Hated Existence

  It had been fourteen months since the day Tobi had first gotten pregnant, and it was suspected that he was ready to give birth any day now.

  “ZuZu…” Tobi whimpered, laying in his and Zetsu’s bed, sobbing quietly to himself.  Zetsu had been reinstated as a Shinobi for Konohagakure Village and was currently out on a mission.

  Naruto was staying with Tobi to keep him company.  The boy was glad for that, but he still missed his plant-nin.

  Naruto knocked on the bedroom door softly before opening it and poking his head in.  “Are you okay, Tobi?”

  Tobi nodded, wiping tears away.  “Tobi misses Z-zuzu s-so much!”

  The Uzumaki frowned and moved to sit on the bed beside Tobi.  He knew just how much Tobi loved Zetsu, and he also knew that the boy wasn’t used to being without the man – even in the Akatsuki, Tobi had followed Zetsu everywhere.

  “He’ll be back soon, Tobi.” Naruto said, hugging Tobi.  “Don't worry about it.”

  “W-what if ZuZu d-doesn’t come back…?”

  Naruto hugged Tobi tighter.  “Of course he will, Tobi!  He an S-rank Shinobi!  He’ll be fine – I promise you.”

  Tobi shook his head, crying harder.  “N-no!  Tobi knows that ZuZu is strong, b-but what if he doesn’t want to come back home?!  What if h-he forgets about Tobi and l-leaves him all alone?!  Tobi won’t know what to do and he needs h-help with his babies!”

  “Hey…  Tobi…” Naruto really didn’t know what to say – he didn’t realise that Tobi was so insecure about being abandoned.  “…Would you like  for me to go and ask Granny Tsunade when he will come back?”

  Tobi nodded, wiping more tears away.  “P-please.”

  Naruto smiled and ruffled Tobi’s hair in a fond manner. “I’ll be back soon, okay?”

  Tobi nodded and lay back down under the covers.  He pulled them up to his forehead as a security blanket.  He was so scared that it took him minutes to realise that blood had begun to gush out of his anus and the soft aching in his tummy that he had been able to ignore suddenly made him double over with a scream of agony.

  -XX-

  Zetsu sighed in relief as he left Tsunade’s office after having given her the mission report.  He was finally free to go home to his lover and check up on him.  He had been so worried about Tobi that he had almost messed the mission up – he had a horrible feeling that something was wrong with Tobi.

  “Zetsu-san!”

  Zetsu turned at his name, seeing that blond Jinchuriki Tobi hung out with running to him. 

  “Zetsu-san, Tobi is really depressed and scared.”

  “What’s wrong with him?” Zetsu asked.  His worry increased.  “I swear – if you did anything to him, I’ll --!”

  “No, no!  It’s not me!  He’s scared that you won’t come back home because you’ll abandon him!  I couldn’t convince him that you wouldn’t do that, but he’s so upset about it!”

  “I see, Naruto.” Zetsu let out a breath of relief.  “Thank you for watching him for us.  You may return home now and we’ll take it from here.”

  Naruto nodded and, after a few more words, he left for his own apartment while Zetsu returned to his underage lover.  Those many people – both in the Akatsuki and the Leaf Village – thought of Zetsu as a paedophile, he believed that all that mattered was that Tobi loved him back and was willing to give himself to Zetsu.  Of course – with Tobi having just recently turned fifteen – more people were disgusted by Zetsu’s tastes and rumours had circulated, saying that Zetsu had coerced Tobi into it and trained him to tell others that it was with his consent.

  When Zetsu had first heard of this, he had been furious that people would dare think that Zetsu would ever rape Tobi.  He had never touched Tobi without the boy’s permission and he never would.

  Sure, Zetsu had taken Tobi’s virginity when the boy was barely seven, but Zetsu didn’t see anything wrong with that – Tobi understood what they were doing meant that Zetsu loved him, and that was all that mattered.

  As Zetsu thought about this, he felt his fists clenching and unclenching in anger – before he had rescued Tobi, he had been all alone, never having known even the meaning of love but, now that he had the boy, he knew that if anything happened to Tobi, he’d follow the boy without hesitation.

  As Zetsu turned onto his street, his sensitive ears caught the sound of his lover screaming.

  “Tobi!” Zetsu ran as fast as he could back to his house, tears unconsciously falling down his cheeks – was Tobi alright?!

  Throwing the front door open, Zetsu ran to the bedroom and found Tobi laying in a puddle of blood.  The boy’s face was contorted in pain.

  “ZuZu!” Tobi whimpered as he grit his teeth.  “ZuZu, Tobi thinks it’s time!”

-XX-

  “Tobi, we need you to stay calm and take deep breaths!” Tsunade urged the boy as she and a group of medic nins rushed the boy to the emergency ward on a stretcher.  “Just like we practised!”

  Zetsu followed after them, scared out of his mind.  Now was the moment that they had all been preparing for.  This was it.  This was the moment of truth – whether Tobi would live or die.

  Tobi’s screams echoed around the hospital and a thick trail of blood was left behind them as they moved.

  Zetsu closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay – he had never seen Tobi in so much pain before – that night Tobi had lost his baby was nothing compared to these screams.

  “Tobi, relax!” Tsunade urged as her medical assistant, Haruno Sakura, injected a syringe into Tobi’s arm.  “You need to push, Tobi!  Push!”

    Sweat was dripping off Tobi’s face, mingling with his tears.  Zetsu wasn’t even sure if Tobi could hear anyone – let alone register their words.  The poor child’s body thrashed and writhed in agony while the two other assistants tried to hold Tobi still – though they were failing.

  “Tobi, baby…” Zetsu grabbed Tobi’s hand, wincing as the boy’s grip tightened and threatened to break the seasoned Shinobi’s hand.  “Honey, it’s going to be alright.  We’re here with you, Tobi.  Shh…  Deep breaths, baby.  Deep, deep breaths, love.”

  Zetsu was aware that this was killing Tobi and – although he had never really given the boy pet names before – he wanted Tobi to know how much he was loved just in case he didn’t make it.

  Tobi’s face turned to Zetsu.  The older male stared into the lone eye that was filled with tears.

  “ZuZu!” Tobi screamed, moaning and crying out as he tried to speak to Zetsu.  “ZuZu, T-tobi l-l-loves ZuZu!  Tobi w-wants ZuZu to know t-that he loves ZuZu m-more than anything!  I-if Tobi dies, than T-tobi wants ZuZu to be there w-with him!  T-to give Tobi o-one love k-kiss!”

  “Tobi, there will be plenty of kisses after this!” Zetsu pleaded as tears slipped from his eyes.  “I promise!  You’ll make it through!  I swear!  We don’t let you die!  We love you so much, darling!”

  “Z-zuzu!” Tobi let out another agonised scream.  This one sounded louder and more pained than any other.  He panted harshly.  “Z-zuzu!  T-tobi… is… s-scared!”

  “Don’t be scared, my beautiful uke.” Kuro whispered, running his hand through Tobi’s sweaty hair.  “We’re here with you.  You know that we keep all of the bad things away!  We’ll keep death away, too!”

  Tobi could only scream and cry again – the pain was unbearable!  Zetsu watched, crying freely, as Tsunade and the other medics rushed around to work with him, trying their best to keep him alive and deliver the babies.