[do not] Lie to me - tobidei

CHAPTER 5 - What is love?

Deidara's POV

Those stupid dreams again, what the hell? Deidara thinks as he wakes up in his small room at the hideout. He finds himself to be annoyed and most of all confused. His dreams were usually all about his art: beautiful explosions, one after the other. Recently all he can think about in his sleep is a lonely orange tree in a distant field, surrounded by prettiest orange sunset he has ever seen. He always wakes up pissed off about it, since nothing should interfere with his inspirations.

He rises up and gets himself ready for the day. Tobi and him don't have any missions in the following days, so he just woke up early to jog and train a little. Deidara opens his door only to be met with Tobi's tall figure leaning in his doorframe, already waiting for him.

"Weird of you to be up so early, hm"

"Wow, so mean so early! Tobi just wanted to say good morning to his favorite senpai, that's all."

"Anyway, get out of the way, yeah?"

"Actually, can Tobi seen his senpai's room?" Tobi says as he peers over Deidara's shoulder into the room

"The fuck? No!"

Tobi walks in anyways and sits in Deidara's bed, patting the spot right beside him. Deidara crosses his arms in annoyance and stands in the corner right beside the door. Tobi leans against the bedframe and looks back at his partner, who says:

"Tobi, get the fuck out. I have things to do."

"I want to see senpai sculpting"

"What?"

"Tobi wants to see his senpai's art, he likes it"

This catches Deidara of guard. Tobi has made fun of him in the past, a lot. It is not normal for him to praise his art like that. Actually, it is not normal for anyone to praise his art, ever. The thought of someone enjoying his creations has the blonde nin blushing wildly from ear to ear. He stares at Tobi's mask for a couple of seconds before agreeing.

Deidara sits at his table opposite to the bed while Tobi is still in the same position, observing him silently. He grabs a lump of clay and begins working it into a basic shape. With his peripheral vision, he can notice that Tobi's posture has completely changed. Instead of the usual lump, his partner sits with his back straight in a very confident way. His whole vibe is different from the usual. Deidara can feel it. Was... Tobi acting like himself? He also hears the cackling of something made of clay touching the ground. His mask. Tobi is not wearing his mask. He dares not to turn around and keeps on working, pretending he has not noticed it.

His presence is very strong but Deidara seems to enjoy it. They quickly fall into a rhythm of repeating it almost every day. Tobi sits in his bed unmasked looking at the blonde while he works, and Deidara never peers at his partner. They share these truthful moments in silence and never mention it afterwards. Deidara just thinks it is best to respect the other one's privacy.

Obito's POV

A new set of missions break the pairs newly established routine. Obito has made sure to assign them to easier ones for a while, so their work is pretty straight forward: capture people from the bingo books and do mercenary work.

It is summer again and Obito hates it. The fact that he has been flying in an unstable explosive clay bird for hours has him on edge, besides all the things he has on his plate currently. He cannot stop thinking about what Deidara said regarding freedom and how his plan is just the opposite of that. Maybe he is an entitled Uchiha like Itachi. Besides all the new weird dynamic going on between the two. He also forgets about his duty and hobby to hourly annoy his partner, and Deidara clearly notices it. He says:

"Say, Tobi, We both know you have more going on than you let on, everyone in the Akatsuki does, yeah."

"Huh? I don't understand you senpai. Tobi is just a good boy!" Obito says in that voice that his partner hates.

"Those stories you tell me, hm"

"What about them dei-dei senpai?" He asks trying to get Deidara over the edge.

"Idiot, you know. Those long ass tall tales you insist in annoying me with, hm. That story about the ant and the cicada who took his girlfriend, for example. I feel like there's a hidden meaning behind that."

He continues as Obito stares at him intently through the mask: "Seems like you really wanted something and couldn't have it"

Silence.

"... or someone hm" Deidara states, squinting.

Obito's life flashes through his eye. Was he talking too much without noticing?

"Yeah that's it, yeah. I cannot relate, though. Feelings like that aren't cool. Wanting to be beside someone forever is weird. It's something that fake artists like Sasori would want. Things aren't supposed to last that long, true beauty resides in fleeting moments, like an explosion, hm"

"But senpai!" Obito immeadtly questions himself as to why he is even entertaining this, this conversation is dangerous. "Love is an explosion!"

"No it's not. An explosion is brief and awesome. Love is lame and the same every day, yeah"

"Silly senpai, love is an explosion that keeps on surprising us every day with new colors and new fleeting moments" Obito thinks he must stop, that's getting too out of character, but he continues: "like every time you make someone you like smile or you feel good around them"

"Like I said, I can't relate. I have never had someone like that. And besides, I only love my art."

"Tobi really loves him senpai!" The older says trying to regain control of the situation by irritating Deidara.

"Fuck off, I know what you're doing, hm. But I'll consider the explosion thing, I've never tough about it that way. I guess things can be a little constant but still be fleeting. Like you annoying the hell out of me in new ways every single day or when you keep me company." Deidara practically whispers the last sentence and hides a slight smile behind his hair and turns away to face the front of the bird.

Obito takes notice and feels his ears getting warm. Summer really is a nuisance.