Kiwis
"Peel."
.
How long it had been, he couldn't answer.
He didn't think about him anymore. He had felt every last shatter of his heart breaking then. The guilt, the regret, the unprecedented need to chase after him, to tell him he wanted to take it all back—the surge of untamed feeling stunned him. It was too new, too Obito. Tobi wanted to hate him, the man with blue eyes, but he didn't. He never could. If only, then perhaps moving on might have been easier. But the hatred had to go somewhere, lest it burst like that clay. It was why Tobi directed the rage at himself. Punishment, he thought, for becoming distracted and actively diverging from his intended mission.
The raw agony had been unbearable, so he got rid of that too. It was simpler to feel emptiness than it was to hurt. He was familiar with it – not being there. Discarding human emotions was all he'd known, even before his former partner entered his life. But as far as Tobi was concerned, he'd forgotten about him entirely. He had too, otherwise he wasn't certain he'd be able to move forward.
Forward. That's where he stood now: hundreds of steps ahead of every nation.
But first, he needed to get his hands on the last of the tailed beasts.
Pein was dispatched. Nagato was targeting the village he had a vendetta against, and Tobi didn't doubt the man would give it his all.
He sat down where he was, feet dangling from a branch, suddenly feeling very tired.
Zetsu made a movement, looking at him, "You seem off."
Tobi didn't reply because those words meant nothing, and acknowledging them had been waste enough.
Sasuke did not succeed to capture the eight-tails, but Pein wouldn't disappoint him. Madara had ensured that Nagato was hungry for vengeance and justice against Konoha. The Akatsuki founders had waited several years for this moment. Nagato, especially, suffered a thirst for the village's demise. And Pein might be the most powerful shinobi alive. If he wasn't able to grab the boy, then Tobi couldn't depend on anyone. He would have to take matters into his own hands.
•
He feels like he lost, like he is still losing.
Pein failed.
Worse still, he was betrayed.
He forgot what fury felt like, but he was certain this was it. Once he was certain no one would witness his childish act of displeasure, he lashed out. He left a bloody carnage in his wake. The anger didn't vanish like he hoped it would, but he would use what was left of it to his advantage. Vehemence was a strength, if approached with an objective view. He'd dealt with disloyalty before, but every time, he'd seen it coming. This... he hadn't expected this. It wasn't something he'd planned for.
Despite this mess, he could work around it. This was why Madara chose him. He was adaptable. Tobi just needed to remind himself of this. Pein was a mistake, but that was why he had Sasuke. The brat could cast the genjutsu, if that was what it came down to.
Tobi breathed in deeply.
The world now knew of Madara's existence. He threatened them, warned them of what was to come. He had to lead them astray, confuse them.
There was no turning back now.
Briefly, he wondered where Deidara was, what he was doing, and how he faired. If he was still alive. Tobi squeezed his eyes shut.
Before he'd felt empty and hollow inside. Like a rotten, pitted carcass cursed to walk the earth every night. Now he was filled to the brim with misery and contempt, and a never-ending depth of anger that he could not escape.
He just wanted release.
The plan was taking too long. He wasn't certain he could summon more patience.
This...
This snake.
Kabuto was pungent. He reeked of lies and deceit.
So he was the one parading around poisoning shinobi for kami knew what purpose. Experimentation? Fun? Or to test his Edo Tensei?
He scanned the caskets. Itachi. Sasori. Kakuzu. Nagato. Each were a copy of their former selves.
The snake wanted Sasuke, but why? Tobi didn't care for the exchange. But he wasn't going to do business with someone this shady. He grew tired of betrayal.
"And if I refuse?"
Tobi's heart thundered as another casket rose from the ground. Could it be...? No, that was impossible - this couldn't be Kabuto's trump card! No one could so much as suspect his vulnerability towards Deidara. Why would they? Tobi's loving persona was an act. Kabuto wouldn't know to use Deidara as a weapon against him. And if he did, the artist was versatile, aware, and quick on his feet; he wouldn't be bested so easily. And there had been no word of a massive, unexplained explosion transpiring in any nation. Deidara wouldn't go out any other way. Yet Kabuto already proved himself to be capable, and Deidara's fixation with his art was troubling. A sample of trepidation crept up his veins, and before it could mutate into unadulterated terror, he crushed it young.
The lid of the largest casket fell to the ground, and dust rose at the disturbance.
He breathed out.
Damn.
Relief flooded through him, but that drained away just as quickly as it came.
It was Madara's carcass, dead and lifeless, but that made no difference.
Knowledge was power, and this rat held it. It meant Kabuto was aware that he was not Madara. And if the nations discovered his little secret, they wouldn't fear him. There was power behind a name, and his mentor's name was the most terrifying of them all.
Fear.
How satire. The presence of the most chaotic emotion a human could possess was what made them so easy to control. The people feared Madara as much as any tailed beast, for both had legendary power and unpredictability. The Uchiha were feared for their Sharingan, but Madara was the epitome of dark rage and chakra control. He was the only man to prove as a challenge to the God of Shinobi.
The mention of his name, with enough evidence to convince others that Tobi was said man, and the rest of them were ensnared. Fear did that; it cornered you.
And now, an outsider discovered the truth: the Uchiha behind the swirly, orange mask was not Madara. This put him a disadvantage. A major one.
This wretch would foil his plans. Everything he worked towards would become undone.
But Kabuto was a fool to assume he could ever control Madara in Edo Tensei. There was one shinobi who could stand at Madara's side as equal, with the power required to leash even a waned corpse of the Uchiha, and he was long dead. Madara wouldn't obey anyone.
Provoking Kabuto into a battle would be unwise. He didn't fear for his own life, but Madara was meant to stay dead. The last thing Tobi needed was a free Madara on the loose.
Besides... Tobi scanned the Edo Tensei's bodies. He could use more firepower. How many valuable members had he lost? Capturing the last two jinchuuriki shouldn't have been this much of a problem.
That look in those piss-coloured eyes had him on edge. This one was Orochimaru's pet. He was definitely not to be trusted.
Tobi hated having to associate with vermin, but even the dirtiest of humans could be manipulated. He would just have to be careful about this one. Kabuto already proved to be a step ahead. Tobi would have to be two steps further.
That was why he promised Sasuke to him once the war was guaranteed to be won.
He wasn't being dishonest, not really.
Everyone would obtain what they wanted...
In Tsuki no me.
•
Kabuto's attempts at deceit would not cease, and neither would his incessant, irrelevant, and dull commenting. Tobi preferred Zetsu's liquid compliance and occasional confused question over this. The spy was loyal to a fault. Too loyal. The words crossed his mind, just as Kabuto's arrogance interrupted his thought process.
"The Akatsuki's rather diminished. They died quickly for S-Ranked nin, don't you agree?" he drawled out while they walked through the tunnel halls.
Tobi muttered under his breath, "I never noticed."
"Even Nagato failed. I was taken aback, which was a feat in itself. I'm not easily surprised, you know."
"Really?" he asked, distracted.
"Mmm," Kabuto went on, "But you see, it's interesting. Two more members have betrayed you, and they're still running around freely. Why haven't you done anything about it?"
Didn't this fool understand that chasing after treachery would be a waste of time? The genjutsu would trap everyone in the end. The fool knew that already.
"I understand why Konan left you – she was loyal to Nagato, not you. But what about Deidara?"
Now that got his attention.
Tobi did not need Kabuto meddling with his business, nor did the snake need more leverage over him. Kabuto's course of action depended on his reaction, so he put more effort into showing disinterest, "What about him?"
"Deidara nearly defeated Sasuke, or so I heard. He must have left because of his fixation with his artwork. That's it, isn't it?"
Tobi didn't reply, knowing Kabuto would take it as reluctant agreement.
The snake was wrong.
Deidara left because of him.
But he'd let Kabuto assume he pieced everything together like the detective he thought he was.
"And you just let him go?" Kabuto smirked, "I have time. I can bring him back for you."
Tobi hid the aggression he was feeling from his voice, "He's insignificant. We need the remaining tailed beasts, or have you forgotten?"
If Kabuto so much as thought of touching Deidara, Obito would slit his throat with his own teeth.
Kabuto's lips stretched into a twisted smile, and all Tobi saw behind it was the Sannin he hired years ago. The man scoffed, "Please. I've been trained by the great Orochimaru – ."
"I think you've talked enough."
Tobi ran a hand through his hair, before slipping on the white mask.
"Falcon!"
He jumped out of the foliage to meet with the rest ANBU Black Ops squad, leaving the dead body behind him. Tobi held his breath, but they hardly gave him a second glance before they moved out. It was night, and the dead soldier he replaced shared a similar appearance with him. Physically, there was nothing that gave him away. Tobi went a step further and imitated the man's chakra signature. He leapt from tree to tree, holding the back position in their formation. Unsure if they detected the swap, he scanned the four members with his Sharingan and was satisfied to sense stable chakra levels. The captain was to his right, the second-in-command at the centre, the navigator was at the front, and the extra to his left. The captain made a signal with his fingers. Looking ahead, Tobi noticed the cave entrance they were targeting was in sight.
What they didn't know was that this was his own hideout, the one he'd be using for the next few days.
"Time," the extra said. Tobi made brief eye contact with him, black eyes meeting black.
The captain confirmed, "Five seconds. Three. Two. One."
They dispersed.
Tobi used the moment to his advantage and activated Kamui, disappearing mid-jump. A blur, he reappeared behind the captain, kunai soaked with an anaesthetic formula. The captain remained unaware right up until the weapon sunk deep into his thigh. Tobi was swift to shove his hand into his mouth to muffle the pained cry that followed. When the captain went slack in his arms, he was certain the chemicals entered his bloodstream. Tobi teleported the man away, dropping him off inside the very hideout they were bordering. It wouldn't do to have the captain try to escape his cell, nor would it be appealing if he ran around freely in the second dimension. Tobi still had to finish up the rest of the mission and tie up any loose ends. Besides, Kabuto had enough poisons to share.
From the distance, he heard a scream. It was a woman's voice, the navigator's. Following its sound, Tobi dropped down from the trees when he spotted them.
The extra was wiping his dagger clean when he arrived, and the woman's body lay in a pool of red liquid at his feet.
"Did you manage to capture them?" the actor asked, voice guarded.
Tobi nodded, using his old persona to respond, "Yup! They're safely hidden in the safe-house!"
"You're quick."
"That's why Madara hired me!"
"Ssh!" the goat mask moved left and right as the man grew nervous, "Don't say his name!"
"Relax, man," Tobi's own falcon mask tilted, "I wonder how much he'll pay me!"
"Do the math. A hundred-thousand ryō split into two," the extra replied, "It's not hard, you twit."
"Split into two?" Tobi brought a finger to his chin, "That's funny. I don't remember you-know-who mentioning that."
The extra paused what he was doing. Tobi could almost hear the gears turning in his head. Finally, Tobi was facing a raised dagger, "He told you to kill me once I finished his dirty work, didn't he?"
Tobi shook his head, speaking quietly, "No, I was told to kill the girl."
"What girl? This girl?!" he kicked at the corpse's split skull, "In case you haven't noticed, she's already dead."
"Not her."
"Then wh – ?!"
An arrow ripped through the ANBU's neck, silencing him. Tobi watched with a passive expression as the second-in-command drop from the trees. She was late.
"Her," Tobi replied, answering a dead man's question.
She brushed the dirt off her knees, "I did as you asked. Why go through all this trouble? You could have grabbed him without my help."
"Recreation," he answered neither truthfully nor dishonestly. He just knew he needed a distraction.
"So, you did this for fun? You're a sadist," she spat, "I should never have turned to you."
"You should not have turned your back to me either," he said, referring to earlier while they were in formation, "The poison will take affect in but a moment."
The mask hid her expression, but the silence gave away her shock and horror. Tobi exhaled a soft puff of air. These games had never been fun; he didn't know why he bothered now. This wasn't amusing at all. At the sight of her clutching her chest and crumbling to the ground, Tobi vanished, the world spiraling around him.
•
He knelt down and gripped the corner of the tape stuck to the shinobi's lips. Wordlessly, he ripped it off with a violent tug, carrying little concern over the muffled whimper that followed. With easy movements of a practiced routine, Tobi removed the piece of fabric serving as a gag from the swelling mouth. He tossed it to the side.
"Y – !" his captive started, but something must have compelled him to stop, because he cut himself off almost immediately.
Tobi grabbed onto the arm rests of the chair before sitting down, never taking his sight off the present company. The man in front of him glared right back, eyes heated and red in all but colour. There was something familiar about the gaze, but he couldn't be bothered to think more on it.
Redder than blood, yet absent of its warmth, his eye digested the naked man in front of him. Bulging muscles strained against the bindings. His skin was flushed, sweaty. These signs were abnormal for the striking chill of the underground hideout. Nervous, was he?
He leaned back, "You're my prisoner of war."
Tobi continued on, as if the man responded, " Let's begin with an icebreaker of sorts. As an ANBU – Captain, if my hunch is correct – you know first hand what an interrogation entails. Did you ever... deliver?"
He didn't expect any cooperation from a loyal ANBU, but he waited a moment in silence to humour himself. At the sight of pale eyes shutting closed in refusal, he went on, "I thought so. It works better for the both of us like this. You can hold onto your pathetic patriotism and misplaced sense of duty, and I won't have to waste my time squeezing answers out of you."
Tobi pulled out the kunai from his sleeve, idly fiddling with it, "Last chance. You know how this will end."
With those final words, he waited again. He was a patient man. Receiving no response, Tobi de-activated the genjutsu.
The screaming was instantaneous.
The sight of this one was pitiful.
Gripping onto the armrests, he leaned forward, "Now, will you be co-operative?"
"Konoha – ha – will... not answer to you," through struggled breaths, the shinobi spoke as he was trained to, audibly falling into shock, "A-ah! You're a monster!"
"If you're clinging onto your daft hope that I will release you from this genjutsu, you're mistaken," Tobi stood to his feet, "You're not in one."
At the wide eyes, Tobi pointed to his misplaced legs, "This is real. But it doesn't have to be. I can build a new world, for me and you, for all of us. Nothing has to go wrong ever again. Doesn't that sound nice?"
The ANBU spat, "Fuck you, Uchiha."
"I want to know everything about the status of the nine-tails jinchuuriki," he demanded.
"H-hell—go to hell!" he shook.
"I'm already here."
He had a gut feeling this one wouldn't have valuable information either. Tobi would have to move higher up the ladder. As expected, Konoha was giving it their all to guard their intel. While his instincts told him this ANBU captain held no knowledge that he could use, he had to be sure before he moved on to the next one.
Tobi tightened his grip on the kunai.
This would have been simpler if he had the Rinnegan.
Tobi was sitting – he seemed to be doing a lot of that recently – in a plastic chair, idly watching the people of the town mill about. Unlike the last time they were here, the buildings were doused with daylight. He sat outside of a tea shop, Akatsuki cloak temporarily removed and replaced with a similar one in plain black. He didn't feel like being bothered today.
It was harder moving on knowing he could still go back.
Tobi closed his eyes.
Like this, when the darkness greeted him, when his eyes took in no light, he saw only him.
And the memory of his smile chased the shadows away. For a few moments, Tobi could forget his hatred and the plan. He could forget everything but those blue, golden eyes.
The chatter of other patrons faded into the background.
He was being haunted. Deidara was driving him to a quiet insanity. He was spiraling down a trail of self-destruction, and the weightlessness that arose from the endless fall became and addiction. Tobi recognized it. The gate was unlocked, open and beckoning, yet he was entirely unable to leave his cell. If only he had the strength to close it and lock himself back in. If only he could completely eradicate Deidara from his life.
But this was the path he opted to take. It was his decision. He had the opportunity to turn back, but he had chosen not to. This was wish. This was what he wanted – what they both needed.
Would things have gone different if he confessed his feelings?
Deidara was an unyielding force, and when met with his own determination to see the plan through, they got nowhere. If he brought delicate feelings into wreckage as it was, the outcome would have been the same, just messier.
Tobi paid no attention to the heaviness pushing down on him, raising his chin. A drop of rain fell on his mask with a patter, but he hardly noticed. Not a moment later and it was pouring. The skies shared his melancholy, it seemed. He squeezed his eyes together, pushing the onslaught of feelings away.
The world needed him, so he would serve.
A group of kids ran past him, shouting, shrilling, and screaming.
"You again?" a small voice said.
Tobi opened his eyes.
Daylight blinded him, not because of the brightness, but because everywhere he looked, he saw Deidara. He didn't remember what compelled him to return here, but now that he'd shown up, he regret it.
Tobi turned his head and looked down to see the child from back then. It was the boy, the one with the strong features and an even stronger attitude. He was soaked to the bone, with tiny, wet curls framing his face.
The kid's curious expression morphed into one of worry, "I thought I told you not to come back here!"
"You never said that."
"You're crabbier then I remember, old man," the kid muttered. He sat across from Tobi, acting like he'd been offered a seat.
The biscuits, kiwi, and tea that had been placed in front of him were cold and soggy, but Tobi slid the plate towards the kid anyways. The boy was thinner than he remembered.
"I was drunk," Tobi looked around, "And where's your sister? You two had been attached at the hip when we were last here."
Big eyes widened. The child looked uncomfortable. He was slow to retaliate, "Where's your partner?"
"Gone," Tobi said. There was no pretense with a stranger. The walls around his heart had never been thicker. He repeated, "Your sister?"
The child fiddled with the thin crackers. One snapped and crumbled between his dirty fingers. Then another. Snap. Snap. Grains scattered over the small hands and dirtied the table. Water washed it away.
The repetitive movements threw him in a haze, and Tobi woke from it when he heard a quiet, "Dead."
Oh.
He should have seen it coming. The child's body language was an open book.
The girl was deceased.
Tobi couldn't trust himself to say he was sorry, so he settled on silence.
"The medics said she was sick. Her body was destroying itself from the inside out. I couldn't understand what else they were saying," he said, sounding even smaller than he looked, "And I couldn't do anything to stop it."
The kid was rambling, "Gramps is sick now too. He's getting old. He blames himself because we have no money, but he doesn't get it. It was my fault! I made her go outside with me, but she was too cold, and I didn't listen. Her skin was blue, all around her mouth and her fingers, but I didn't listen! Now gramps is going to die too and..."
Tobi tuned out the rest of the boy's words. He heard enough; any more and he'd go mad.
Obito had never hated Death more than he did right then.
It grabbed Rin by the ankles and dragged her away. It clouded Deidara's mind, seducing him until it became him. It met with him too. Death had killed Obito long ago. And it's timing was certain to be impeccable; death was seldom late. Sometimes it decided to arrive early, knocking on the door of the unsuspecting. It took away the unsuspecting youth who were pure and too good for this world.
Gesturing to the plate, Tobi said, "Eat."
"I shouldn't complain in front of a shinobi," eyes glossy, the boy began, ignoring his instructions, "You've witnessed so much worse. I – !"
"Stop with this nonsense," Tobi stood to his feet. He dug into his cloak and dropped several bills into those tiny palms, "Drop the act. You're hurting."
"I can't take this – hold on," the kid rushed to stand up, "W-wait! You're leaving?"
He'd heard enough, seen enough, had enough. Tobi didn't think he could handle being reminded of how unfair the world was, not again. He was already drowning in his own depth of bottled rage. The child did not need to be exposed to more misery.
"Don't starve on me, boy."
"No, wait, please – !"
He'd fix this world. It was his duty.
Kamui took him away.
•
Why had he done that? What compelled him to care? He'd become soft, pliant like clay.
"We're burning down this place," Tobi suddenly said, breaking the silence.
Zetsu paused, "Don't you think that's a bit... excessive?"
Tobi turned his head to his long-time colleague, wanting an explanation. Since when did Zetsu concern himself with what was excessive?
Gold eyes returned his gaze, and not sounding pleased, the black half pointed out, "You're losing your rationale."
Tobi faltered, "Am I?"
"Don't listen to him, Tobi," White Zetsu interjected, eyeing the town with a toothy grin, "You can check this village off your list."
He must be hungry. Tobi didn't concern himself with Zetsu's wants, but he did begin to second-guess himself. Was he not being rational? This village was distracting him from his goal. It needed to be removed. This was an appropriate decision, wasn't it?
"No," Black Zetsu argued with his counterpart, "He will regret it."
"No, he won't. He's Tobi."
'A tool' was left unsaid, but Tobi heard it all the same.
"He will. We don't need him wallowing in self-pity. We need the beasts."
They argued as if he wasn't there, but Tobi listened. Black Zetsu had a point. Why waste time on this nonsense? They had better things to do.
With the distant memory of Deidara's awed eye gaping at the colourful village, Tobi interrupted their bickering, "We're leaving."
If you want to read the torture scene without parts of it cut out (which I recommend), visit the version of this fanfiction uploaded to Archive of Our Own! It's too graphic for this site, apparently.
This chapter was originally darker, but instead of that approach, we're going with something that's a smidge more humane. I gave a piece of myself in this because of it, which has left me feeling too exposed and vulnerable for my liking. But what can you do? I was beginning to feel detached from Fruit on the Vine, so doing this really helped. Hiatus successfully averted!
*Edit: Some extra thoughts were added during Kabuto's initial appearance. Many thanks to the anon on tumblr who made me realize I was missing an integral component of Tobi's growth process. At this point in the fic, Tobi's first thoughts would be of Deidara at the sight of the caskets, no matter how hard he's trying to forget about him.