldn't swallow any more. They chewed and molded the clay- how had he managed without them? His fingers seemed so slow, so cumbersome and inefficient now.
His right hand opened and a little bird flew out. Deidara followed it out of the house and filled it with chakra. It grew large enough to hold him and flapped its wings excitedly. Deidara jumped onto its back and lifted into the air.
"Don't bother with the ones in the back," he called to Tobi. "I'll take care of them, too, un." He ordered the bird forward without waiting for a response.
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Tobi watched Deidara's flight. He listened when the artist tilted his blond head back and laughed at the sky. He gulped.
He ignored the footsteps behind him as his eyes followed Deidara's flight path.
"Tobi?" A feminine voice asked hesitantly. Tobi turned around to face Lin's mother. The woman clutched her arms to her body and rocked nervously as she spoke to him.
"Is it true what they're saying? That there's an army outside? That they'll chop us up and do tests on our bodies?"
Tobi hesitated. It wasn't quite true, but it was a close estimation. Making fine distinctions wouldn't do any good for his neighbor.
"There is a group of ninja at the gate, but Deidara-sempai and I are taking care of them," he reassured her. "They aren't expecting any resistance, or else they would've started their attack by now. We'll catch them off guard."
"Is Deidara-san even a ninja? I thought he was an artist," she said uncertainly.
Tobi patted her shoulder. "You should go back inside now. We'll send word when it's safe to come out. And don't worry," he said firmly. "Sempai is a very powerful ninja. He'll protect the village from the Sound ninja."
Lin's mother retreated to her house as Tobi bid. He waited until the lock on her door clicked into place before he hurried to the gate.
He had no doubts that Deidara could handle the ten Sound ninja. Whether he could protect the village from Deidara, if he needed to, he wasn't so sure.
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Deidara circled the sky, cursing himself for forgetting his scope. He wanted to see his masterpieces as they detonated. It was never as thrilling having to observe from afar.
The eight at the front gate would need to be disposed of relatively quietly if he didn't want to alert the two at the back. The first batch of explosions would take skill and stealth. They'd make a nice warm-up. The rear guards could be his grand finale. Something big, flashy, to get him back into practice.
Eager hands dug into the clay pouches on his belt and devoured handfuls of clay. Twin sets of teeth chewed and licked, mixed and molded the medium.
Four earthen centipedes wormed their way out of each palm. Deidara stroked each one lovingly with a finger before he dropped them off of the bird. They fell, silently and gracefully. Each one landed in a different spot and started its journey towards its target.
Those Sound fools finally noticed him flying over their heads, watching him too intently to detect the centipedes crawling up their clothes. Deidara smirked. They hadn't been expecting a fight, had they? These untried ninja had been depending on their reputation to intimidate the villagers into submission.
He swooped lower to watch more closely.
The three ninja that weren't hiding hurled kunai and shuriken at him, but his avian creation dodged them with graceful ease.
The artist's fingers curled into a familiar hand seal. "Katsu!" he yelled. The centipedes enlarged simultaneously and curled around their respective victims, trapping them in their coils.
The ninja struggled against their bonds with growing panic. The centipedes constricted before any of them could use a substitution jutsu. Popping bones and stifled gasps filled the air.
"Let us go! We'll leave quietly!" they wailed. Deidara landed his bird.
"You came all the way to my village. I can't send you away before you've seen my art, un," he responded. The clay constraints tightened again. The ones that didn't lose consciousness screamed in pain.
"Mercy, please!" they sobbed.
Deidara met their eyes with a cold, calculating stare that only another Akatsuki ninja could rival. "You wouldn't have shown mercy to the villagers, un," he retorted. He formed the hand seal a second time. This time, his 'katsu' was drowned out by eight self-contained blasts.
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Tobi found Deidara standing by the front gate. The artist's smiling face was spattered with blood. Smoldering piles of gore polluted the air with the smell of charred flesh. A centipede bomb looped around the artist's fingers in a figure-eight pattern. Deidara watched in thinly-hidden fascination.
Tobi wiped the drops of blood off of Deidara's cheek with his bare hand. "Sempai, why don't you let me… take care… of the men at the back? You go get cleaned up," he requested. He reached out and took the wiggling centipede from Deidara.
Deidara gave him a funny stare. He shook his head and snatched back his figurine. "No, this is MY show. Besides, you'd get yourself hurt, moron. Just stay out of my way and let the master artist work, un."
He patted Tobi on the head affectionately. He smelled like smoke and blood. The light in his eyes was that of a killer.
'What have I done?' the brunet wondered silently.
"Sempai," he whispered, "please stay here." Deidara waved his arm and his clay bird flapped over to him.
"It'll be over soon, un," the blond promised. He flew off.
Tobi didn't have time to tell him that that was what he was afraid of.
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The two Stone shinobi at the emergency exit to Thornhad heard his blasts and sensed danger Deidara found them in the woods, retreating at full speed with no regard for the fate of their companions.
The artist sent his chakra into the earth beneath their feet, which surged up and swallowed the men to their waists. They thrashed, unable to run.
Deidara formed a hand seal. The earth shook. A dirt pillar rose from the ground, carrying one trapped man with it. The earth column stopped when it reached Deidara's height. The ninja stared at the artist on his clay bird. He clutched a single kunai in his hand. The Stone ninja held it in front of him like a shield, not daring to throw it because the rest of his weapons were buried out of his reach.
Deidara held his palm out flat in front of the man. Spiders crept out of his hand and hopped from the clay bird to the earth pillar. Their spindly legs strained as they leapt onto the man.
Deidara detonated each spider individually, in rapid succession that sounded like the crackling of fireworks. The ninja on the ground watched and screamed.
"This is my village, un," Deidara told him. He stepped off of the bird and landed without a sound on the earth beside the terrified man. "Anyone who messes with my village dies, un."
The man in the ground nodded The blood of his companion dripped down his face, and he blinked to keep it out of his eyes. "I-I'll t-tell…I'll t-tell ev-v-v-eryone. N-noone will ever c-come here ag-g-gain," he stuttered.
Deidara stepped closer. His hands spat out a clay snake. It slithered up his arm, down his body, and to the ninja.
"I'll t-tell them…" he repeated hoarsely.
The snake curled around the man's head.
"No," Deidara corrected him, "you won't."
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The Village Elder and his sons ventured out of his house in the silence after the final explosion. "Tobi, have the Sound Ninja been defeated?" the Elder asked.
Tobi nodded.
"Wonderful. Boys, go tell everyone that it's safe to come outside! Tell them to prepare a feast for our village heroes!"
"Elder…I don't know if-"
"Don't be modest!" The elder interrupted. "You two saved the village! This is a time for celebration," the old man declared.
All around, men, women, and children began to file out of their houses. They cheered when they saw Tobi.
"I need to go find sempai," he muttered, and ran out.
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Deidara stood on the branch of the highest tree in the forest overlooking the village. In his arms, he cradled a C-3 clay figurine. He looked out over Thorn and imagined what sort of explosion it'd make.
It was a beautiful village, with little houses spread out in nonsensical patterns, tiny gardens in the backs of yards, a park with a pond and a swing-set. Such beauty should be transient, he thought. It would get boring if he let it continue existing. And the blast would be so big, so loud... the bombs he used against the Sound ninja were too small to really satisfy him.
The blond raised up his arms and held the figurine out toward the village below. He could level Thorn, leave on his bird, and return to his life as a master artist and ninja. No more pot making, no more quaint village life, no more obscurity.
No more Tobi.
Deidara pulled the figurine back to his chest. Maybe…maybe pot making wasn't so bad. He was just starting to master the art of it, and he still needed to prove himself at the Market faire next year. He enjoyed people's appreciation of his art. He liked seeing them line up to purchase his works. Even the commissions he took at the shop earned him praise from his neighbors. Bomb-making never had that kind of reception.
The village was quiet, but he needed a little peace so he could concentrate on his creations. If nothing else, it was a place to return to when he went out into the world. He'd never had a home before, just places he stayed for a while. He belonged more in Thorn than he ever did back in Iwa. No one in Thorn forced him to do anything against his will. He might be able to deal with the rural quiet. He'd managed before he'd gotten his chakra back. The only thing that was different now was that it was his choice, not Tobi's, whether he'd stay or leave.
Speaking of Tobi, he'd sworn to himself months ago that he'd blow the masked man up when he got his chakra back. He'd have to remember to do that.
Deidara cradled his explosive doll to his chest like a child and watched the village come to life. People streamed out of buildings, hurried into others with a sense of purpose. They looked like ants from where Deidara was. He chuckled a little as he watched them. They were so simple-minded, so oblivious to the horrors of the world beyond their walls.
"Pathetic," he muttered, but there was affection in his voice. 'I must be crazy,' he thought, 'to want to stay in a hick place like this.'
He let the chakra drain slowly out of his clay figurine, until the lump in his arms was nothing more harmful than a clump of wet dirt.
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Tobi found Deidara perched on a branch, laughing quietly to himself. He drew a kunai.
"Pathetic," the blond murmured to himself as he looked over the city. The fringed arm of a C-3 explosive peaked over his arm.
Tobi pulled his mask off and tossed it to the ground. His eyes watered too much to see with it in place. His fingers fumbled with the kunai.
This was the end. Deidara couldn't cope with the return of his chakra; he'd try to destroy the village. Tobi would've died for him, even would have killed for him, but he wouldn't stand by and allow Deidara to hurt innocent villagers. They didn't deserve death. Tobi had to protect the village, no matter how high the personal cost.
And the cost was high. Tobi knew he wasn't strong enough to stop Deidara. The first seal he'd placed on Deidara had been luck, plain and simple. There was only one way he'd be able to stop Deidara from detonating his explosive, one way to ensure the safety of the village. He had to use his kunai on Deidara, and end his destructive art permanently.
He'd use it on himself when he was done. He couldn't live without Deidara. He didn't deserve to.
Tobi crept closer. He felt an influx of chakra ahead of him.
The kunai slipped from his shaking hands. The blood…even with the quickest of strokes, it would still hurt his sempai; there would still be so much blood. He tried to draw another from his weapon pouch, but he ended up slicing himself on shuriken. A weapon would be useless in his fumbling grip.
"It's a beautiful village. It really would make a perfect explosion, un," Deidara said to him without turning around. 'I don't register as a threat,' he thought with a pang of guilt. If Deidara only knew…
Tobi stood with his chest to Deidara's back and wrapped his arms around him. Deidara leaned back against his chest.
He didn't need a kunai, he realized; he could just activate Zetsu-san's transportation jutsu, bring both of them into the trunk of the tree, and purposefully botch the jutsu. They'd both die instantly, together, with no blood to mar his sempai's beauty, no moment of pain and betrayal.
Tobi tightened his grip and prepared the jutsu. His chakra didn't respond. 'I have to do this,' he declared silently. 'I just need a minute…to say goodbye.'
Tobi buried his face into Deidara's neck and inhaled. The scents of smoke and blood lingered, but there was also the smell of damp earth. Deidara's exploding clay didn't have a scent like that. He looked over the artist's shoulder.
The figure in the blond's arms was made of normal, earthen clay. He prodded it with chakra, but there was nothing inside of the clay other than dirt.
Tobi released Deidara. The artist set the figurine on the branch facing the village, like a little guardian statue watching over Thorn. He turned around.
"What's your problem, un?" he demanded. Tobi wiped his eyes and sniffed.
"Nothing, sempai. They're making a feast for us in the village. I'm supposed to come get you," he replied.
"Hmph. Speaking of food, you never made me my breakfast, asshole, un!"
Tobi smiled. He threw his arms around Deidara again and kissed him soundly. "Tomorrow, I'll make you more omelets that you can eat, sempai," he promised. He let go of the blond and stepped back. "Come on, let's get back and let the villagers pamper us a little."
Deidara hesitated. "There's still one thing I need to do," he said. He reached into his clay bag, molded a weak clay spider, and threw it at Tobi's chest. The explosion knocked him backwards into another tree. His head hit the wood and his vision faded.
"No one messes with my chakra!" the artist proclaimed.
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Tobi woke up stretched out on a wooden bench, with his head lying in someone's lap. He recognized the feel of the body and the smell of his sempai. He didn't open his eyes. Someone, he thought it was Deidara, wiped his brow with a cool washcloth.
"I think he's waking up," someone pointed out. Deidara lifted Tobi's head, slid out from beneath it, and set his head back on the bench gently.
"If any of you mention any of this to him, there will be consequences, un," he growled.
Tobi waited a moment before he stretched and opened his eyes. Deidara was seated across from him at the table, acting as if he hadn't just been nursing him. The villagers winked at Tobi out of Deidara's view, but he would've known even if they hadn't. Tobi didn't need Deidara to tell him he cared for Tobi; he already knew.
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AN: The end, finally the end is here! So many months of my life spent writing this, and it finally concludes (except for the epilogue and side story epilogue, which I still need to write). I think, once I'm done with those, I'm going to go through withdrawal. Maybe I'll write a one-shot or two, but then I definitely am giving myself a break. I need to play some video games, damn it!, and maybe even do some school work. We'll see. Thanks to everyone who read, everyone who reviewed, and a double thanks to everyone who read AND reviewed!!!
