Today was the day. The amazing and happy day for students of all kinds; graduation! Graduation was in the minds of all the ninja students in all of their villages hoping to obtain the headband they solely desired. The Akatsuki apprentices were especially happy as well, but they wouldn’t become part of the organization with just a snap of their fingers, no. They had much more training to do. Especially since they were just graduating just one of the many grades they had to finish before obtaining access to the privileges that the principal and their teacher had. Yet, they were just happy to finish one of the tasks that were thrown at them and also gain some months of vacation.
All Akatsuki hurried into the school with smiles on their faces. "Man, I've waited for this a long time!" Hidan said to his friends.
"I know! I've been waiting for this a while," Kisame responded to Hidan's discussion within the group.
We then zoom to the newest Akatsuki apprentice that had just joined in the middle of the year. Little Tobi, the masked apprentice, had just walked into the school building and wandered down the hallways looking for his best friend. He walked down the hallway a little more to his homeroom and heard the conversations that Itachi's group was discussing over. He pondered about what they could be talking about but had no positive answer.
Tobi then arrived to his homeroom door, Konan's classroom, and walked in as Itachi and his group lingered in the hallway until the bell rang as usual. Tobi entered the room and Konan was out. Tobi continued looking around the room until he settled at his desk. Where were Deidara, Sasori, and Zetsu?
Time passed and the bell rang, but there was still no sign of them. "Where could they be?" Tobi asked himself.
"Tobi, calm down," a voice said to him
Tobi turned to face Kisame, the young, former mist swordsman. "What do you mean Kisame?" Tobi asked him.
"I heard their bus was arriving late cuz they were stuck in traffic," Kisame said reassuring the little masked kid.
Kisame soon walked off and Tobi was happier and calmer about his friends not being there yet.
A few minutes later, the three friends entered the room with Minato, the counselor. "Sorry, I was late," Minato said, "One of the bus tires was flat, so we had to stop and air it up. I hope I didn’t cause these three to be in trouble."
"Don't worry, it's no trouble at all, I understand and they are pardoned," Konan replied.
The counselor soon left and Zetsu followed for their daily session. Sasori and Deidara, however, took their places at their seats. "All right, everyone, as you know, today is graduation from the first grade. Remember, though you’ve graduated the first of your classes, does not mean you fully graduate. You still have many more classes," Konan explained, "In fact you have-- Hidan, stop screwing around back there!"
Hidan was teasing Kakuzu by holding Kakuzu's stolen money in his hand; Hidan abruptly stopped when he noticed Konan staring at him. "As I was saying… You have 11 more classes after this class. So when announcements come on, you need to listen to instructions so we can get graduation done smoother."
The soon to be second graders listened to Konan carefully and went on with classes as usual. It had been a few hours when Konan started to panic, since Zetsu wasn't back from his session at his usual time. "Deidara can you go see if Zetsu is in Minato's office?" Konan asked.
"Can Tobi go too?" Tobi pleaded.
"Okay Tobi, you may go with Deidara. I want you two to hurry back with Zetsu though. You both know if you don't get to the graduation ceremony in time, no matter how good your grades are, you will be left back and repeat this grade again with the lower soon to be first graders," Konan said as they both walked to the door.
"I know Miss Konan. We’ll be back on time," Deidara said reassuringly.
The two left the room to search for Zetsu as Itachi overheard what Konan said. Itachi stood up from his seat and Kisame looked up. "Where are you going Itachi?"
"Is it any of your concern?" Itachi coldly replied walking towards Konan's desk.
Konan watched Deidara and Tobi exit as Itachi approached her desk. Konan's gaze transferred from the door to Itachi. "What is it Itachi?"
"I need to go to the bathroom"
"Alright, just hurry back."
Itachi then left the room and walked up to Tobi and Deidara. "Itachi? What are you doing here?" Deidara asked.
"Konan-sama told me to come with you guys," he lied.
Deidara looked at Itachi suspiciously, knowing his rival was up to something. "Okay Itachi-san, let’s go get Zetsu-san!" Tobi said, nearly tackling Deidara.
The three went on their way to the counselor, to see if Zetsu was there. Deidara had been keeping his eye on Itachi, never dropping his guard; he knew Itachi was up to something. The three arrived to the counselor's office and knocked on the red flamed door. Minato answered the door and was surprised to see the three at his door. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Is Zetsu here, Minato-sensei?" Deidara asked.
"I’m sorry, Zetsu left to go to class a few minutes ago. He should be back to class by now."
"All right, thank you."
The Yondaime closed the door and the three went back to their class. The three had been walking and Tobi soon said, "Before we can go to class, Tobi has to go to the bathroom."
"Fine; we’ll stop by the bathroom before going to class. Remember, we have to hurry though," Deidara told Tobi.
"Okay, sempai!" Tobi said rushing into the bathroom.
Itachi and Deidara then stood alone outside the bathroom. "Why are you here?" Deidara said now that Tobi was gone.
"For your safety," Itachi said.
"What do you mean un?" Deidara said, facing Itachi.
"Do you think Tobi appears to seem 'fake' when he speaks?" Itachi asked.
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
"Do you really think Tobi is who he claims to be?"
Deidara paused at that question. He didn't know what to say. What was his rival trying to tell him? "Okay! Tobi's back!" Tobi announced as he walked out of the bathroom.
The tension was still in the room, but Tobi acted as dumb as usual. "What's going on?"
Itachi started to walk again. "Nothing"
The three then started walking towards their class, but Deidara was still pondering what Itachi had said.
"Why are you here?"
"For your safety."
"What do you mean un?"
"Do you think Tobi appears to seem 'fake' when he speaks?"
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
"Do you really think Tobi is who he claims to be?"
"Sempai, what's wrong?"
Deidara zone out for a minute, but Tobi woke him from it. "Oh, nothing. Nothing's wrong."
Tobi felt unsure. "Are you sure sempai? You look deep in thought."
"No nothing's wrong. I’m just nervous about graduation," he lied.
"Hmm… Okay!" Tobi said, turning back to the path they were walking down.
After a few minutes, Tobi decided to break the silence by singing. "I love you. You love me. We’re one big happy family with a great big hug and a kiss for you. Won't you say you love me too?"
"Tobi, the last thing I want to hear is a retarded Barney song!" Deidara shouted, "Let me sing my own song. I hate you. You hate me. Let's kill Barney from a tree with a whip and a slash, just hit him in the head. Whoopsie now Barney's dead."
"That's not nice," Tobi said.
The three got to their homeroom to find out… No one was there! "Oh no! We're late! We’re going to be held back!" Deidara panicked.
"Deidara, calm down!" Itachi said, "All we have to do is figure out where they went and we can find out where to go."
"Problem," Deidara said, "How are we going to figure out where they went?"
The two thought while Tobi was about to run off. "Wait! We just have to think about the largest place in the building!" Deidara realized.
The two began to think again, but Tobi came up with the answer before them. "The gym!"
"Brilliant Tobi!" Deidara said, "We'd better hurry, we're almost out of time."
The three began running at the same pace to the gym, but Deidara was still thinking about what Itachi said and that Tobi actually came up with an answer. Tobi doesn't normally do that. What could Itachi be trying to tell him? Was Tobi someone else? No. Itachi's just probably trying to mess with my head.
Konan and most of her class (minus Itachi, Tobi, and Deidara of course) were inside the gym already. Konan was worried the three wouldn't make it in time. She knew Tobi and Deidara may have trouble getting back to the room, but Itachi was just going to the bathroom so she expected he'd be back sooner.
The leader entered the gym and looked at the Akatsuki that were there. "You are missing three, Ms. Konan. Where are they?"
"They went to the bathroom, but they should be back any minute," Konan said with a lump in her throat, nervous and unsure.
"Let's hope they do."
The leader went to each student and told them that they were officially second graders.
"We aren't going to make it!" Deidara said and they were literally sprinting down the hallway.
"Tobi has a plan!" Tobi said.
Tobi grabbed both Itachi and Deidara's hands and literally took off, full speed down the hallway.
They burst into the gym doors and Tobi quickly got them to their spots. Pein, the leader, soon came to Tobi, Itachi, and Deidara. He stared hardly at them, but then he said, "Ah, Tobi, Deidara, and Itachi, right on time, you graduate. You are now second graders!"
"Yay! Tobi happy! What about you sempai? Sempai?" Tobi said.
Deidara and Itachi were both clenching their stomachs and asked, "Where's the bathroom? I'm going to be sick…"