Some fast steps lifted the dust on the ground, making it look like the footsteps were emanating smoke. It would be quicker with teleportation, Obito thought, too bad he couldn't use that kind of technique in this dimension. It's gonna take take an eternity to catch up to Deidara, but he had to stop him in any possible way; right after the artist had left, the Uchiha remembered about a place where he didn't want anyone to go, and since things changed their locations constantly in Tsukuyomi according to his mood, it was impossible to lock up that place. And if Deidara ended up there, Obito didn't even want to think about what he would do.
He ran past the mine, progressing in the woods. His belief about the other walking in a straight line was a mere guess based on logic; he couldn't quite decipher what was going on in Deidara's head. His concepts of life seemed simple, but since he apparently didn't have any reasons to fight, people to avenge or bonds to save, nothing made sense anymore. Obito started wondering if this was that so called 'art' he didn't understand a thing about.
After a long time of wandering in the darkness of the seemingly endless cave, Deidara finally noticed a light that wasn't the orange one of his fruit. It was a feeble green glowing coming from one of the side passageways; the lost artist couldn't see the source of it, but he decided he would.
When he stepped into the cavern, the sudden brightness almost blinded him. Deidara had to hold up his palms in front of his eyes to filter the incoming light with his fingers. Another stunning view hit him, the second one in Tsukuyomi already.
The cave was more or less round, and halfway to the middle, there stood something which seemed like an altar. A huge mass of green crystals towered over the construction, making it look smaller than it actually was. The transparent-green stones were the ones releasing the light he had seen before. But after examining them from closer, he noticed something. If he squinted, he could see faces in the precious stones. They didn't look like they were carved inside; Deidara could've bet that was the natural form of the crystals. The more he observed, the more the human faces became, and it didn't take him long to realize all the 'sculptures' represented the same person. The traits were female and young.
It would only be logical if Obito knew this person, the blonde thought. He shivered, thinking back at their last interaction. Wait, why was he always jumping into his mind? Maybe it was the fact that he was trapped in that jerk's head...
Well, even if the commander of Tsukuyomi was an asshole, this was beautiful. If he looked at the crystals from other perspectives, he saw more portraits of the girl, capturing every possible facial expression. This might be his woman, he thought. He had to admit, Obito had a nice taste. The girl, even in this form, was surrounded by an aura of innocence. She had a kind heart, Deidara was sure. Maybe that was the kind of person that Uchiha was compatible with. The opposite of him. That was probably also the reason why Obito couldn't stand him. Although, he didn't know why he started comparing himself to her.
What made him curious was the altar. It was plain and dull compared to the beauty surrounding it. The structure was made of stone and had nothing special about it. Deidara stepped closer, brushing a hand on the surface. It was slightly dusty. He closed his eyes, trying to figure out something, to understand the meaning of this piece of the great work of art. The blonde man jerked his hand back. He felt something wet against his fingertips, he was sure of it. A small scream left his lips as he opened his eyes. It was something bloody and moving, stabbed with a knife which pierced through the altar under it, pinning it there. Deidara slowly found out what it was. A heart. It appeared from nowhere, right under his hand. The organ was pulsating which made it even more shocking compared to the piece of meat it would soon become after it stopped beating.
Why he did what he did next, he couldn't explain himself. Drawn by that impertinent wish to know more about things, typical of his young age, he reached out to touch the heart again. After all, he was a man, and a ninja; he wouldn't be scared because of something that was plain disgusting and nothing more. He dirtied his hand with the blood as he stroke it, and he could feel the warmth and the beats fastening at his touch. Well, no surprise. Everything worked differently in his world and the artist was getting used to it.
Deidara's next action was the biggest stupidity of his afterlife and life. He grabbed the kunai and drew it out from the organ, probably wondering if it did something. It did.
Jumping from one tree to the other, Obito finally saw a mountain. The mountain more precisely, since it was the only one in Tsukuyomi for what he knew. He heard a crumble.
"Shit." he rushed at full speed now, ignoring everything in his way.
Deidara was panicking. How the ceiling started to collapse above his head, he didn't know. All he did was pull out the knife of that bloody heart which had appeared from nowhere, and now he was going to suffer a destiny a million times worse than death. Panic was taking him over. He didn't want this. Didn't want to spend the rest of his existence in pieces under a mass of rocks. And he's never been this afraid, not once in his life. And the worst thing was, the only one who could at least dig up his body would never do it.
Deidara desperately ran towards the tunnel where he came from, but he found himself in utter darkness since he had dropped the orange before. The fruit disappeared under a boulder along with some of the green crystals in the meanwhile.
Some smaller rocks hit him while he tried to find the exit of the cave. He felt his shoulder craking under one of them and he shouted and cursed in pain. The artist's mind was taken over by shock and he couldn't even see a thing. He tried to orientate himself by running his hands over the walls surrounding him. In some places, he had to get through icredibly tight passageways. If he could only have his clay... But unfortunately, he had left it at Obito's place when he rushed out last time. He cursed this unstable world, he cursed the Uchiha, but more than anything he cursed himself for being careless and drifted by his anger.
And there happened what shouldn't have. A huge piece of rock fell in the middle of the tunnel; his way was blocked. It was the end, he couldn't escape like this. Deidara's face became dull and hopeless. He felt miserable, swallowed whole by the mountain.
Then he felt something grab his arm.
"Wha-" he was cut off by a violent pull. He glanced down only to see it was a hand.
Whit a huge crack, rock tore apart on one of the walls, making a hole which lead to the outside. That was when Deidara passed out.
"Hey, wake up." someone was shaking Deidara's shoulder. Unfortunately, the joint was broken, making him yell in pain.
"Are you crazy?! That hurt, un!" Obito stared back with an impassive face. Realizing whom he had just scolded, the blonde man shut his mouth.
"I knew this would happen." the raven haired Uchiha sighed. They were on the flat hill in the middle of the clay mine. Deidara couldn't recall how they got there, but memories flashed back as he sat up. Right, he was trapped inside a collapsing cave, when someone dragged him out. Logically, that person could only be Obito, but it wasn't something that easy to believe.
"You knew what?" the artist hadn't caught up with the events yet.
"That you were going to enter the only place I didn't want you to."
Putting together two and two, a sense of guilt built up in Deidara. Maybe the place he accidentally destroyed was something dear to Obito.
"You traced the line, I stayed at my side." said the blonde, crossing his arms and wincing in pain again because of his shoulder.
"There's something I forgot to tell you. Everything is everywhere in Tsukuyomi, this is a constantly changing dimension."
"I thought the mine was fixed..."
"It is now, but it could disappear anytime."
Deidara decided to inspect his injury. He unbuttoned his cloak. He had a pair of pants underneath, but no shirt. His shoulder had acquired a lilac color and every movement caused him incredible pain.
"What happened?" Deidara couldn't believe he actually heard that question.
"A rock hit me, un."
"You were luckier than me." Obito said, pointing at the right side of his face. Wow. To be ironic, he had to chose the only moment when Deidara was in utter pain. He wasn't less of a jerk than before, the artist stated to himself.
"Someone taught me a medical jutsu, once..." the taller man said in a dreamy voice. Deidara glared at him like he was waiting for something.
"So? Are you going to use it?"
Obito blinked, but after some seconds he emerged from his thoughts and lent a hand towards the earlier mentioned joint.
"Let me see it."
A shiver ran through Deidara's torso as the large, cold hand touched his shoulder. He flinched in pain when the once-masked Uchiha reached the broken point. As he placed both hands on the injury, the typical green light of healing techniques started emanating from them. After a few seconds, Deidara couldn't even remember his shoulder had ever hurt.
"Thank you... I guess..."
"I'm sorry. The whole thing was my fault for not letting you know about that place." the Uchiha responded. The blond started wondering what was going on with the other man. Obito was an idiot, a jerk, a tyrant, overly-sensitive about his past and indifferent towards anything else, and he had abused him physically and mentally, to boot. Since when did he apologize? And why now, when what happened was clearly Deidara's fault?
"I did that mess, un. Blame it on me all you like."
"This is just my inner world, I could build it back if I wanted. It's just... That was a sanctuary for someone important."