The next day at school was fairly boring for Tobi.

Classes passed, so did lonely lunch.

He got home quickly, tired of the hot mask. As soon as he arrived he ripped off his mask and threw it on the couch. He sighed and sat down next to it, rubbing his tired neck. Closing his eyes, he began drifting off.

Heat. He felt heat. It was warm, and cozy, and soft. He wanted to stay like that forever. Then, he was pulled away from the heat. His eyes opened and he looked up to who was giving him such comfort.

Deidara? He looked around, it was dark. His face was free and no mask was to be seen. He looked at Deidara again, he had a smile playing on his pink lips. He leaned down towards him, his eyes closing. Tobi closed his eyes...

His eyes snapped open, and it was cold, the warm coziness was gone. It took a moment for him to process his dream, and he gasped in exasperation at his sudden feelings.

Did that mean that he liked Deidara? He'd never had that kind of dream before. Or maybe he did...

Why would he like Deidara? All there was to him was rude and coldness. But, he was interesting to watch. He was cool, he was funny, he was...

Tobi stopped himself by shaking his head, and he stood up from the couch. Grabbing his mask, he looked at the time. It was too early to sleep, so he showered. After that, he looked in his fridge. No food, as he thought. Putting his mask on, he headed to the door.

After grabbing some things from the nearby market, he headed back to his house. He looked up to the stars while he walked. He always found himself relaxing at the sight of them. As he continued walking and staring, he felt a body shove against his. The powerful push sent him flying back, falling onto the hard pavement. He heard someone gasp, and he looked up to see the back of long blonde hair.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" he said suddenly, twirling around and extending his hand down to the body before he could see who he was speaking to.

Tobi looked at Deidara. As he realized who it was he knocked over, Deidara's usual hollow expression returned.

"Oh, it's you," he said, sighing.

It was only that brief moment that he didn't recognize Tobi, but Tobi saw it all. That worried look in his eyes, his frown, his nervous yet caring tone, his outstretched hand reaching out to help him up.

Before Deidara had a chance to pull his hand back, Tobi reached up and grabbed it. He pulled himself up and brushed off his clothes.

"I never noticed that scar on your hand," he said, looking at the lines on his hands. Deidara looked up at him, confused.

"Scars?" he asked, following Tobi's gaze. He looked at his hand for a moment and chuckled. "Oh, you must mean..." before he could continue, the line opened and out came a tongue.

"Ahh! W-what is that?!" Tobi asked, backing up. He looked down at his hands and shivered. "Eww, that thing touched me!" he exclaimed, getting a napkin from his pocket and rubbing off his gloved hands. Deidara scoffed and the mouth closed, his hands dropped to his side.

"Yeah whatever," he said, turning away. "I'm leaving."

"Okay bye Deidara!" he said cheerfully.

----------------------------------------------------

It had been about 3 weeks later when Tobi got another memory.

He was sitting in class, bored as ever, and a certain lesson caught his ear.

"Now, the Uchiha clan has mostly died out. But as you can see, one of the only 3 survivors is Tobi here," Iruka said, pointing at Tobi. The class turned to look at him, whispers filling the room. "The clan was attacked by one of their own people. It seems that the killer took all of the survivors memories. It's possible that they even took their own," he continued.

Tobi blinked.

It's possible that they even took their own.

The familiar words bounced around in his head. And then they came flooding.

Heavy breathing. Somebody gasping for air. Who was it?

A picture flooded into his mind. It flickered like a broken t.v. and as soon as the picture was clear and the mist subsided, the man in the memory was clear.

It was Tobi.

He didn't have his mask on, and in one of his eyes was the familiar sharingan, and the other eye was something else he recognized but never knew he possessed. The rinnegan.

Blood spilled out from the corner of his mouth and he was clearly tired. Lightning flashed and rain pounded the cold pavement. Tobi's shirtless chest heaved up and down quickly, matching the pace of his beating heart. Tobi was standing in front of a church, his reflection in the window. He reached his blood-covered hands over to the window and made a picture on the window, over his reflection.

It was the mask Tobi woke up with that day, the mask he always wore, drawn over his face in his own blood.

"From this day on," his raspy voice said, "you are Tobi Uchiha. You remember of this day, but you remember that your clan is . You know that your personality is goofy, funny, and laid-back yet excited all the time. Nothing else. And this curse will not be broken until you realize that it . When you remember this, all of your memories will be unlocked, coming back one at a time. You remember you real name until you feel the emotion called. Who you fall in love with is your choice. But, remember this, . You find who killed your clan. You don't need any help, you will figure it out on your , with your own brain. Remember this, ."

The voice faded and as soon as it did, the bell startled him. He stood up quickly and left the classroom for the day.

He reached his home without saying a word to anyone. Opening his door, he went in and took off his mask. He looked down at it in his hands. The orangle, painful thing he wore every day. He can't even take it off, ever. No one can see who he really is. Not even himself. How could he even try, when who he was was now just a fuzzy memory and his true self was lost?