Disclaimer: Mia is my bitch. And Tobi's, but he doesn't know that... yet.

Warning: Usual shit.

Beta: featherstofly

Second Beta: Lavendor Queen

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(First Person POV – Tobi)

I didn't mean for it to happen.

You know... you know... life can really, really suck at times. It was hard—is hard, but was especially hard at the beginning. I was an outcast to my own family, not only because I couldn't activate my Sharingan—my baby cousin activated it before me—but because I seemed hopeless as a shinobi in general. That wasn't the case, of course. It wasn't my fault. It was theirs. Their training methods were outdated and their structure crippled me. They didn't know it; I didn't know it, either. So to all appearances, I was a hopeless dead-last.

For a long while, I thought I was hopeless, too.

That was when I met her.

Her, being Rin.

I remember it being a bright day. To all accounts it should have been a good day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming... to everyone else, it seemed like, it was a good day. For me, though? For me, it wasn't. I'll spare you the exact details of why. I've tried very hard to repress my childhood; it wasn't a very pleasant thing for me. My mother died young, she died shortly after my younger brother's birth. Father always blamed Shisui for it—well, not always. When it became apparent that Shisui was such a rising prodigy, he switched that blame onto me.

Father was...my father was a very strict name. Traditional. Physical.

To all accounts... to all accounts he wasn't a very good father. He wasn't a very good man.

I still had them. The scars. The marks. Now, of course, they just look like markings from my near-death experience. Just more to add on, I suppose.

I remember that day because it was my birthday. Shisui had given me some of his candy he had bought. He was such a sweet thing. I didn't want him to die, but the ends justified the means, I thought.

I was lonely. I was tired. I was sore.

I wasn't expecting anyone else to show me the time of day, the exception being Shisui. Even my teachers at the academy just turned a blind eye when it came to me. The Uchiha, after all, were such a prestigious family. It would be preposterous if one of their own needed help—if one of their own actually wanted contact with an outsider.

Idiots.

I'm sorry, I'm getting off track. It was just a small gesture, but I suppose that was all I needed at that time. She came up to me and asked me, 'Why aren't you smiling?'

'I don't want to,' I told her.

And she smiled at me and held out a neatly wrapped box. 'It's your birthday, isn't it? I remember because you told the class during your introduction.'

What was contained in the gift wasn't important—what I needed the most at that moment was some sort of acknowledgement. I needed someone—anyone—to have noticed me. I was tired of being pushed aside by the rest of my family, and when I was noticed, it was only to be used as a dummy. I wanted someone to have paid the slightest bit of attention to me and to have liked me.

This girl—a girl I didn't even know the name of—just gave me a present. She acknowledged me, paid attention to me, and even remembered something that had been said so long ago. I didn't know what to think of her.

That was about when I started noticing her.

Her smiles. Her laughs. Her gentle demeanor. The way she moved. The way she talked.

Everything about her was just so bright and sweet. It was so vastly different than what I was used to—I was confounded to how I had missed her in the first place. It didn't take long of watching her that I eventually started to care for her. And from that point, it manufactured its way into love.

I was in love with Rin.

On the day that she died, I felt shattered. The person that had noticed me—acknowledged me—was gone. Someone who did not deserve to be gone was taken away. The one good thing that had happened to me was stolen from me.

I was furious. I hated everything and everyone at that moment and I just wanted all of it to stop. I had considered for a while just following after her. It would have been so simple—I had nothing to live for anymore, but it was Madara who persuade me to stay. To listen. To watch.

I did, and in that time I discovered just how corrupt and horrible this world really was. I had thought to myself, No wonder someone so bright as Rin never survived. She didn't stand a chance in this world.

And Madara had pointed out, that so long as the world remained as such, people like Rin would continue to die every day and every night, and people like me would lose their smiles, every day and every night.

It didn't seem fair. It didn't seem right.

So I set to make it right. I wasn't just doing this for Rin, for the girl I fell so madly in love with. I was doing it for all the Rins, and all the Obitos. Because no one deserved that kind of pain. No one deserved to have their light stolen from them.

It was true that I had to steal a couple of lights, regardless of how I felt, along the way. But in the grand scheme of things, Madara had pointed out, what's a few lights to a hundred?

I didn't mean for it to happen.

For a long, long time, I had thought she was just a figment of my imagination, just something concocted in the back of my mind to help me deal with the trauma. Because, really, what were the odds of that not being the case? I thought, perhaps, if I humored her—if I befriended her—she would go away and my mind would be at rest.

That was not the case.

When she started telling me things—things I shouldn't have known about—I was confused. It gave me pause to think that maybe, just maybe, Mia was real. But that couldn't be right—it was too strange, too alien, to even think about, so I dismissed it as just coincidences. When I started to being able to feel her world, feel her hand in my own, feel her arms around me, feel her breath on my—

—That was another thing. Her physical affections. In my world, or at least in my clan, it was frowned upon for such displays of affections—it was even more frowned upon if they weren't married in some way. I remember how awkward I was with the contact at first, but she had seemed so at ease with it, I felt like it would be wrong to deny her. Besides, she was just a figment of my imagination, so what if she was touchy?

I digress. Even when I started to be able to feel her, I still dismissed her and her world as just a very vivid fantasy. I was too set in my belief that when she fell into my arms—not too long ago—I was...conflicted.

On one hand, I was very pleased to have found a true friend. After all, Mia and I had formed a very strong connection and I knew I could trust her with anything. On the other hand, I had just told an actual person everything there was to know about me. I had confessed to her things that I wouldn't have even told Rin. I had felt so very naked, standing in front of her, her green eyes staring up at me. Never before had I felt so vulnerable and insecure and tiny in her gaze. My worries and fears were cast aside, though, when she treated me in the same manner. That even though we both realized we were very real, and we both shared our scars, and she had seen every bit of me... she still accepted me.

She acknowledged me.

Much more, she still wanted to be with me—adored it, in fact. She went out of her way to make me more comfortable, and I couldn't recall anyone doing that before. Even Rin kept her distance to some extent, yet there Mia was; someone who knew all my dirty little secrets and still loved me for them.

I had thought she was truly my greatest friend.

Ah, but then time played its role.

And no longer was she just a figment of my imagination—she was there, she was real.

For years I had been able to remain ignorant of her, to be able to see her as only a very close friend. I never would have anticipated viewing her in a different light—the very notion at the beginning seemed so far-fetched it was laughable.

I couldn't tell you when I started noticing her—oh, wait. Yes, I could.

It was a long day at Amegakure, some time ago, and Mia was exhausted. She declared, quite clearly, that she just wanted to shower and then head to bed. She had to currently stay in my room, as the prank war was currently active at the time and her room was essentially demolished. It was a little after when I had joined the war, but the two of us declared a sort of truce for the time being. Anyway, she had to borrow some of my clothes, as well, as her clothes were rendered. (Let's just say that Deidara was quite spiteful at times.)

She had stepped out of my bathroom—wearing only her underwear and one of my too-large-for-her shirts, grinning and snickering as she was undoubtedly thinking up another prank, and that's when it struck me.

I kind of like her in my shirt.

I was so surprised by my line of thought, I was left speechless and she had to grab my attention by pulling on my arm and then I started to notice how long and smooth her legs were and how bright her eyes and how she smelled really nice and—

It went downhill from there.

I tried, I really did, to ignore the signs. I resisted every step of the way.

I didn't want to be attracted to my only friend. I didn't want to risk losing her like I did with Rin. I didn't want to be hurt all over again.

I didn't want her like that.

It got worse, of course. The photographs didn't help solve the matters, either and then there was that whole X fiasco and then Kakashi...

I really wasn't quite sure who I hated more: X or Kakashi.

On one hand, Kakashi stole Rin away from me and was spending an awfully lot of time with Mia. However, Mia seemed to have thoroughly friend-zoned Kakashi, despite Anko's persistence and I knew full well that she would never do something to hurt me like dating Kakashi. I was quite confident that when it came down to it, she would undoubtedly choose me over him, and it was for that reason alone, I hadn't killed him. Yet. That, and for the moment it seemed like Kakashi held a strictly platonic view of Mia.

Which was fine. I wouldn't begrudge her the chance of more friends—she was friends with the other Akatsuki members, the majority of them male and I didn't get jealous over them, so why should I get jealous over Kakashi?

Well, that wasn't entirely true. I suppose that I did sometimes get jealous when she would steal Itachi away or Itachi would kidnap her away, and the two would go off and discuss rather secretive things that I had yet to figure out what they were about. I had a feeling, though, that it was Sasuke and Naruto related. Itachi was just as much a mother-hen to Sasuke as Mia was to Naruto.

And X... Well, I just didn't like that guy. I had every intentions of killing him, as soon as I found him.

Bastard. How dare he not allow himself to be caught and killed by me already...

I digress again.

I wasn't an idiot, though. I could read the signs, no matter how much I tried to deny them, they were still there. I was attracted to her. I found her eyes and lips irresistible, and I loved the way she smiled and laughed, and I adored the way she walked and I was infatuated with her humor and quirks.

I was undeniably in love with her, both physically and mentally.

However... However...

While she was the most precious person to me alive, she was not my first. She was not there when I needed her, the way Rin was. She did not die in vain—nor would she ever, if I had a say about it—and she was still my closest friend.

I had faith, that in time, I would be able to love Mia the way I loved her before. I had faith that my love for Rin would persevere and that soon enough, things would settle down between Mia and myself. I had to have faith in that, because the alternative was unacceptable. Not only did Mia not return my affections, but the very thought of betraying Rin in such a manner—

No. Not even just betraying Rin, but betraying what I stood for in the first place, the new reason I lived, was just unthinkable.

I lived to make sure there would be no other deaths like Rin's, and no other heartbreaks like Obito's. If I, Uchiha Obito, loved someone else... If I, Uchiha Obito, loved that someone else more than Rin, then what purpose did I have? I wanted to prevent what had happened to me, but if I ended up happy, then what am I preventing?

If I stopped loving Rin, then what would I be fighting for?

I would have no purpose, no drive. All my goals and everything that I had to destroy to get so far—all of it would have been for nothing.

Shisui, Yahiko, the Uchiha Clan, Minato, Kushina—all of them, every last one of them, would have died in vain.

I would have murdered them in vain.

And that...that was unthinkable.

I didn't mean for it to happen.

I didn't mean to fall in love with my best friend.

But I did mean, and I do mean, to not pursue it. I would make sure my feelings rot away, not just for myself, but for them. It would be selfish of me to stop now, and even more selfish to pursue my own happiness after destroying those of so many others.

My feet touched the ground lightly and I glanced around the stadium. I felt a frown tug at my lips when I stared at the place Mia should have been.

Please tell me you didn't go all mother-hen on me, I thought, inwardly sighing in annoyance. You moron...

However, as I turned to leave, I noticed something.

My brows furrowed in confusion, and I stared at her comfort bag. It was the bag she and I had prepared for her to watch the matches—she wouldn't have left it behind, especially given the circumstances. She knew she needed to remain calm, not only for herself, but for the others.

The only reason it's here and she isn't...

I felt my body chill to the bone and a cold fury washed over me.

Fuck. No.

Red was all I saw, and instinctively my Sharingan activated. My hands were clenched so tightly into fists, they were shaking. I had to consciously grit my teeth and bite my tongue to make sure I made not a single sound. It took a full minute to calm myself down to the point where I could rationally think.

Mia was gone, and she did not leave willingly. It was just as possible for someone I didn't want her near to take her, as it would be for someone like Kakashi or Anko to take her someplace safe. Ah, but wait, Zetsu was monitoring all the safe-houses in case Orochimaru decided to make a grab for hosta—

I froze.

No, I thought. He didn't really...? While it's true she did openly declare herself as a member of the Akatsuki, he couldn't have just assumed she was a higher-ranking member from that one meeting, could he? No. That's too far-fetched, even for him. Which meant...which meant he had someone on the inside. A traitor amongst us? But who? Mia didn't mention anyone turning over to Orochimaru from the Akatsuki... Could the betrayal somehow be a domino affect from her presence? If that's the case, then how to discern the traitor...? It would be best if we took Orochimaru straight to Pein, but Konoha would want his body and we need to earn Konoha's trust if we want to proceed with the plans—we can't allow Konoha to take him alive, especially if he knows more about Mia's involvement with the Akatsuki that what is public knowledge. Damn.

I whirled around, throwing a kunai directly behind him. There was a blur of black before a shinobi stepped away from the shadows of the pillar, tilting his head.

"Calm down, Tobi," X laughed, a teasing tone in his voice. "It's just me."

I remained silent, eyeing the man before me.

X held up his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Believe it or not, I really do like that Mia girl, but money is money and I do love money. However, now that I already have my money, I have no obligations to keep her in his company."

"You kidnapped Mia," I said flatly, shifting stances.

X shrugged. "Gotta do, what you gotta do. No need to try and attack me now, though. After all, I can lead you straight to them."

"If you're lying, I will kill you."

"I'm sure you'll try," X assured him.

"You have not seen me when I really try," I said, smiling coldly behind my mask. "Trust me, boy, you do not want to upset me."

X only shrugged, turning away. "Do you want to come or not?"

I cocked my head. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because she really does have the cutest little ass I've ever seen."

It took every ounce of self-control I had to not just snap his neck then and there.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(First Person POV – Mia)

"What do you want?" I asked warily, fear pulsing inside of me as I scrambled away from Orochimaru.

"When it became apparent that I would not be leaving this place without having to fight the Akatsuki, I took the liberty of creating a plan to ensure my protection from them," Orochimaru said, stepping closer to me. It was then that I realized we were moving—some sort of enclosed cart, it seemed like.

"How'd you know to take me?" I demanded, glaring up at him, trying to muster up some sort of bravado. "I know damn sure that our current members wouldn't divulge just who I was to you. How'd you know to take me as a bargaining chip—I mean... that is what I am, right? A bargaining chip?"

Orochimaru nodded, pleased with my assessment. "You are indeed, little hostage. You are correct on both accounts—none of your current members would betray your little leader, and you are my ticket out of here."

"Current...then it was an older member, one of Kakuzu's partners, then," I muttered, frowning. "Possible. I didn't know them like I know the current members... Wait. If all you're trying to do is escape, why still have the Invasion?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "I'm never one to entirely abandon a plan, child. While I cannot take the life I currently want in this attempt, that doesn't mean that I can't at least destroy this wretched place as much as I can."

I glared at him, feeling myself relax minutely. I was a bargaining chip; my safety was guaranteed for the moment. "You're going to die either way."

"I very much doubt that."

I snorted, looking away.

"But while I have you all to myself, there are some things I would like to question you about," Orochimaru purred, moving towards me. I immediately scooted back.

"You'd just end up pissing them