Author's Note: Thank you to those who reviewed the previous chapter. Special thanks for pointing out any mistakes. If you catch a mistake, please point it out. I don't really like grammar or spelling mistakes. Please comment and enjoy!
Chapter 2
Tobi let out a shrill squeal and leapt two feet into the air, clicking his heels together in mid-air. Deidara eyed him, annoyed and anxious. "D-does that mean…?" he trailed off, turning to the Leader, who nodded a spiky head.
"Yes, Tobi will be your new partner."
"But—" Deidara's protest was cut short by the masked man grabbing him from behind in a friendly bear-hug.
"Isn't this great, Deidara-sempai?" Tobi chirped, happiness dripping from his voice.
Sempai? The artist roughly kicked Tobi in the shin and stomped on his foot. With an instinctive shout of pain the shinobi released the blond and went to tend to his small injuries. Deidara turned, hearing a soft chuckle from behind. The laughter ceased.
"But why? Can't Zetsu be his partner, un?" Deidara questioned.
The artist shrank back as the Leader cast him a dangerously irritated gaze.
"We have no need for a partner," the plant-man intervened. "And besides you are the one who needs a new teammate, Deidara."
The blond shinobi scowled. "Yes, but you can't expect an artist of my caliber to team up with an idiot like Tobi, un." He tried pointing to said idiot but only managed in drawing more muffled snickers from Hidan.
"That's not nice, Sempai!" Tobi called from the ground massaging his bruised leg.
"In any case," said the Leader before Deidara could have another swing at the already injured ninja, "Tobi is to be your new partner whether you like it or not, Deidara."
"But—"
"No 'buts'!" the Leader commanded, voice firm and demanding through the snowy static. Now Deidara had no choice but to obey lest he suffer the Akatsuki leader's wrath. "You and Tobi will travel together to the Akatsuki home base. There, Kakuzu will repair your arms. Is that clear?"
"Yeah," Deidara answered, nodding once.
"You can count on us, Leader-sama!" Tobi, now standing, gave the Leader a distinct thumbs-up.
The Leader seemed pleased with this agreement. He did not utter another word before slowly sizzling away. Shortly after the remaining holograms did the same, save for Kakuzu and Hidan, the zombie twins.
"So we'll meet you in a week. Don't be late," warned the green-eyed hologram, eyes narrowed. It dissolved into the air a second later, as did its partner.
Now the only members remaining in the dark cave were Zetsu, Tobi and a miffed Deidara. "Sempai?" Tobi called, approaching the blond who stood hunched over in defeat.
"Tob—"
"Now we have to find you an elbow and arm." Tobi and Deidara both turned their heads to Zetsu already sinking into the ground. "I'll meet you in one week at the base."
They both watched as the Akatsuki member fazed into the ground like he was falling through quicksand. They stared on as the dirt reached his knees, waist, chest, neck, then finally the ends of his carnivorous head. A thick silence fell; neither had anything to say.
At last Tobi ended it. "Well," he exclaimed, slapping the blond firmly on the back, "we better get going, right Deidara-sempai?"
There it was again: sempai. Since when had Tobi ever called him sempai? Not until just recently, right after being pronounced a member of Akatsuki. Deidara felt something prodding him in the back. He turned and went to smack Tobi's head clear off his shoulders. Only one thing stopped him: no arms to hit with.
The blond fumed, turning red with anger and embarrassment. "Erm…S-sempai?" Tobi called, stifling a small chuckle.
"Shut it, un!" He didn't want to hear another word out of the bastard's hidden mouth.
"But-but Sem—"
"I said shut up, un!" Tobi groaned in reply and fiddled with his gloved fingers. Casting another icy glare, Deidara walked over to a wall and leaned his head against the hard, rocky surface. His headband clinked against the stone and sent a loose chink flying. At least now he could think.
His head was spinning and the bases of his arms were throbbing. If he didn't heal them soon they were sure to get some infection or start bleeding again. But healing required limbs which he was sadly short of. And relying on the only other presence, Tobi, was out of the question. Even armless, Deidara would never admit to weakness. He wasn't weak. He was just…preoccupied.
"Are you okay, Sempai?" came Tobi's concerned voice from behind. The Iwa nin remained silent, mulling over his options.
As he looked at it, there were two options: quietly accept the situation—that Tobi was his new partner and needed tool—or go on this voyage, ignoring the masked man, and suffer from the embarrassing travails of living without hands. Either way made the blond sick. Or maybe that was just the prickling pain in what was left of his arms.
Damn it hurt! Now without anything else to occupy his mind, the fact his limbs had literally been ripped off was starting to take its toll. The torn ends of nerves pulsed with awakening agony. Disconnected arteries and smaller blood veins led red blood cells to open, dead ends. A strange, sickening plink, plink, plink emanated from the ground beneath his feet. A crimson mess in the dark cave.
A bead of sweat rolled down the blond's reddened cheek. "Sempai are you okay? What's wrong?" Judging from the volume Deidara concluded Tobi to be slowly approaching. He heard scratchy footsteps halt directly behind him.
"Sempai, you're shaking!" He hadn't noticed. Apparently the wall his head leaned against was the only thing keeping him from this fact. Tobi gave out a sudden gasp seeing the pools forming below Deidara's arms.
After meeting with Tobi and Zetsu in the forest, the trio simply headed away from the area, not taking a minute to bandage Deidara's arms. It never came to mind, mostly because, as far as the other two could tell, they were already bandaged. But they weren't. And now the scarred tissue was opening up again after a failed coagulation of red and white blood cells.
These little soldiers fought desperately to keep their home from bleeding to death. Deidara's chakra greatly assisted the process but could not do a thorough job. Chakra was basically all that kept the stumps from bleeding before. But as time went on and strength and energy decreased, it became harder and harder to control the flow. Right now all it could do was keep the larger veins from opening.
Without warning a warm hand rested itself upon Deidara's trembling shoulder. Its presence was strangely settling.
"Sempai let me heal your arms for you," Tobi's voice was sincere, concerned, and worried. All the sympathy received was a brutal push away. Deidara even attempted to strike the masked shinobi's shin again, but found it a dizzying task.
"I said," he panted, jaw set, "shut up, un. I am perfectly capable of healing my own arms, damn it. Stay away from me!" The order did not have much strength to it.
Noticing this, Tobi, gaining some authority, placed his hand on his partner's shoulder again. It kept a firm grip as Deidara attempted to shake it off. "Let me heal you, Sempai. If you don't, you'll only end up hurting yourself more."
"I said stay away from me, dammit!"
"But Deidara-sempai, you're bleeding. Please, let me help you." Help? The artist snorted. He didn't need help from anyone, least of all Tobi. Everything was fine.
"Stop being a baby and let me help you, Sempai!"
Deidara turned about; a bad mistake. Turning only sent him stumbling forward, right into the other man's arms. He tried to escape, adrenaline pumping through him, and managed.
"Sempai you're being ridiculous! Sempai!" Tobi shouted as Deidara tumbled back against the stone wall. His head was spinning and he felt a warm, sticky liquid licking and soaking into his clothes. He looked to the torn ends of the cloak's sleeves and found the fabric to be a darker black shining in the subtle moonlight.
The cave had lit up a bit more now that the moon rested directly overhead. All his moving and tumbling caused the wounds to open further. They stung as globs of fresh blood seeped through. The sudden loss of blood drained the artist of energy, and therefore control over his chakra. Bleeding beget bleeding.
There was so much to preoccupy on—the sharp needle pricks of pain, the throbbing nerves, the rush and streams of blood going plink, plink on the cave floor, the constant annoying pleas of Tobi to let him help—that controlling chakra flow became easier said than done. Perhaps not even that.
Despite his weak protests, Tobi continued to press forward, urging the blond to stay still and let him heal his wounds. When hell froze! Deidara didn't need help; he could take care of himself. Still…
He cursed, grinding his teeth together as another wave of pain erupted from the broken bone. Tobi reached out to him but the artist dodged it. He ducked under Tobi's outstretched arm and took two strides before tripping and skidding into the dirt. The hard floor cut and dirtied his smooth, sweaty skin. He let out an irritated moan and turned over onto his back.
At once the wind burst out of him as Tobi landed on top of him, straddling his waist. Now, immobilized, there was not much else the artist could do besides kick his legs up and down against the dirt. "Get off me, un!" he ordered once his breathing pattern returned to a quick panting.
Without a word Tobi started undoing the other's cloak. He separated the opening and revealed the mid-drift-baring, sleeveless black shirt his sempai wore, underneath which was a thick fishnet shirt, also sleeveless. The artist growled and bucked. He shouted for Tobi to release him and made death threats. "Get off before I fucking kill you! I'll burn you to a crisp, un."
Tobi merely ignored the harsh words; he'd rather concentrate on healing his suffering partner, whether Deidara wanted it or not. He slipped the shredded sleeves from the torn arms and winced seeing the bloody mess. Pieces of bone, scraps of torn muscle, and pouring veins. Not exactly the prettiest site, but he had to bear the gore, for Deidara's sake.
Hands glowing light green with a healing jutsu, Tobi cupped the stump of Deidara's right arm in a steady hold. Years of servitude to the plant-man had some perks; one being the amount of jutsu he learned (and unconsciously copied). Most of what he knew came from Zetsu's teaching but the rest just seemed to surface as needed. Some lessons Zetsu-san taught came naturally, like he was re-learning the technique. Tobi silently thanked the cannibal.
Deidara bit down, hard, and felt a warm liquid fill his mouth. It rolled down his horizontal throat and disrupted his breathing, making him cough. Healing cells was not exactly the most comfortable of experiences. He cringed as cells healed faster than what was natural.
After five minutes or so Tobi moved to the other arm, operating the same slow technique of speeding cell coagulation to halt the bleeding and threat of infection. Deidara had quit struggling some time ago, too tired and pissed to refuse the assistance. He still gave Tobi deadly glares, though, and muttered cold curses and threats. All were simply ignored.
At last the healing was complete. Tobi sat back, half his weight on Deidara's stomach. His gloves were covered in the other's blood and strips of loosened flesh and bone. They would probably stay that way until properly cleaned. He did not take a second to scan over the damage to the fabric. Instead, the masked shinobi fumbled through a bag nestled below the pads hanging from his waist.
Into the illuminated darkness he brought a roll of gauze. While Deidara was still dazed with post-hemorrhage pain, Tobi wrapped the white bandages around the stumps of the other man's arms. Most of the white color vanished as light reddish-brown splotches grew around the lower area of Deidara's arms. The masked shinobi tore the end off the bandage, tucked it into the encompassing wraps, and used a clip to secure it.
The brunette did one final check on the stumps. He caught a glimpse of Deidara-sempai's face out of the single eye-hole in his swirly orange mask. Beads of sweat traced clean paths through the light dusting of dirt. Minor scratches from his earlier fall plagued the lower half of the blond's face. He probably wouldn't mind…
Tobi reached out his hand and hovered it over Deidara's face. The blond, sensing this, opened his blue eyes and growled. "Touch me and you're dead, un!" he hissed.
The masked shinobi initiated the jutsu, sending chakra through the other's skin. Slowly soft skin replaced bleeding scrapes, leaving nothing but a slightly reddish mark. These also dissipated eventually.
"There!" Tobi announced, sitting back and examining his work. From behind the mask he smiled cheerily.
Now that Deidara-sempai was healed, maybe they could get moving. And Deidara was sure to act a bit nicer now with his arms fully healed.
He stood up, releasing the blond of the unwanted weight on his diaphragm, and took a few steps back so he was no longer straddling the other Akatsuki. "Feel better, Sempai?"
Apparently so, for immediately after Tobi popped the question, Deidara lifted a bent leg and delivered a swift kick to the other's groin.
Needless to say, Deidara's Akatsuki cloak was soiled beyond salvation. Great pools of blood staining the red lining only solidified the fact he needed a new one. The blond grumbled. He couldn't wait to hear Kakuzu's cries of joy, following by a lovely four-hour lecture on wasting valuable items.
Of course he wouldn't need to go through a lecture if Tobi had just left him alone in the first place. This was all his fault, the idiot bastard.
Armless and without any way of doing so himself, Deidara leaned his tired body against the cave wall as Tobi spread the cloak on the ground. Its only use now was as a stinky blanket to sleep upon.
They would head out in the morning when things were easier to see.
"Is this okay, Sempai?" Tobi asked, turning his head to the blond.
Deidara kept a vow of silence. After what Tobi did—forcing himself upon Deidara, going against direct orders, and healing him when he had no need for it (not to mention without permission to do so)—the brunette would be lucky to ever hear his sempai's voice again.
Tobi took the silence as a 'yes.' He crawled onto the fabric and chose a side to sleep upon.
"Hey!" Deidara's promise broke. He stormed over to the edge of his cloak. "What the hell do you think you're doing, un?"
Tobi lifted his heavy head. Though it was impossible to see, his face drooped with tiredness and fatigue. Traveling, becoming a member of an S-ranked organization, and healing an explosive artist all in one day definitely took some energy away. "Trying to sleep."
Deidara bared his teeth. He shook off his sandals, not wanting to further dirty the cloak, then brutally kicked and rolled Tobi off and into the dirt.
"Sempai!" he protested, scrambling to his knees.
The artist flopped down onto the cloak, sitting with his legs crossed before him and a defiant look on his face.
Tobi groaned. Why was his new partner being so mean? Shouldn't he have been thankful for the good work Tobi did on his arms?
"Well if you won't let me sleep there," whined the shinobi, standing up, "where am I supposed to sleep?"
"There should be blankets over there, un." Deidara inclined a golden head to the darker corner of the cave.
At first, Tobi just stood there. What was with this sudden change of heart? His eyes darted to the bloody stains on the cloak. The situation made for an interesting joke. One which would probably get him killed in the end.
He nodded and went over. Nothing was there besides dirt and rock. He sighed and peered over his shoulder to the blond.
"It's a permanent genjutsu," he clarified. "There should be a hole there instead of a rock-face, un."
The masked shinobi nodded again and reached forward. Deidara was right! There, hidden behind a false wall sat folded a gray blanket. It was old and smelled stale, but was still recognizably a blanket. "Thanks, Sempai!"
He took the blanket back with him to set up next to Deidara-sempai. The artist scowled but made no protest. He leaned forward, gathered some of the cloak (and dirt) in his mouth and pulled it over his body as he turned on his side to sleep.
The shinobi behind him whipped the blanket through the air to dispel some collected dust, then quietly flattened it out on the cave floor.
"Nighty-night Sempai! Sweet dreams. Don't let the bed-bugs bite."
Yeah, like he was supposed to have delightful dreams sleeping in a bed of his own blood. "Shut the hell up and go to sleep, un."
Tobi dutifully followed his sempai's orders and fell into a state of slumber minutes later. Deidara, however, remained fully aroused. His arms and head were throbbing again, and the blood was starting to dry and rot. By morning it was sure to smell to high heaven. But it was his, and there was only one other blanket: the one Tobi currently occupied. So it was either bare the stink or curl up with the idiot.
Deidara never really believed in such a thing as God, but it was clear someone out there was bent on making his life a living hell.
Author's Note: Chapter 3 and so forth may take a while to come. I have to catch up with the rest of the Naruto manga since I stopped once Darth Tobi appeared (chapter 363 or so). Also, a school project, cosplay, and other things will take time away from writing. But once summer rolls around, chapters will be updated at a faster pace. Hopefully...