Work Text:
My dear,
How are you faring, my love? I miss you terribly every day, but hope that your mind is at peace while you are busy at the workshop.
The skies above me are dark and tumultuous, the winds are getting stronger, yet I wish you to know that in these dark times the mere thought of your smile, your touch and your warmth is enough for me to find strength in myself to continue walking down this path.
Do share how your days are going by. It would put my mind at ease.
Yours, now and always,
Tobi
Dear general Uchiha Obito, the second of his name, the heir to southern territories of the Uchiha clan, the vanguard charge of Konohagakure's Third Army, previously Hokage's high commissioner to the Land of Earth, and so on and so forth,
Drop the pretty words already.
And Tobi is supposed to be your secret pen name? I can see why you were never appointed to any positions in the intelligence division.
Tell me what is going on at the frontlines. Tell me what your troops are doing to my people. Tell me where my family is now.
You sent me here, in this gods forgotten land, you forbid me from writing to anyone, and you don't tell me anything of what is going on.
I demand all answers in your next letter. NOT MORE PRETTY WORDS ABOUT THE WEATHER.
Yours,
_______
P.S. It's boring at the workshop. Master Sasori makes me do a hundred menial tasks a day. My hands are hurting non-stop. My hair stinks from the dye he is forcing me to wear.
My dear who acts like a spoiled prince in the royal family's summer palace,
I beg you, never put anything too revealing in your letters. I had to burn your last one because of that, no matter how much it pained me to lose this piece of you.
Your Tobi's sole goal is to ensure your safety. As long as this war continues, your life will be in danger. Whether someone betrays you and sells you out to the Land of Fire to be used as a hostage in the negotiations, or, worse yet, makes an attempt on your life to force Iwagakure to yield, there is simply no safer place for you to be other than the workshop. I know the wait must be unbearable to you, but I am doing everything in my power to extinguish the flames of war and return to you, my love. Please, just wait for me.
My divisions have recently breached the eastern border, but this operation is highly unlikely to be successful. In a few months time the generals will have a summit. This is our chance to stop this. You just need to wait a little bit more.
I'm sorry, my love. I wish I could have given a hug to you right now. Every single night I fall asleep thinking of you and the nights we shared in your chambers. Recently we passed through a field of sunflowers and I could only think of the ones that used to grow in your garden. I have one in a vase across me as I am writing this letter. I shall put a few of its petals in the envelope. Hope that they will be enough to carry my feelings for you, dear.
Nothing of your family is known to me, and this is for the best. If I know nothing, then the other generals are none the wiser as well.
Yours, constantly thinking and dreaming of you,
Tobi
P.S. I'm glad that you have the strength to be cranky as usual. Your master is a good and shrewd man - you can trust him. By making you work all day long, he ensures his new apprentice does not stand out too much. I do feel sorrow for your hair - thank gods I asked you for a strand before departing.
Dear idiotic-nickname,
You're an arse.
But thank you for the sunflower. I dried the petals and keep them on my nightstand. I kiss them every night before falling asleep.
I will kiss this letter too. For good luck.
I miss you. I miss everyone. I miss home. But you're right, as always. I can't go back right now, I'll just be a burden.
So come back already.
I really miss you. Every morning I wake up and go look at the horizon, hoping to see you there. Please be faster, before I die of old age or boredom here.
Yours,
_______
P.S. you better bring me a real sunflower when we meet again, or I really won't forgive you
My dear, the thought of whom is the only thing that brings smile to my face these days,
Your last letter was the greatest gift I could have asked for. I wear it in my lapel pocket, right by the locket where I keep your lock of hair, and often bring it to my lips, imagining the taste of your lips against mine. Sometimes I even delude myself into believing that I can enjoy a whiff of your scent, though I am aware that the workshop likely has none of those expensive oils and salts that you enjoyed back in your home. I apologize for that. Can your poor lover ask you to accompany him for a bath just for the two of us when we finally reunite? I wish to be rid of the grime and blood covering me these days and get a taste of your beauty again. At this point the knowledge of your safety is the only thing keeping me sane.
The summit is right around the corner. I imagine you are even more antsy than I am, but I promise, I will do everything in my power to stop this war. To allow you to return to your home. To come back to you and hold you in my arms. You just have to wait a little bit more.
I hope my next letter will be my last one and it will bring you the news that you pray for.
Until then, I have managed to find a way to attach an actual sunflower to the letter. Hopefully it shall not wilt from my sheer yearning for you.
Forever yours,
Tobi
Dear fool whose brains seemed to have been knocked out by someone's club and who can not read,
I asked you to bring the sunflower for our meeting, not through these letters.
Nonetheless, I thank you. It is really lovely. The seeds remind me of your eyes. I dried it too, now I have quite the collection. Master Sasori is going to knock himself out these days if he continues to roll his eyes as hard as he does whenever his gaze comes across your gifts.
I shudder thinking of the way you reek these days. Still, I am benevolent, so I suppose I shall assist you with the cleaning process. Your hands are far too rough to handle anything other than blades and swords, thus my assistance is imperative and vital. I expect you to pay me back for my services in full.
Please come back sooner. I really miss you.
Eagerly awaiting your next letter,
_______
Dear arse who ignored my last letter,
What is the meaning of this? You said that the summit should be soon. How did it go? Why are you silent? Are you coming or not?
Answer me immediately.
Yours, but very irritated,
_______
To the scum who took me away from my home and now forces me to remain in the middle of nowhere,
I really hope you have a good reason to continue ignoring my letters. If you don't, the moment you cross the border of my family's lands, you can expect your head to be cleanly shaved off your shoulders.
ANSWER ME NOW.
_______
Dear Tobi,
I can't bear this silence anymore. I keep thinking of the worst. I can't sleep because I end up having nightmares about what might have happened to my Tobi. The summit must have been months ago, and yet you still wrote nothing to me. Did you forget me, even when you promised you never would?
Just answer me already. Even a single sunflower seed will do. Don't make me beg for it, you know I hate it.
Thinking of you every single waking moment,
_______
My beloved Obito who shall never see this letter,
you must have been discovered during the summit. The generals with whom you shared food and roof must have realized that it was you who took away the prince when Konoha began its attack on Iwa. They must have killed you there. You died months ago and I simply couldn't accept it.
I can't make myself eat. I can't make myself sleep. I just cry every single day. Master Sasori locked me up to keep me away from people's eyes, but I just don't care anymore. I've lost my home and I've lost you.
I don't have anything anymore except the sunflowers that start to turn to dust and a few old letters.
I still watch the sunrise, hoping to see your silhouette there, even if I know that you shall never return to me. I have no idea if there is a point in anything I do.
I just wanted to see you one last time.
Forever yours,
Prince Deidara of Iwagakure, the first of his name
My dear prince, my sun, my light, my love, my Deidara,
I'm so very sorry for not answering your letters all this time. Iwagakure ambushed us during the summit, and I was wounded. Fever wrecked me for weeks, leaving me unconscious and unable to comprehend the world around me. Yet as I suffered in my bed, I could still feel your presence besides my spirit, your hands' cooling touch on my forehead, your revitalizing kisses on my cheeks and your palms holding onto my life. It may have been the illusion of my mind, but my heart knows that you were always waiting for me. My place is besides you and I could not allow myself to leave you.
The war is over, Deidara. Your home awaits you.
I left as soon as I was strong enough to ride our mare again. I know she missed you too, I watch her antsily pacing around on our last stop before we arrive at Sasori's workshop.
On my way I've collected the most beautiful sunflowers. There's so many of them, I can barely hold the heap together. I hope you will love it.
By the sunrise, I shall be by your side again. It's hard to hold back tears, thinking that after so long I shall finally see and feel you again.
Your foolish and deeply apologetic lover,
Obito