here's chapter 2 brought to you by, Veterans (Kicking ass so we don't have to, trust me if I had to fight we'd be lapsed by Canada) Annnnnnd Cheating. I cheat with my stories.
Thankies: Yuti-chan , QueenofFanficWorldLoveGunner. XD
I don't own NARUTO Masashi Kishimoto does as well as TvTokyo, I do however own the plot.
PS: I'm not going to write anything in POV except for a few scenes every few chapters. I don't want to show you how terrible I am at writing Madara's character.
4798 words! HEEEEELLLLLL YEEEEESSSSS!
0 0 0
'You know...A bit of emotion wouldn't be so bad,'
Madara rolled his eyes, "If i didn't before I do now," he said.
He honestly had no idea what stupid voice had been blabbering on about for the last hour, Did it think he would go all woman and start bawling or pacing around waiting for the blond to wake up? he didn't care about the him, he didn't.
Even if he did -WHICH he didn't- he was a shinobi and shinobi didn't get all emotional when someone went missing or died. The first time it happened, of course there would be a reaction but after seeing so much death, after seeing the life fade out of a persons eyes over and over again for years and years.
You get over it quicker, the reaction is internal instead of external and even so it's subtle ,then you push it down, down so deep that it's buried under whatever crap excuse you use to never let it see the light of day again.
Put simply, any emotion displayed by a senior shinobi, is nothing but a farce, a ruse, a way to make people see you as a human and not the weapon you had become.
Because a shinobi that feels for the man he was chosen to kill or for his team mates, is a shinobi that won't last long in a world full of such cruelty and evil.
Monsters. Demons
Whatever the title given to them, it's usually fitting.
'I don't care what you say, if you keep up this little charade for much longer we'll go crazy,'
"It's been an hour," Madara deadpanned.
'Cause time is the most important thing with matters of the heart,'
Madara's hand and eye twitched in annoyance, "If I could kill you, I would," he said in a bored tone.
'Yes, but you can't, because Iam you and that would be suicide,'
"Yeah, I put that together,"
'So you're not a complete idiot!,'
Madara stayed quiet for a second thinking over what his subconscious just said, before his face drooped and his eyebrows creased,"I just called myself an idiot,"
'You sure did,'
The Uchiha felt like putting his fist through a wall, this stupid voice was really working his nerves, even if it was his own subconscious.
0 0 0
Almost six hours later, the house was completely silent except for the rain and the sound that the front door of the forest house made as the wind slammed into it, making it rattle and creating whistles it also let the rain pour in and puddle on the already rotting hard-wood floor.
Madara's eyes snapped open, glaring up at the ceiling from the floor, "That's it," he growled, slowly getting up.
He'd been waiting here through the night, it was nearing sun-up and Deidara had still not awakened.
The Uchiha had only gotten three hours of sleep, tops, which tended to happen regularly, what with being an S-class criminal on the run and all, but this time was different, this time he woke up unable to breath through his noise and a horrible crackling sound whenever he took a breath through his mouth.
He was sweating, he was freezing, his eyes were bloodshot and above all he was Tired. So very tired. Which never happened before, at first he just figured that part was his age finally taking its chance to catch up to him since he was sick but when he tried to get up he became so dizzy that he fell back down.
'Oi, maybe you should find a medic,'
Madara scoffed.
What? did the voice expect him to kidnap a medic and drag them back to the house? Kusa was the only place the Akatsuki weren't constantly being pestered by bounty hunters, plus the intel agent was of the village and completely willing to give them information he gathered about the other villages through his years of travel ,for free.
If Kusa turned, their source of info would as well, no if, an's or but's about it.
And Pain would probably crush both of them.
The Hidden Grass wasn't a shabby village, it didn't deserve that...
Okay seriously those moments of sweet honey suckle kiss thoughts were really getting stupid.
All through the night one would randomly pop into his head, that might've been why he barely got any sleep. A few were about flowers, nothing else, just flowers. A couple were about Konan, he really didn't know why they were just her being her regular bitchy self, and one was about Deidara.
More specifically the time the two had gone to gather information on the Sanbi, The masked ninja had a lot of fun with his Sempai on that mission, that was until he blew him up, wasn't that much fun then.
Then the thought turned into a very Madara-esk day-dream, one about chaos and destruction, his blond...His partner, had gone insane, he was covered in black veins and was slowly disappearing. Madara didn't understand the feeling that tugged at his heart when he saw Deidara slowly vanishing before his eyes and unconsciously reached out his hand toward open space, even though he knew it was just a day-dream.
He still felt the need to reach out.
To save him.
He lazily turned his head and watched Deidara take quick, shallow breaths, his face tensing as he winced every now and again it was then Madara finally realized that the bomber was already deteriorating.
'If someone doesn't help him his wounds could green,' The voice literally sang to him. It was true, the wounds on Deidara's arm -which laid on top of the blankets- had bled throughout the night and the bandages were already crusted over, yellowish pus oozed down his wrist from underneath them, and the entire limb was swollen to almost twice it's normal size.
Madara knew they didn't have anything that could help keep it from getting any worse, he'd have to leave to go get some medicine or something and then come back. Hopefully in time.
Whatever type of infection it was, was spreading quick, so quick even if he teleported back to the base with Deidara and had Konan look over him, there was still a good chance it might be too late to save the arm, even worse the trip itself could actually make his condition worse.
It would put stress on him, stress that he really didn't need right now.
'Why don't you just do it yourself?,'
"Because," The Uchiha thought back, he wasn't exactly a medic, he knew how to stitch up small wounds and keep away infection but he had no idea how to treat an already existing one, his wounds always healed up on their own or he'd have Konan take care of them.
He didn't know anything about picking herbs or preparing them, he could wrap bandages but even a kid could do that, he barely remembered the very basic first aid he learned when he was a kid.
But now he guessed he'd have to just suck it up and do his best. He really didn't want to have to explain to Nagato what happened, it would be expected if Deidara was in a fight with a grand opponent and died but a fight with an infection, no he'd never be able to live it down.
Deidara was the youngest and one of the strongest members of the Akatsuki, in fact none of the others had any doubts that if Itachi wasn't gifted with the Sharingan there would've been no way The Iwa bomber would have lost to him.
It was as Deidara always said, the Uchiha were just blessed with good genes. Even Madara agreed. as he usually did, he and the blond thought alike.
They both understood the pain of having to abandon everyone they loved because they turned their backs on them.
They both saw the world as the dark place full of selfish people with agenda's.
They both sought something greater.
The only differences were their ages and experience in war. As far as Madara knew Deidara had never even Seen a war, let alone felt what it was to fight in one.
That was it.
Right then his mind was made up for him.
'So we're going?,'
Madara nodded, he couldn't believe he actually talked HIMSELF into going. But now he just felt like he owed his partner in some way. What greater payment is there than to save someones life?
'Food is a nice substitute,'
The Elder forced back a groan but it was nothing but wasted effort because he let it out anyway as he stood up. It wasn't like his joints actually ached, it was just his mind. The grunts and moans weren't necessary but they seemed to help in some way.
'That's just an excuse and you know it old man,'
He dusted his cloak free of whatever small creatures had crawled into the folds of his cloak over night, before heading over to the door, casting one last glance down to Deidara as he gently closed the door.
'Woop! Out of this place and back to the beauty of Kusagakure! Home of hot springs and the hottest working girls ever!,'
Madara chuckled lightly at the voice starting his descent down the stairs. Not giving any thought to breeze that passed him, until he heard a whisper in his ear.
"Tobi,"
The ancient man stopped.
'Wha' wrong?,'
He ignored the voice and looked back up the stairs, he listened but when he didn't hear anything, he pushed a hand past the barrier of his mask ridge and rubbed his forehead, "Probably just the wind," he muttered.
'Yeah...Probably,' The voice agreed unsurely.
After putting his mask back down into its original position, Madara quickly slipped on his shoes and he was out of the house, flying through the lower branches of the tall trees.
Time Skip
Madara pushed his way through the bustling Kusa Village street carrying a bag of white bandages, bumping into people who yelled curses after him and knocking over a couple of children as he did so.
The stomping feet of the people kicked up mud and stained the already beyond angry Uchiha's cloak. 'pissed off' wasn't even in the right category 'Absolutely livid,' was much more accurate.
He'd been to six different stores and not one of them had what he needed, well he did find bandages but, that wasn't all he needed! he needed bandages, gauze, and a crap load of different ointments.
And at every store he went to none of them carried ointment -which is stupid- and all of them were out of gauze, yeah, Irony is a sick twisted bitch.
Now he was on his way to a Herb center that the cashier at the last store told him about, she said that was the only place he could hope to find medicine, at this time.
'Do you know what she meant by 'At this time'?' The voice asked curiously.
"No," Madara thought back.
Finally the Greenhouse came into view and he picked up his pace, he pushed open the door and was met by the sight of a fully stocked greenhouse and an old gray haired woman sitting in a rocking chair, stroking the orange cat that dozed on her lap.
(yes only two chapters in and there is already a cute fuzzy animal)
Noticing the Uchiha standing in the door eyeing the place the old woman spoke, "If you're coming in then come in, you're letting in bugs," Madara stepped in, letting the glass door swing shut.
"Are you the herbalist?," he asked.
The old woman smiled,"I am," she nodded,"My name is Momo and this is Mei,"
'Momo and Mei, cute,'
"My name is Tobi,"
"Hmm, so what brings you here Tobi?,"
"My um..." Friend? companion? acquaintance?,"Colleague, is injured and really needs medicine,"'
"Have you tried Garlic?,"
Madara blinked,"...You mean those white things that people crush up and put into food?," he asked, quirking an eyebrow.
The stuff that smelled like feet was an herb?
The old Woman nodded,"It's also good for the heart,"
"But it stinks,"
"Do you see those?," she motioned to the small pot of violate purple daisies sitting beside her, "These are purple Coneflowers, they can help you get over your cold faster,"
Madara blinked, how did she know he was sick? was it so obvious that an old woman that couldn't even see his face could figure it out?
'We do sound like a sick guy, that might be why' the Uchiha would've smacked himself for his stupidity if it wasn't for his mask being in the way.
"Uh, No, I'd rather fight it off myself I'm usually not that sick for very long," he finally answered slowly.
"You sure you're a man?," Momo narrowed her eyes.
"Of course!,"
"No need to get snippy It was just a joke," The cat jumped off Momo's lap so she could stand, not a single quake or shiver or even any groans as she did,"With that mask you could be a beautiful woman for all I know," she said, heading over to a wall of different plants.
'A beautiful woman that sounds like a man!,' the voice in Madara's head said in an over the top 'Manly' tone.
"You sound surprised," The raven thought back, the voice sputtered for a second before laughing.
Momo made quick work of picking what she thought would be needed, she'd spent many years in her garden, assisting to the ninja that came by to rest before returning to work or going home, she knew exactly what she wanted.
Once she was finished she walked up to him -without any sign of fear- and began to pull out different colored plants, naming them off as she handed to him,"Give your friend these," she held out a green stemmed plant with tiny white flowers, very bold contrasting leaves and the roots still attached,"This is Meadowsweet a pain reliever," she said going for more bundles.
One looked more like a branch and had a big purple almost flat looking flower with roundish leaves,"I also have Passion flower, it'll help him sleep," One had droopy bell shaped flowers on a bent stem again the roots were attached,"Comfrey it'll help fight infection,"
"I'll throw in this for free," She passed Madara the last plant, a few sprigs of what looked like an ordinary weed, it was the whole plant, a long solid, green stem, spiked leaves, and a few tiny white bell shaped flowers bundled together at the top of the plant.
"This looks like," Madara started.
"That's because it is," Momo nodded.
'Dude, she gave us catnip,'
"I heard it was good for a cough," Madara tucked the plants away into the pocket inside his cloak.
"Measure each plant into equal parts and dry them over a fire separatly then grind them together and brew them into a tea, it will be bitter and your friend won't like it but it will help him, the same can be done with what i gave you, just make sure there aren't any cats around first," Momo smiled.
Madara nodded.
"Before you leave there is something I must tell you," The old herbalist said in an ominous tone, her smile replaced with a stern motherly expression,"It's best you and your friend stay out of the forest for the next week,"
'Uhhh'
Madara blinked,"Why?,"
"Every year we have a festival and the creature of Lightning,Shiro, appears and every year one unfortunate soul wanders into the forest and they are never seen again," by the end of her short story both the Uchiha and the voice in his head were completely silent.
Momo's smile suddenly returned,"Do come back though, the village is having a baked goods sale this Tuesday,"
Madara's subconscious laughed nervously, "You're insane aren't you," the raven said with an amused smile.
The old woman cackled, "That's right,"
0 0 0
Tobi and Deidara walked through the gate of a small trading village after dispatching the two stationed guards. The masked ninja was bouncing around, his ankle already healed, thanks to his sempai coming back after calming down and helping him to a cave he'd found.
They got a good rest and Tobi was ready to go, he wouldn't be leaping like he usually did for at least another day though, so it was good that there wasn't a big hurry to get to Kusa.
Or was there? Tobi's mind was so fuzzy from a fever he couldn't remember one of the most crucial details of his mission, crap, Pain was going to give him an ear full.
"Tobi,hmm," Deidara pulled him from his thoughts,"You okay?," The masked ninja noticed the hint of concern hidden beneath the usual annoyed expression.
"Yeah...Yeah I'm fine, why?," Tobi asked.
Deidara sweated, "Well for one, you're standing in the middle of the road mumbling to yourself," It was a good thing this wasn't a prime destination spot for any major village tourists, they'd be recognized in seconds, "And number two you didn't talk in a third person,"
Tobi inwardly cursed and looked around for some kind of distraction,"Sempai! Sempai! lookie there's dango! Oh can we stop please? Pleeeeaaaase?," he whined, pointing a finger at a small enclosed partially enclosed wooden tea stand.
He almost laughed at the convenience of them,almost.
Deidara instantly visibly calmed and looked over at the stand.
Tobi crossed his fingers, hoping the blond would take the bait, plus he was kind of hungry and didn't think he'd be able to keep his stomach from growling for much longer. Pinecone seeds can only keep one quiet for so long (1).
"Why is it every-time we come across a sweet stand you want to stop?~!," Deidara was back, no longer suspicious, just a little annoying at the thought of stopping just for sugar of all things, little brat was already jumpy enough without it.
"'Cause Tobi like sweets," Tobi answered simply with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Obviously, you have candy stashes all around the hideout,hmm" Deidara grumbled.
"So?"
"Fine, but I want Daifuku (2) I'm not in the mood for dango," The blond gave in, walking over to the stand and sitting down, Tobi plopped down beside him, a little too close in Deidara's opinion.
An old woman, the owner of the stand, walked up behind them, "Hello, can I help you?," she asked.
"Tobi wants DANGO! and Daifuku for my sempai," Tobi laid his hand out as a gesture to his partner.
The woman blinked at him before smiling nervously and slowly walking backwards back into the kitchen.
"That was weird, don't you think sempai?," Tobi whispered, cupping a hand over his ''mouth''.
"Hm," Deidara gave an uninterested grunt, "The lady, she was all nervous," He rolled his eyes, the masked ninja's keen powers of perception were staggering.
"We are criminals Tobi, yeah,"
"Tobi knows that! But the villagers around here usually don't care about who we are," Tobi leaned even closer towards the blond, so close the looser parts of their cloaks were touching.
Deidara pushed him back,"Maybe she got scared by that animated pumpkin you call a mask, hmm,"
"What do you mean sempai?,"
"It's creepy, yeah,"
"No it's not,"
"Yeah, it is," To prove his point Deidara leaned back a bit, revealing the small form a black haired little girl who was waiting for her mother that had gone to the restroom.
Tobi raised a hand, about to ask where the hell she came from when her eyes widened. She screamed at the top of her lungs and turned away,she was practically sobbing as she ran off.
Deidara smirked, "See?,"
Tobi stared at the retreating back of the little girl until she was but a mere dot in the distance,"Sempai's so mean to Tobi!," he whined, crossing his arms childishly.
"Not my fault you have terrible taste,"
Tobi went quiet, he opened his mouth a couple of times before he spoke again,"Sempai really doesn't like my mask?," he asked, genuinely curious.
"Not in the slightest, yeah,"
The old woman walked back up behind them and sat down two plates, one had three sticks of dango each one had a different topping, one was covered in crushed black sesame seeds, a mixture of Kiinako and sugar was on another and the last one had a light drizzling of a sweet soy sauce.
One the other plate were three white, palm sized, balls that had a light dusting of potato starch.
"Here you go," The woman still looked like she was nervous, but she had a kind smile on her face regardless.
"Thank you!," Tobi sang, throwing his arms up at the arrival of his treat. "Oh looks soooo good!," he carefully picked up the black sesame dango by the end of the wooden skewer, he put a hand on his mask ready to take a bite, when he heard a sigh, he looked to Deidara,"Hey aren't you going to eat your daifuku?,"
Deidara shook his head and slid the plate to his partner,"I'm not hungry anymore,"
"Oh well, more for Tobi!,"
0 0 0
Madara sighed as he stopped short of a branch and landed on the ground, his foot sliding a bit on the slick grass.
'Could you please stop doing that?~!,' His subconscious yelled.
"Why, scared?," Madara smirked.
'No, I'm feeling sick, which means your feeling sick, which means you should STOP doing that before you lose your lunch,'
"We haven't even had lunch yet,"
'That's not my fault now is it?,'
As the two continued to go back and forth until a voice other than his pest of a consciousness caught Madara's attention.
'-Your mother!,'
"Boar have you found anything?,"'
Madara quickly shushed himself.
"Negative,"
They sounded close.
Like a snake the Uchiha silently slithered back up into the trees, he crouched and swung from branch to branch, moving up a little higher into the thicker levels of leaves, he stopped at the tree line in a crouch.
'I'm kind of glad we didn't stop for pork buns,' Madara's mind commented as he looked over the forest house.
Wandering around the rotting old cottage were ANBU.
LOTS of ANBU.
But it was still as quiet as when he'd left. The top ninja (Top men :D) weren't in a particular formation, which meant they were pretty lax about the situation, they had their guards down.
Something no logically thinking ninja would do when in the presents of even a downed enemy.
'Do you think he's still in there?,' The voice asked in a hushed voice.
"No," The Uchiha narrowed his eye, "I don't sense his chakra, they must have taken him away," he flickered himself around on the branch, turning his back to the house and stood up.
'Um hello~! Wrong direction! the ANBU wouldn't take Deidara to Kusa! They'd take him to some secret camp or-,'
"Konoha,"
The voice paused for a moment,'Those are Leaf village ANBU?,'
Madara didn't answer, they did look like leaf ANBU but they could have been from Kumo for all he knew. There was no obvious distinction between an Iwagakure ANBU and a Kirigakure ANBU and unless one of them just happened to be carrying some type of documentation from the village they were from, it would take a lot of time to figure it out.
'First, that doesn't answer my question and second that doesn't explain what you're doing, do you plan on tailing them or something?,'
"You'll see,"
'Damn it, I hate when we get all secretive,'
0 0 0
"We're finally here sempai!,"
Tobi laughed happily as he fell back onto the soft bed, the Inn room he and his sempai had gotten was plain, with solid white walls, white sheets and white curtains but it was still a room with heat, comfort, a great view of the Hidden Grass Village and even a hot spring!
Ah twas the beauty of Kusagakure.
Deidara was curled up in the sheets beside the childish ninja, his hair wet but still tied,"Stupid woman, 'We have no double beds available, why would you want one anyway?," he mimicked the voice of the young Inn cashier with a harsh scowl on his face, "Piss me off, when we leave I'll make sure she sleeps forever," he rolled over onto his side away from his partner.
"But Tobi doesn't mind sharing a bed with sempai!,"
"I don't care either, as long as you stay on your side of the bed, yeah," The penalty for crossing the invisible wall Deidara mentally build down the bed was death, or in Tobi's case, bad burns, a free flight back to Amegakure or sleeping in the tub if he was feeling generous.
"Don't worry sempai! Tobi will be a good boy and let Sempai sleep," Tobi got back up and cracked his back.
"Where are you going?, yeah," Deidara asked curiously, not looking up or moving at all.
"Tobi's gonna go soak in the spring!," The mysterious ninja pulled off his cloak and laid it out on the bed, feeling it to make sure it was dry enough not to leave a big wet spot.
"Good for you, yeah,"
"Sempai doesn't want to come?," Tobi asked as he opened the door.
"Why would I? I hate hot springs,"
"Sempai doesn't know what he's missing,"
"I'm not missing anything, hmm. I have a bed, my art and a shower, I'm happy without such money wasting luxuries," Deidara tugged the covers up over his head.
"If you say so, I'll be back later," when Tobi received nothing but silence he sighed and left the room, gently closing the door so not to jostle his partner. Stretching high he headed down to the hot spring.
(I was going to put a scene here but it just didn't fit in right :/)
0 0 0
The raven pulled his long baggy sleeve of his 'casual shirt' back up arm, and pulled the towel off his head as he readied to enter his and Deidara's Inn room, he cracked the door open then took a deep breath.
After peeking his head a smile tugged at his lips, Deidara was on his back one arm draped over his eyes to block out the light left on in the bathroom, his ponytail tie had come loose and unraveled letting the golden locks fall free and flutter out around his head on the pillow.
Tobi pushed the door closed with his foot and locked it, before heading over to the bed and crawling under the covers. It wasn't like he needed them, the room was warm enough and the extra heavy clothes he was in made sure he wasn't going to be shivering any time soon, but he wanted to be under them, he wanted to be just a little bit closer to the Iwa.
Tobi slowly began to inch a hand across the pillows towards Deidara's head, he felt compelled to just touch him, poke him something-anything!,"Tobi, yeah," he flinched and pulled back quickly, tucking his arm under the blanket.
"Y-yes sempai?," he stuttered.
Deidara turned over letting his arm drape over Tobi's chest,"...You're feeling okay?," he pulled himself closer, never once opening his eyes.
The masked ninja sweated, he was half out of it,"I am," he answered slowly, working his arm around the smaller man.
What? Just because he was half asleep didn't mean Tobi wasn't going to miss his chance.
Deidara looked up at him through his long eyelashes and smiled at him, "Good, hmm," his expression darkened, "Now get the fuck out of the bed,"
0 0 0
Madara's footsteps sloshed in the mixture of mud and fresh blood pools all around him, the faint gurgles of dying ANBU echoed hollowly in his ears, tuned out by the heavy rain.
The lone survivor of the attack pitifully tried to drag himself away from the scene, pieces of his broken pig mask embedded in his face, one of his legs practically sliced in half only hanging on by a few tendons and layers of muscle, The Uchiha stepped in his path, making the poor ANBU look up into his eyes,"Who are you?," he asked in fear, noticing the blood red orb that he immediately recognized.
"Your worst nightmare," Madara growled, picking up his foot and stomping on the young ninja's head, using his massive strength to crush the strong bone of the mans skull, killing him instantly.
(RNT: Momo means Peach and Shiro means Fourth son, four is a very unlucky number in Japanese folk-lore because of its pronunciation, ''Shi'' which has the same pronunciation as 'Death')
TBC-TBC
(1). Pinecone seeds are VERY VERY VERY tiny, but can fool the stomach into thinking its something bigger. They taste like sand though Xp might as well stop and eat a sammich. Hmmmm, sammiches =w=
(2). Ichigo (Strawberry) Daifuku, basically a strawberry encased in anko (red bean paste) and rice flour dough called Mochi. Sweet and sour, sweet and sour.
This has been your pointless bit of information!
Thank you for reading! Review! JA NE~!