Akatsuki Night In: Camping

You smile, an idea popping into your head,

“Let’s go camping!”

No one says anything – then Itachi points out from his armchair,

“We go camping on missions all the time.”

You nod, agreeing,

“Yeah, we do, but I don’t mean camping like that; I mean proper camping! With camp-fires and marshmallows and staying up at night making shadow-puppets on the side of the tent!” Again, silence. You sweat-drop, “Aww, come on guys, it will be fun!”

Pein is the first to reply to your idea, sat hidden in shadows at the back of the room,

“I think…that that is actually quite a good idea, ____.” He hears a few protests but continues, “It could be a very good bonding experience and can change the way we look at camping; not having to get up early in the morning to carry on moving.”

You grin; glad someone is supporting you,

“Yeah! Exactly!”

A few of the other members – now looking at camping in a different light – agree with you, thinking it will probably be alright, though a few still complain.

Nevertheless at 7:00pm sharp, all members of Akatsuki make their way from the base carrying tents, sleeping bags and other equipment, heading deep into the surrounding forest. Pein has bullied them into going whether they want to or not.

You walk for a good twenty minutes until you make it to a small coveted area; perfect for setting up the tents. You’re grinning from ear-to-ear, happy that Pein had taken your idea on.

After Deidara has been sent up into the air to scope the surrounding area, the rest of you start to set up your tents. Since you have been wanting to go camping for such a long time, it’s natural that you had figured out how to set up a tent – an item not usually needed on a mission – so you’re the first person to pitch your tent up successfully. Once done you look around, laughing slightly at the others’ pitiful attempts. Over at Hidan and Kakuzu’s tent, Kakuzu has managed to successfully pin Hidan to the floor using tent-pegs and the Jashinist is screaming blue murder. Elsewhere, at Zetsu's tent – if you can call it that – he has given up completely and has decided to sleep in a tree instead. Literally.

As funny as these situations are, you do notice one member's predicament and take pity on him. You walk over to the pile of moving sheets (the tent after having collapsed for the second time) and lift up the corner of them, helping your friend's escape from below. He crawls out feet first, rubbing his head where the main-pole had hit him. You grin,

“Having fun Tobi?”

At the sound of your voice Tobi turns round, grinning behind his mask,

“Thanks for saving Tobi, ____!” He looks back at the pile on the floor, “But Tobi will beat the tent monster!”

He turns round and dives back onto the pile of sheets and poles. You watch him amusedly, not bothering to ask about 'the tent monster' – it is Tobi after all.

“Would you like a hand with your tent?” You ask, watching Tobi fail to fix two of the poles together. He looks up at you, then back down at the poles, then at you again. He chirps,

“Okay!” He looks over to your tent, “____ seems to know what she's doing!”

You smile at him and crouch down, picking up an edge of the tent-coverings.

So the pair of you set to work making Tobi's tent. Admittedly you find it much harder to build than your own tent, but this is probably only because Tobi keeps getting in the way, falling over things, jumping on you, etc. You're ten minutes into the job, finally putting the last outer-pole into place with Tobi holding the bag of tent-pegs in his arms behind you,

“Do we use these now?” He asks in a whiny voice; the forth time tonight. You look over your shoulder, rolling your eyes at him,

“No, Tobi, not yet.” You secure the pole into place, then wipe at your brow. You give a sigh, then decide to start fixing the netting on the inside of the tent. As you're crawling inside you look over your shoulder again, “Coming, Tobi?”

Tobi drops the tent-pegs immediately, diving forward into the tent. You only just make it in time to roll out of the way before Tobi comes flying past you into the middle of the tent in a heap. You laugh and follow behind. Once both inside – and once you've picked Tobi up off the floor – you both set to work pinning the bug netting into place. Of course letting Tobi loose with a hammer has never been a good idea, so that task is left to you whilst Tobi just holds the tacks. As you're going around the tent, securing each corner into place, Tobi becomes increasingly bored and starts to complain again,

“____, Tobi's bored! Tobi wants to help more!”

You fix the last tack into place then turn round, dropping the small hammer to the floor. There's only one task left to do, but it's the most important one. You go to tell him that you'll do it, but then after looking through the one eye-socket of his mask to see his pleading eye, you sigh in defeat,

“Okay, Tobi, you can pitch the main pole up, but be careful.”

Tobi, overjoyed with the idea of having the most important job of the whole tent-building process, jumps about in joy for a moment then launches himself at you again,

“Thank you, ____! Tobi will not mess this up!”

You laugh, patting Tobi on the head,

“Glad to hear it.”

He lets go of you then scrambles out of the tent in search of the pole to prop it up with. After he's disappeared you laugh to yourself. Tonight is going to be really great, you can tell.

Moments later Tobi reappears, holding the tent-pole over his shoulder. You duck slightly as he spins round to put the pole in place in the centre of the tent. As he's doing so, Tobi asks,

“So what are we doing tonight, ____?”

“Hmm?” You look at him, watching him put the tent pole into place, “Well I'm not sure really. Kisame's gone to find something to eat and Sasori's setting up the camp-fire, so I guess we'll be telling ghost stories all night!”

Tobi spins round, the horrified look hidden behind his mask,

“Tobi doesn't like ghost stories! Tobi hates ghost stories!” As he's yelling his head off about how he'll never listen to a ghost story ever again – not after the last time Hidan had told him one – he starts to back up, and you only notice after it's too late that he is getting closer and closer to the-

“Tobi, mind the pole!” Yeah. Too late. Tobi crawls backwards one step too far and collides with the pole, sending it crashing to the floor, unluckily along with the rest of the tent. You let out a small scream as the tent collapses on top of you, covering you in fabric and poles.

After the tent has settled you go to pull yourself up, pushing the tent netting from on top of you, only Tobi jumps on you instead,

“____, Tobi is so sorry! Tobi didn't mean to hurt ____! Is ____ okay?”

You laugh, trying to push Tobi up off of you,

“It's alright, Tobi, I'm fine,” He doesn't budge, “Honest!”

He wraps his arms around you in a bone-crushing hug, throwing his head against your shoulder, sobbing loudly. You roll your eyes, still trying to pry him off you. He can be so over-dramatic at times. You laugh,

“Tobi, can you get up? I need to breathe!”

He pulls his head from your shoulder, looking at you from behind his mask with a sudden quietness. That's odd. It's not like Tobi to be so calm...?

“Uhh... Tobi?” You try to sit up, but his body is still on top of yours, “Move? Please?”

He sits up slightly, but not enough to let you up. You sigh,

“A bit more maybe-” You stop talking, seeing him reach for his mask. Your throat turns dry, “Tobi, what are you doing?”

He unhooks the mask from his face and pulls it away, dropping it next to him on the tent floor. Instinctively you shut your eyes tight, not wanting to see what is hidden beneath the mask. You have too many ideas that are all about to be ruined with one glance.

“Tobi, put your mask back on and please get off me,” Your heart-beat is in your head. He doesn't move. Again.

“Why has ____ closed her eyes?” You hear a hint of hurt in his voice, “Does ____ think Tobi is ugly?”

Well truth be told you can't say what you think, because you honestly don't know what he looks like under his mask, but, hearing his upset you say,

“No Tobi, I don't think you're ugly. I just... I don't want you going and spoiling your identity just because of me!”

You hear him chirp again, sounding much happier,

“Oh! If that's the case, Tobi doesn't mind! He wants ____ to see his face, that's why he took the mask off!”

Damn it.

“Uhh, o- oh, Tobi, well if that's the case then- uhh...-”

“-although Tobi doesn't mind if ____ keeps her eyes closed for this either.”

What did he just say?

Before you can ask what he means by that, Tobi does something that surprises you. A lot. He leans forwards on to you again, his whole bodyweight on top of yours; holding you against the floor. You are unsure of what's going on – your eyes still closed – until you feel something warm against your lips. You have to force your eyes to stay shut; not letting them widen in surprise. Tobi's lips are pressed against yours, light but unmoving. You can feel your heartbeat against your chest - or possibly it's Tobi's heartbeat; he's that close you can't tell any more. You squeeze your eyes tight, stopping yourself from opening them to get a quick glance at the boy kissing you.

Right! That's it! You give in; you're going to look. Everyone else has been wondering about him too; wanting to see what's behind the mask. You'll be able to look at them and laughing smugly, knowing what they don't-

Before you know what's happening Tobi pulls away, his lips leaving yours. You dart your eyes open and sit up, only by the time your eyes have focused, Tobi's mask is back in place. You heart is still racing.

Now, once he's sat opposite and not on top of you, it's only now that you realised what just happened. You stare at Tobi; the boy behind the mask, speechless. He reaches his hand forward, his voice suddenly wavering; as if scared,

“_-____?”

You don't know what to say. What just happened... why did it happen? It's Tobi, for goodness' sake. He's your friend; one of your best friends. Why did he just-...

“Guys! The food's ready! Come and get it!” A voice calls from outside the 'tent'. You're slightly glad for the excuse to leave. You don't speak a word to Tobi. You don't even look at him. You're too shocked from what has just happened. You crawl out from under the pile of sheets and poles as fast as you can, leaving Tobi behind.

*

That night you finally have the camping experience you've always wanted. Everyone sits around the camp-fire that Sasori had made earlier, talking and eating fish, and then marshmallows later. It's the first time you've seen most of the other members so relaxed. Even loud-mouth Hidan has settled down, chilling back against a fallen log with a marshmallow in hand. Everyone seems so happy – all except for one, though you don't notice; being too engrossed in the scary-story Itachi is telling.

Tobi doesn't utter a word all night. Not even to whine about people telling ghost-stories. He sits on his log, his head hung slightly, and a fish on a stick forgotten by his feet. It's only Deidara who notices his glum mood, and even that is only by accident,

“Hey, Tobi, you going to eat that, un?” He asks, pointing to the fish on the floor. Tobi looks up at him for a moment, then sags his head. He reaches down and picks up the fish for Deidara,

“Here.”

He holds it out for Deidara, but the blonde doesn't take it. He stares at Tobi in surprise. That was the shortest reply he'd given....ever. No 'Here you go, Deidara!' or 'Noooo Deidara-senpai! Tobi was saving the fish for later!'. Deidara shuffles over to sit next to Tobi, leaning forward to look at his masked-face,

“What's wrong, un?”

Now don't get Deidara wrong. He's not usually this nice to Tobi; usually doesn't take pity on him. It's just that tonight he's feeling extra generously kind; possibly because he's having fun camping? Who knows. Either way he listens to what Tobi has to say, talking quietly as the rest of you listen to the ghost-stories now being told by Zetsu.

*

Later that evening, after the fire has died down and everyone is feeling considerably sick from eating so many marshmallows, you all decide to call it a night. As everyone packs up the food and such, you decide to go down to the nearby river to take a wash. Always good to be clean and refreshed after all.

You walk down to the lake on your own, leaving your Akatsuki-cloak back in the tent, taking a towel in it's place. Once at the lake you take a quick look around, making sure no one's about, then strip off and dive in the water as fast as you can. Once in, you twirl about for a while then dunk yourself below the water to wash your face. Now submerged in the water you open your eyes and look around, seeing everything on the lake floor shimmering in the light of the moon. You smile, letting small air-bubbles escape your lips. Down here everything looks so peaceful – it sort of makes you forget about... what happened earlier. You sigh, more bubbles forcing their way out of your mouth, then you push yourself up from the lake-floor, resurfacing to take in air. You tread water for a while, just looking up at the moon and thinking. Maybe you shouldn't have reacted the way you did back there...

You turn round suddenly, hearing something move in the bushes. Instinctively you duck back under the water; waiting just below the surface and watching closely. A moment later and Deidara appears, looking around curiously. He seems to be looking for something. He takes a few steps forwards then seems to notice your clothes and towel hanging off a tree-branch. He turns scarlet. You laugh slightly below the water, then notice Deidara start to call something out, looking around again. You pop your head up to listen,

“____? ____!”

Oh, he's looking for you. You resurface above the water, up to your shoulders, then wave your hand about frantically,

“Deidara, over here!”

He looks over to you, then, noticing you're completely naked and dripping wet, he promptly passes out with a nose-bleed. You roll your eyes. Boys.

A short while later Deidara wakes up, finding himself propped up against a tree-trunk with you – now full dried and clothed – staring at him curiously. When he's more awake than not you ask,

“Uhh, Deidara? What did you want?”

He blinks a couple of times, then after remembering why he'd dared to come out here in the first place, he says,

“Tobi, un.”

You frown,

“What about Tobi?”

Deidara rubs his head, feeling a bruise forming where he crashed it against the ground,

“He...thinks you're mad at him. He's really upset, un.”

Your eyes bulge,

“Wh-what do you mean? Why would he be-”

“-He told me what happened when you two were setting up the tent, un. Don't deny it.”

You cross your arms defensively,

“I wasn't going to deny it!” You loosen your expression, “But why would he think I'm mad at him?”

Deidara shrugs,

“Don't know. Apparently you ditched him after he kissed you, looking all mad, un.”

You look off into the trees, back at where the camp-site is, then back at Deidara. You say quite desperately, alarmed by the information being thrown at you,

“I-I wasn't angry with him... I was just shocked, that's all. I didn't mean-”

Deidara raises his hands, shutting you up,

“Don't tell me, ____, tell Tobi,” You don't move so he adds, “Seriously, go talk to him, un. I don't want him moping around for the next week and a half.”

You look off into the trees again, then nod and look back at Deidara with a smile on your face,

“Yeah, you're right. I guess I should tell him I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to upset him.”

Deidara nods his head, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb,

“Yeah, get going, un. I'll take a bath then come back to camp.”

“Alright,” you say, picking up your towel then heading back into the woods. As you leave, Deidara rolls his eyes. He'd never expected Tobi to fall in love with anyone – and look what happens when he does! Stupid idiot.

You dash through the trees, heading back to the camp-site. It's dark now and the fire's been put out so you take a while searching for the tents. Eventually you find them and head over to Tobi's, only when you get there you stop in your tracks, your eyes filling with pity. There, in front of you is Tobi, all alone in the dark, failing to put two poles together to pitch up his tent. You give him a sympathetic smile,

“T-Tobi?”

He looks up at you suddenly, not realising you'd been standing there, but then after seeing you he looks back at the poles in his hands, sagging his head,

“Hi ____.”

You sigh again, shaking your head. The poor thing. He looks so pathetic right now. You watch him for a moment as he tries to slot the two poles into place again, then say quietly,

“Tobi...” the words fade from your lips. You have a better idea. You walk forward, not saying a word, but lean down and take hold of Tobi's arm. He looks at you inquisitively before you pull him up, making him drop the two poles to the ground, then pull him along. He asks glumly,

“Where are we going, ____?”

Wow, you really have upset him. There's no happy tone in there at all. You pull him through the little village of tents until you come to one tent – your tent. Still holding onto Tobi's arm you lean down and unzip the bug-net, then crawl inside, dragging Tobi in with you,

“You can sleep in here tonight with me.”

Once inside you zip the net back up then pull out the small torch from your backpack. You sigh, turn it on, then quickly lean forward and wrap your arms around Tobi, holding him tightly.

“I'm sorry, Tobi, I never meant to upset you before. And I promise I'm not mad at you.”

He stays still for a moment, then wraps his own arms around you. He speaks quietly,

“Tobi's sorry too. He didn't mean to scare ____. He just wanted to-... to-...”

You smile into Tobi's shoulder,

“It's alright, Tobi. I understand. You just wanted to show me I'm your... special friend, right?”

He pulls away and nods his head rapidly, fidgeting with the sleeve of his cloak. You smile again, then lean forward and press your lips to the side of his mask,

“You're my special friend too, Tobi.”

Tobi raises his hand to the spot you'd kissed him, speechless. Slowly, and without you realising, a wide smile spreads out over his face; hidden behind his mask.

“Tobi is ____'s special friend too...” Suddenly, and without warning Tobi dives on you, wrapping his arms around your head in a suffocating hold, “Tobi and ____ can be special friends forever, then live together, then get married and have lots and lots of children and they'll all live happily ever after!”

You pry Tobi's arms away from your face, laughing as you do so. Tobi is Tobi; that's all he can ever be.

“Okay Tobi, one step at a time!”

“No!” Tobi whines childishly, “Tobi wants it noooooo~ow!”

You laugh and tackle Tobi to the floor in a hug.

Just outside the tent; just next door to be exact, a certain blonde-bomber smiles to himself, listening to the commotion from the tent next to him. He opens the bug-netting and crawls inside, rubbing his hair with a towel.

He's glad that Tobi finally has someone special – mainly because it will stop Tobi whining at him from now on (you get to deal with that! Ha, un!) – but also because, for once, he knows his friend will be truly happy.