For a while now, Tobi had been the new member in the Akatsuki. No one knew why he was recruited, since the only side they'd seen of the masked man was his frilly, happy-go-lucky, girly, and stupid side.

No one questioned Leader about it, although whenever the masked man did something unbelievably idiotic, they questioned it with all their being.

If only they knew how he really was.

Tobi was actually many levels ahead of everyone, including the Leader. He was on his own tier of power. In fact, he could take on all the Akatsuki members combined. He was elite, athletic, and practically perfect at everything he did. This included cooking, too. And braiding hair.

He was Obito, Madara, and a Zetsu combined, but wasn't quite any of them.

The man behind the mask's real plan was to use the Akatsuki as part of his quest - to complete the eye of the moon plan. They would always ridicule him, make fun of him, and treat him like a lesser being. The man behind the mask would always chuckle or smile quietly, because compared to him, they were nothing.

Hidan was a creepy, blood-loving, Jashin worshiper, who had a very… colourful vocabulary. Tobi found that his immortality was useful and valuable, although he found his rituals disturbing and creepy. Nevertheless, he couldn't deny that both he was a valuable asset. With his partner, Kakuzu, he was unstoppable.

Kakuzu was always on about money, but was an exceptional fighter, judging his age. He was strong, fast, and proficient in taijustsu. When Tobi first learned of his age, he was surprised that he wasn't surprised. Ninety was nothing compared to Madara's age. Age does not judge in the shinobi world.

Sasori was the person Tobi replaced. He's never even met the man, but judging from how the others talked about him, he was into puppets. And he was one. But what he also heard was that Sasori was a powerhouse. He was the strongest puppet master in the entire shinobi world, with two hundred and eighty-nine puppets at his disposal, along with his extremely useful puppet body that gave him incredible versatility, and apparently took down an entire country. It was a shame to lose him. He was a valuable asset.

Kisame was a very valuable part of the Akatsuki. He was very powerful, elite, and took no hesitation in killing those in his way. In battle, he is very keen-minded and perceptive, often able to look into the basics of his opponent's techniques and figure out a way to avoid any potential dangers. With Samehada by his side, his power was equal to those of the jinchuuriki.

Itachi was brought to Tobi's attention. It was his first time seeing him after the Uchiha massacre so long ago. He had heard that Itachi was a prodigy, fit to be Hokage. There wasn't much to talk about the man. He was mature, and exceptionally skilled.

Pein and Konan were a deadly duo. Both were equally strong, and both were equally adept in battle. Tobi was afraid of them, with their demeaning auras, but Obito was not. Both were equally mysterious, and were not easily persuade. In order to get into the Akatsuki in the first place, he had to spill a bit of his dirty little secret. Fortunately, they agreed to helping him with his plan, even though he was just using them to his disposal anyways.

But most of all, he would laugh at his short-tempered, blonde artist of a partner. Ever since they were partners, Tobi found himself attached to the man. He made fun of Deidara so much, he almost always expected to get blown up in the end. But also, in that end, Deidara was merely one pawn.

Despite his extremely prideful nature, and his ego being as large as a juubi blast, Deidara was not one you should deal with. In battle, he was intelligent, often using misdirection or tricks to lure his opponents into the range of where his bombs were. Deidara also possessed the Explosion Release kekkei genkai, a very useful, unique, and powerful genkai that even leaderhad given praise to.

Of course, the rest of the Akatsuki would start to become suspicious as to what was under that swirly, neon orange mask that strangely resembled a pumpkin. No one has ever seen Tobi's real face. Every time he ate, it was like his food disappeared in a flash. The mask would go up and down in the time range of a second. Not even Itachi, with his Mangekyo Sharingan, could be able to catch a glimpse.

Even his own partner, Deidara, had never seen the man behind the mask. So who exactly is he, and why is he here? They all would wonder.

One day, while Tobi had to attend private matters with Zetsu, the rest Akatsuki members had a meeting to discuss the matter (Excluding Pein and Konan).

"What the hell are we meeting for, again?" Hidan asked, clearly irritated, as his ritual had been disturbed.

Deidara grunted. "Listen… I know it's strange that I'm asking this, hm, but I need help."

Hidan stared at him in disbelief and burst out laughing. "What?! You, of all the Akatsuki, need help?! Aw, poor Deidara-chan. Looks like the little bird needs help."

"Fuck off, Hidan. Just listen to me."

"Ha! As if! My ritual got disturbed because your weak ass needed our help for something. Hell, as if I fucking care! Just let the others help you and I'll go back to –."

"Shut up, Hidan." Kakuzu interrupted. "Kids these days… so loud."

"What did you bring us here for, Deidara?" Kisame asked.

Deidara looked at all the Akatsuki members and uttered, "I want to know what's under Tobi's mask, hm. That moron has been annoying me for ages, and I've been wondering why Leader put him in the Akatsuki. Why would a dumbass like him be here? All he does is walk around, pick flowers, and make stupid remarks."

"Your point?" The shark-like man said, wondering where Deidara was heading.

"I've had a theory for a while, yeah. What if Tobi is actually – and I know this sounds stupid but – a prodigy at fighting? Like, what if he was just hiding his skills from us? Think about it, hm. We were all recruited because we are powerful S-rank nins that are able to destroy entire countries. Why would you think Leader would recruit someone so… so… stupid? Tobi is nowhere near our levels. He's leagues below us, un. I just don't understand why Leader would recruit someone like that."

The whole room was quiet. Deidara bit his lip, wondering if they were severely judging him or actually thinking about helping him.

"I don't see why this is necessary. There is no reason to do this. This is pointless and a waste of time." Itachi said.

Ah, a manly blow to the artist's pride. Deidara's cheeks erupted with a blazing red furiously. He was about to retort when Kakuzu cut him off.

"I'll only help if you give me one million ryo." Kakuzu said flatly.

"A million ryo?!" Deidara turned to look at him and screeched. "I'd rather die, yeah!"

Deidara's cheeks flared up once more. If this didn't work, he'd be so ashamed he wouldn't be able to talk to any of the Akatsuki members ever again. His ego was already shrinking by the minute.

"Well then, I won't help. If I don't get anything out of this, I won't bother in helping."

The blond knew it. He shouldn't have talked. Asking for help was hard enough, as a manlike him had too big of an ego to ask for help, especially when it came to the absolute dumbest member in the organization.

"C'mon, Kakuzu. Admit it; you've been curious of what's under Tobi's mask, too, right?" Kisame stepped in, much to Deidara's relief. The shark-like man actually thought this was a fun idea. He had been very curious, too. When he wasn't doing missions, all he did was train and plan. And the Akatsuki had too much time on their hands, anyways.

The charcoal-haired man thought for a few moments, and then uttered, "Sure… I'll do it."

Deidara's heart jumped with hope. God, he'd have to thank Kisame later.

"…But only if you give me money in return."

And Deidara's hope and faith in this plan went back down.

"Fine! How much do I owe you, hm?" Deidara said irritably.

"…A million ry –."

"No, hm! Give me a lower price, or else you'll take up all of my money!"

An Uchiha's sigh could suddenly be heard in the distance. All the Akatsuki looked at where the sound was coming from.

The raven-haired man was leaning against the walls of the Akatsuki's base, arms crossed and looking at the ground. "I don't see why this is necessary. There is no reason to do this. This is pointless and a waste of time." He repeated his statement from earlier.

Deidara growled under his breath. He never liked the Uchiha, or anyone who possessed the Sharingan. They judged his beautiful art. The blond artist took a deep breath, trying to calm down. As much as he hated admitting it, getting Itachi on his team would give him a major advantage. With his disgusting Sharingan, he could try putting Tobi in a genjutsu or something.

Think, think, think…! Deidara thought furiously.

Lost in thought, the blond's gaze had landed on Kisame. And that is when he got an idea.

"Oi, Kisame, un. Itachi's no fun. I can see why Sasuke doesn't like him…" Deidara trailed off and looked at the shark-like man, tipping his chin in Itachi's direction, hoping that Kisame could understand what he was saying.

The bomber smiled as he saw Kisame's face light up.

They were going to play the Sasuke card.

"Ah, you're right. Now I understand why Sasuke hates you so much." The Uchiha's eyebrows furrowed angrily, but before he could reply with a retort, Kisame continued. "You're not a very fun brother to be around. How boring."

Almost immediately, Itachi locked eyes with Deidara. "What do we have to do?" He said rather boldly.

The rest of the Akatsuki stared at him in disbelief. Is he really that easy to...?

"Hey, hey, hey! I never agreed to this!" Hidan yelled. "Besides, you guys disturbed my fucking ritual!"

"Same here." Kakuzu agreed. "I never said I would be a part of this. No money, no help."

Itachi both of them a death glare. "Hidan, I will cut off your head and bury it if you don't help us."

The Jashin worshipper's jaw slackened as he heard Itachi say that. "What the fuck are you –."

"And Kakuzu," Itachi interrupted Hidan, "I'll steal all of your money if you don't help."

The man stayed quiet for a few seconds, and finally responded with, "…Fine." Rather reluctantly.

Deidara grinned triumphantly. He couldn't believe Itachi convinced them that easily! But the best part was… mission "Unmasked" was under control!


Obito looked stood hidden inside the Akatsuki base, quietly eavesdropping on their entire conversation.

Oh, so they wanna play a game? We'll see about that.


(A/N: In each chapter, one Akatsuki member will try to unmask Tobi, or try to catch a glimpse of his face. Hope you enjoyed~! I'll try updating as soon as I'm able to.

Also, my sincere apologies if any of the characters are OOC. It's been a while since I've watched Naruto, and I'm not one to write down the characters' personalities so flawlessly.

I'm so sorry if there are any typos, this chapter was a bit rushed at the end since I've been pretty busy and quite stressed. Please review, and I'll see you soon!)