How Taki joined the Akatsuki(Tobi love story)

Chapter 18: Taki's birthday

Taki's POV:
I woke up at 3:00 in the morning, and felt something on my forehead. I took it off to see that it was a folded wet towel.

I looked around me to find that all of the Akatsuki members were sleeping on the ground next to me.

I got up from the couch, and looked at the calendar. It was my birthday. I saw that my name was highlighted on the square that represented December 3rd.

I didn't remember highlighting that day... but none of the Akatsuki knew that it was my birthday, so it had to have been me.

I hadn't bothered telling them, because I knew that either it would annoy them to celebrate my birthday, or they wouldn't care.

I got up, showered, and went outside to go water Zetsu's garden. Today would be a normal day, like any other.

I sat down on the bridge by the edge of the lake. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two figures coming towards me.

Kisame and Itachi sat down next to me. I've never talked to either of them before, so I stayed silent.

Kisame spoke up. "So, Taki. Itachi and I were thinking that we could go out somewhere together, y'know, to get our minds off of things. How does that sound?"

Normally, I would jump at the opportunity, but..  for some reason, going out feels like a pain in the neck.

I put on my best smile. "That sounds great." We left, and came to a dango shop. We ordered, and ate. We talked for awhile, and left.

"Kisame, Itachi, I think I'm going to visit my friends in Konoha tonight." They nodded. It was around lunchtime by the time we came back.

I opened the front door, to see that everything was dark inside. Suddenly, the lights flicked on. Every Akatsuki member jumped out at me.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TAKI! WE LOVE YOU!"

My hands flew to cover my mouth; a tear slipped from my eye. Balloons and decorations were put up everywhere on the walls.

They all hugged me. I started crying uncontrollably with happiness. "I love you, too!" I choked out.

We ate lunch, which was bought by Pein and Konan. I thanked all of them a thousand times over.

"Arigatou for being so kind to me. Arigatou for the party. Arigatou for everything!" They gave me presents.

Pein and Konan gave me a necklace, and a paper flower. Hidan was going to give me a knife, but Kakuzu didn't let him.

They both ended up giving me some money. Zetsu gave me a lily, which I thought was sweet.

I told Itachi and Kisame that taking me out was a gift all on its own. Sasori gave me two miniature puppets of me and him, holding hands as friends.

Deidara gave me a bird made out of clay. I thanked them, and told them that I would be back from Konoha on Christmas Day.

Tobi hugged me. "I'll miss you, Taki. Oh yeah!" He took out a small envelope from his cloak, and handed it to me.

"Don't open it until you get there." He whispered, bringing a finger over his mask where his lips would be.

He then giggled. I loved to hear his laugh. It made me feel so.. happy. He hugged me again.

"Bye, Taki!" He shouted. I cringed at how loud he got, right next to me. I laughed, and walked out.

Four hours later, I arrived at Konoha. The guards came running towards me. "Who are you?"

I smiled. "Hello, I'm-" "TAKI!" I looked over to see Naruto, and the rest of the gang with him, Kakashi casually following.

Sai's eyes looked directly into mine. He ran to me, and hugged me. I hugged back. "Oh, Taki, I missed you so much."

He had to bend a little to bury his face in the crook of my neck. "So." Kakashi walked up to me, and stuck his hand out for me to shake.

Sai and I pulled away. Instead of shaking his hand, I hugged him. He was tense at first, from surprise, then hugged me back.

"So why did you decide to come back?" He asked. I shrugged. "I wanted to spend Christmas Eve with my friends. Also, it's my birthday today, Kakashi-sensei."

He smiled. "Well, then if it's your birthday, then let's celebrate." Naruto cut in, and yelled, "RAMEN! Let's go eat ramen!"

I giggled, and followed his lead. We got our ramen free, because it was my birthday. Even so, I still gave him a large tip to say thank you.

I remembered the envelope, and opened it. I took out a little slip of paper, and read it aloud to myself. No one but Sai was really listening.

"Happy birthday, Taki! I know that you want to see me under my mask, but I can't let you see just yet. I have something even better, though! Here is a picture of me when I was younger!
Love,
Tobi."

"Aww, Tobi. I love you so much it hurts." I meant to say it in my head, though. Everyone looked at me. A blush formed on my cheeks, and I waved it off.

"It's nothing, it's just something my friend gave me." They turned back to what they were doing. I took out the picture, and my heart melted immediately.

There was a boy with orange goggles, smiling brightly, and had his thumb stuck out, winking. He stood with two other people:

One looked a lot like Kakashi. The other was a sweet girl with purple markings on her cheeks. I would say they they were about sixteen years old.

Sai pointed at the picture. "Hey, I've seen that picture. There's a picture like that one in Kakashi's room."

I went over to Kakashi, and showed him the picture. "Where did you get that." He asked immediately.

"Um.. I got it from my friend, Tobi. Sai said that you have a picture just like it."

Kakashi thought long and hard. "I do.. either your friend stole it, or.. no. Your friend must have stolen it."

I was confused. "Why would he steal a picture of himself?" Kakashi's head snapped up to look at me. "Say that again?" I repeated myself, slower this time.

"But that's not your friend. It can't be!" He said in disbelief. I pulled out the slip of paper, and gave it to him.

He read it, and just stared at it. "Who is it, then?" I asked. He slowly looked up at me, and pointed at the picture.

"That's a picture of me, Rin, and... Obito Uchiha."