Living a Lie

Chapter Twenty-three - Candyland and Cuddles

"Tobi is bored!"

Deidara rolled his eyes; the orange-masked shinobi had repeated himself at least twenty times that morning, saying that he was bored or wanted to play a game or that Deidara-sempai and Sakura-chan were no fun.

I sighed. There really wasn't much to do without the rest of the boys around. Everyone was out on their own missions except for Deidara, Tobi and myself.

Tobi was right, though: it was very boring.

I leaned back into the couch cushions, frowning. Deidara followed suit and crossed his arms. Tobi, from his seated position on the floor in front of us, flopped backwards and muttered, "Deidara-sempai and Sakura-chan are so boring."

"I heard that, un," Deidara grumbled.

I huffed again. "What is there to do around here besides eat, sleep, watch TV and spar? I mean, that's basically all we ever do when we're not on missions."

"There's nothing besides sitting here and being bored, un," Deidara answered, closing his eyes and frowning even more. He looked like a petulant child, and I'm sure I looked the same.

We both flinched when Tobi shot up to his feet and exclaimed, "Tobi has an idea!" He ran off into another room, while Deidara and I stared in the general direction he took off to.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked, nervous.

"I have no idea, un. But knowing him, he's got some stupid game he's going to shove in our faces any second now."

We waited, and, sure enough, Tobi came running into the room with a board game in hand and only stopped when it was two inches from our faces.

"See! See! It's gonna be so fun, Deidara-sempai, Sakura-chan! Tobi's a good boy!" he gushed, practically jumping up and down in excitement.

We were both silent, when Deidara said, "Tobi, you idiot, we can't see what it is with it in our faces!"

Tobi, unfazed, pulled the box back towards his chest and said, "Can you read it now? Isn't it gonna be awesome? Let's play! Let's play!"

I nearly burst out laughing. What would Pain say if he saw some of his lethal weapons, i.e. us Akatsuki, playing Candy Land? I imagined Pain walking in on us and the colorful children's game: his eye would surely twitch, and he'd probably be utterly speechless; maybe his mouth would be gaping in shock. More realistically, he'd probably just stare for a second, shake his head in exasperation and walk away, pretending he never saw anything.

"Candy Land, Tobi? Seriously?" Deidara asked, apparently amazed that his partner was such a child at heart.

"Deidara, don't act all surprised. You know you want to play a nice, cute board game with us," I said while moving from the couch to sit down on the floor. Tobi seriously squealed in joy and sat down and set about the task of getting the game organized.

Deidara stared for a second and, shaking his head and muttering something about immature wannabe ninjas who should at least act like they're real shinobi, he sat down next to me and picked up a player piece. "I'm blue, un."

"What? You can't be serious!" I exclaimed upon seeing the Mr. Peppermint card. I had been so close! I was a mere three spaces away from the finish and, as luck would have it, I drew the peppermint card.

Deidara laughed at my stricken expression. "That's what you get, un, for being all overconfident earlier. 'Oh, hey, look who's gonna win, losers!' Those were your exact words, if I recall."

I scowled. "Shut up."

"'Pride goes before the fall', right, Sakura-chan?" Tobi chimed in cheerfully. His piece was directly behind where mine had been, so now he was the one who was most likely to win.

"Not you, too!" I cried, reluctantly moving my piece back to the candy cane. "This game sucks."

"You're only saying that because you're losing, un."

"Deidara, what did I just say to you?"

He laughed. "You told me to shut up. As if I'm gonna listen to you."

My voice turned to an unaffected, calculating tone. "Hmm, yes. I suppose you don't need to listen to me. After all, I'm only a highly trained, very skilled medic who knows every possible way to exploit a person's… vulnerable points to put them in the most pain. That's all."

His eyes widened, and he wisely kept his mouth shut after that.

I woke up that night on the couch, cuddled up next to a very warm body. It took a second for me to regain my thoughts, but I remembered that, after playing countless rounds of Candy Land and later eating dinner in the living room while watching a movie, I had fallen asleep on Deidara.

He shifted as he woke up, and mumbled my name.

"Hmm?" I acknowledged, sitting up fully and moving away. He grabbed my wrist to prevent me from leaving his side and pulled me back. I returned to my previous position, deciding that cuddling really wasn't all that bad.

"Nothing," he said. "Just making sure you weren't that idiot."

I knew instantly that by 'that idiot', he was referring to his very strange partner, who appeared to be asleep in one of the recliners.

I asked him why he thought I was Tobi, and he sighed.

"He's weird, un. I woke up one time with him… cuddling… with me," he said quietly, and I nearly burst out laughing at the image that popped into my head.

"Shut up," Deidara admonished, sensing my impending giggle-burst. "I kicked him off my bed and threw bombs at him for it, so he hasn't done it since."

I chucked softly. Deidara wrapped his arms around me and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "You're okay to cuddle with, though, un."

I smiled, even though he couldn't see it in the dark. "Thanks, I guess. Just don't throw bombs at me or something, or I will castrate you."

He laughed quietly. "I wouldn't do that to you, Sakura. Never, not for any reason."

My guilty conscience stabbed at my heart, but I smiled fondly nonetheless. "Thanks, Deidara."

At that moment, I felt a looming presence behind me. Craning my neck, I looked over my shoulder to find a Tobi-shaped shadow standing behind me next to the couch.

"Tobi…?"

All of a sudden, I felt the couch cushions behind me sink in, and another warm body come up to rest against my side. Tobi wrapped his arms around my torso and rested his head on my shoulder. "'Night, Sakura-chan, Deidara-sempai."

Deidara groaned in annoyance. "God, Tobi, do you even know what personal space is, un?"

His complaint fell on deaf ears, however, as we both heard soft snoring coming from behind Tobi's mask.

"Forget it, Deidara," I said, resting my arm across his stomach. "'Night."

He sighed and said goodnight, and we all drifted off to sleep.