WARNING: This story will contain homosexual relationships in the near future. If you do not like, do not read.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Masashi Kishimoto is the rightful owner.

BASED ON ITACHI'S OBSERVATIONS, there were three types of parents who attended, or in one case, didn't attend their child's college move-in day. The first type was the overly involved parents who helped their child transport their belongings to the campus, helped them unpack everything and insisted that they stay for the duration of day's activities. If granted the opportunity, they would probably stay the night to make sure that everything went smoothly. For most of these parents, it was their first-born child they were relinquishing. The second type were the parents who helped transport their child's belongings, helped them to shift the furniture around and hook up their computer and TV before leaving. For these parents, they'd most likely been through this process before. The third type was more challenging to place. These parents weren't present for their child's move-in day. Perhaps, Itachi reasoned, that the bond between the child and parents in this situation was not the greatest which would account for the parents' absence. Or perhaps, in some cases, the parents were not in the picture at all, for whatever reason. Maybe, he concluded, these were the children whose parents had attended the process many times before and assigned an older sibling to help out instead.

And then there were Itachi's parents.

"There. I've got your computer up and running and the internet's working, so you should be good." Fugaku said.

"Thanks." Itachi responded. He knew as well as his father did that he could've figured out how to hook up his laptop and troubleshoot any problems that arose. However…

"Are you sure you like everything the way it is?" His mother asked. To any stranger, she seemed to be excited and proud of her oldest son for making it to college. But past her pleasant smile, her composer was quickly crumbling. "Your roommates not here yet, so it wouldn't be a big deal if you moved some things around a bit."

"He said he's fine." Fugaku said, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"But there's still so much to unpack." She argued weakly. He'd only brought a suitcase full of clothes, some toiletries, his laptop, his messenger bag, some school supplies, the textbooks he had pre-ordered almost a week ago, and some snack food. Things he was more than capable of accomplishing on his own. "It's his first time being away from home for so long and there are kids whose parents aren't even here to help them unpack."

"He's not like those other kids whose parents couldn't care less because we're here and he's already unpacked." Fugaku said, glancing at Itachi. "Honey, he's fine. We should go before we hit traffic."

"Honey, he's fine; we should go before we hit traffic."

As weak as her arguments were, Mikoto wasn't going to back down without a fight. "Sasuke," she said, turning to her youngest son, "don't you want to spend more time with Itachi before we leave?" She asked.

It had been a clever move, appealing to Sasuke when it was clear that Fugaku's mind had already been set. Sasuke however, had only tagged along to miss his own first day of school, citing that "they never do anything worth showing up for" and was lounging on the bed beside Itachi surfing the internet on his phone. "Not really." He said indifferently.

Mikoto's smile fell as her shoulders slumped. Once again, Fugaku put a hand on his wife's shoulder, turning her around to face him. "He's fine, dear. And so is Sasuke. There's no reason for us to stay any longer." He said, his voice a gentle whisper.

Even if he didn't outwardly show it, it pained Itachi to see his mother so defeated when he was so used to seeing her happy. When the rest of the family was in a foul mood, she was the one to pick them up and brighten their days. To see here like this was a rarity and something Itachi hoped he wouldn't have to see again until Sasuke started college, although a deep part of him hoped that she would have more control over her emotions by then.

"What about his roommate?" She asked.

Fugaku drew his hands back. "His what? What about his roommate?"

"We haven't met his roommate yet! We can't leave without meeting him first." She said triumphantly.

Beside him, Sasuke was rolling his eyes at his mother's absurdity and in front of him, Fugaku was dumbstruck. "Mikoto, listen to yourself! I don't think it's necessary that we meet whoever our son is living with. Think about it for a minute, most parents show up to these things to help their kids move in and then leave. Some don't even do that, and you should be happy that Sasuke even came along."

At the mention of his name, Sasuke raised his eyebrows, but other than that, his facial expression did not change.

"How many parents do you hear telling their co-workers how they want to meet their kid's college roommate?"

"Fugaku honey," Mikoto coed, caressing the back of her husband's neck with her hand, "you'll be happy we stayed when your co-workers want to know what your son's roommate is like. You'll thank me, I guarantee it."

"We don't even know when he's going to show up…if he's going to show up."

And as if on cue, the door tumblers jiggled, attracting their undivided attention. With some difficulty, the door swung open with such force, Mikoto's hair shifted blew in the draft to reveal the bottoms of her ears before settling into place.

Standing before them was a young man with a mane of blonde hair, half pulled into a ponytail with the rest of it loose around his shoulders. But his most defining quality by far were the bright blue skinny jeans he wore.

"Oh! Uh…hi. My name's—" He attempted to say by way of introduction, only to be cut short by his large, red suitcase catching on the door frame. "Deidara." He finished, extending his hand to Itachi's father.

The air in the room had suddenly changed the moment Deidara walked through the door. As if his bright blue pants weren't a red flag, the feminine lilt in his voice was a major one. Even Sasuke was staring in distaste.

When Fugaku didn't reach out to shake Deidara's hand, Mikoto did. "Hello, Deidara, nice to meet you." She said warmly, widening Deidara's smile.

"My name is Mikoto, I'm Itachi's mother, and this is Fugaku, Itachi's father, and Sasuke, Itachi's younger brother."

Deidara waved. "Hi. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." He said.

Having not been introduced by his mother, Itachi stood up from the bed and moved to shake Deidara's hand. "Itachi." He greeted him.

"Deidara." His new roommate parroted, pursing his lips together at the awkward interaction.

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you Deidara, but—" Fugaku started, only to be interrupted by his wife.

"Are your parents here?" Mikoto asked.

Itachi and Sasuke exchanged knowing glances. On the outside, their mother appeared to be quite the socialite, but in reality, she preferred to stay indoors with her family. The brothers knew full-well that this was all a ploy to spend more time with Itachi before they went back home.

"They're tied up with work right now so they couldn't be here." He breezily replied and wheeled his large red suitcase to the foot of his bed.

"Do you need any help moving in your things?" She quickly asked, completely aware of Fugaku's obvious look of displeasure beside her.

Deidara looked at her, and then at his suitcase. "Um…sure, yeah, if you want to." He said, placing his duffle bag on top of the other bed.

"Sasuke, come help Deidara carry in his things, please." Mikoto beckoned and followed Deidara out the door. The murderous glare etched into Sasuke's features was almost a perfect replica of their father's, Itachi noted in amusement.

Itachi had had two suitcases, a messenger bag, a narrow, stackable storage container, and a few groceries neatly packed into the recycled tote bags his mother used. The same could not be said for Deidara, however.

Leading the march, Deidara carried a large cardboard box filled to the brim with art supplies. When Itachi asked what was in the duffle bag he'd thought to have art supplies in it as well, Deidara's simple explanation was "Do you know how much art supplies I need to get me through the year? I have a lot more at home, but that'll have to wait until another time." And as if a duffle bag and a cardboard box wasn't enough, he had brought with him a large portfolio that was slung over his shoulder as well.

Beside him, Itachi carried yet another duffle bag, this one designated for toiletries, and a blue crate overflowing with pens and pencils, both old and new. Itachi'd seen these particular crates advertised with the college merchandise at one of the megastores he'd visited within the past month. He didn't see the appeal of using a crate with large circular holes adoring the surface that pens and pencils could easily fall through – the very reason he hadn't bought it. Deidara, it seemed, hadn't thought of this fact, Itachi surmised as various pens and pencils threatened to puncture the veins and arteries in his forearms, leaving him shifting uncomfortably throughout the majority of their trek.

Trailing behind them, Sasuke carried another cardboard box filled with groceries bundled up in the plastic bags he'd left the store with. In addition to the groceries, Sasuke had stuffed the various posters tossed on top of the backseat clutter under his arm, much to Deidara's distress.

"You're gonna bend them, yeah!" He cried.

"How else are we supposed to carry them, dimwit?" Sasuke argued and was quickly scolded by their mother for calling him a dimwit. "Don't worry, blondie, I won't bend your precious little posters."

Bringing up the rear, Mikoto and Fugaku walked side by side, Mikoto carrying a crate similar to the one Itachi was carrying, only this time, her crate was overflowing with shoes instead of school supplies. Fugaku, meanwhile, carried Deidara's bed spread hastily stuffed into its original packing, several deflated pillows, and an oversized book bag which Deidara claimed to be filled with "other necessities" though Itachi strongly believed that it was filled with more art supplies and he was too embarrassed to admit it.

"Well son, it's time we headed out." Fugaku said once all of Deidara's things were accounted for, save for his phone charger which he accidently left in his car.

Itachi looked between his father and mother in confusion. There was still a welcome dinner in the quad where students' families were welcome to attend. Personally, Itachi'd spent enough time around his family for one day, in fact, he'd spent more time with him today than he had all summer.

His mother, on the other hand, was a different story altogether. Twenty minutes ago, she'd been frantically searching for any excuse to spend more time with her eldest son. He figured she'd be jumping up and down with excitement at the prospect of being able to spend more time with him.

A few feet away, Deidara was busy unpacking the duffle bag and cardboard box full of art supplies and piling them high onto his desk. It occurred to Itachi that this would probably be the last time Itachi saw the surface of Deidara's desk until the last day of the semester when they moved out.

"Call us anytime." Mikoto said, reaching down to embrace him in a hug which lasted long enough to suggest that she wasn't ready to let go.

Still caught in her embrace, Itachi caught a glimpse of his younger brother taking a picture of either his new roommate, clad in his cyan colored pants, the horde of art supplies which, combined, were probably worth more than five hundred dollars, or both.

As if his younger brother wasn't bad enough, when Mikoto pulled away from the hug, she couldn't help but glance at Deidara's collection of shoes. It was a lot more than Itachi owned, and there was a particular shoe on the top of the crate they were still contained in, a bright red one, that he swore was a women's shoe instead of a men's.

He stood up when his father approached him and moved in for a quick embrace. "Remember your upbringing, son." Fugaku whispered in his ear. Patting his son's shoulder, he motioned for Sasuke to follow them out. "Say goodbye to your brother, Sasuke."

Still unabashedly staring at Deidara, Sasuke grinned as he wrapped an arm around Itachi's neck. "Have fun." He said with a snicker and blew Itachi a kiss before exiting behind his mother.

"He's cute." Deidara commented once the door closed behind them.

"Excuse me?" Itachi asked, attempting to keep his tone even.

Deidara turned to glance at him from over his shoulder. "Your brother. I think it's cute how he blows you kisses, but don't you think he's a little old for that, yeah?"

Itachi exhaled, relieved that he wouldn't be starting a fight with his roommate on the first day. "Yeah." He stated.

"But all in all, your folks seem nice." Deidara said, staring at Itachi with eyes almost as blue as his pants. He bent over to pick up the packaging stuffed to the brim with his comforter and worked to unzip it.

"Thanks?"

Deidara smiled. "It's kinda interesting, yeah. They're like your typical family." He said, finally managing to unzip the plastic. "You've got the hard working father who doesn't show his emotions in order to look like the strong protector of the family, the caring mother who cooks dinner every night, and the brooding emo teenager who's always angry at the world. Or at least, they seem like it, yeah. I wouldn't really know."

Itachi was surprised at the accuracy in which Deidara described his family. He'd never really thought about it before, but he had a point. His family was pretty stereotypical. But where did that leave him, then? He wondered, but didn't want to ask.

He looked up to find Deidara sitting on top of his mattress, pinning the sheets to the surface using his hands and knees. "Do you need help with that?" Itachi asked.

"Nope!" Deidara grinned and instantly flattened himself against the flat surface. As Itachi expected, the parts of the sheets that were pinned beneath his knees had flung out from underneath of him, defeating the intended purpose of keeping them in place.

Itachi watched him struggle for a few minutes, hopping off the bed to barely secure two corners of the sheet before moving to the other end, only for one of the opposite corners to come undone in the process.

"Let me help." Itachi said, taking a fistful of fabric in his hands and stretching it over one of the opposite corners.

"Thanks." Deidara chuckled. "How many college students does it take to cover one mattress, yeah?"He joked while Itachi struggled to pull the sheet over the last corner of the bed; the corner that Deidara himself was originally responsible for. "Let me help you with that, yeah."

Itachi tensed as Deidara's fingertips grazed his own as he snaked his hands underneath the sheets to grip it from underneath. Itachi wasn't one of those people who believed that homosexuality could be spread from contact like a disease, but innocent touches quickly turned into intentional ones until it progressed into something more; a path Itachi did not want to walk.

"You think it shouldn't have been that difficult, yeah?" Deidara said once they managed to accomplish their mission.

"It wouldn't have been if you'd bought the correct sheets." He murmured, absent-mindedly rubbing his hands together.

"Why spend money on new sheets when I can just as easily use the ones I already own? It just takes a little bit more effort." He stated, haphazardly throwing his pillows and comforter on top of the bed, narrowly missing Itachi in the process. "So," he said, throwing himself onto the bed, "what's your major, yeah?"

"I'm double majoring in business administration and accounting with an English minor." He replied, taking a seat in his desk chair.

Deidara's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow…you're in for quite the semester than, aren't you?"

"I guess." Itachi shrugged and reversed the topic of conversation to Deidara. "What are you majoring in?"

Deidara inhaled in such a way that Itachi expected him to answer that he was undecided. "I'm majoring in chemistry with a secondary teaching certification with a studio art minor meaning I want to teach high school chemistry and do art in my spare time, yeah."

He didn't expect the real answer to leave him speechless like it did. When asked that question, Itachi assumed most people responded with one word answers like "math" or "philosophy" or "English" let alone already know what subject they want to minor in. A small population of the campus probably hadn't even decided on a major yet. Itachi liked to believe that he was an abnormality wanting to double major and also know what it was he wanted to minor in, but sitting on the bed opposite to him, idling swinging his feet back and forth over the edge sat somebody else who knew exactly what they wanted to do with their life. He just didn't expect that somebody to be Deidara.

"Really?" He answered, glancing at Deidara's cluttered desk. "I expected you to be—"

"An art major?" Deidara asked. Itachi nodded. "I get that question a lot, yeah, especially when people see all my art supplies. However, art's not a very stable profession and I need something to pay off all these college loans I'm taking out!" He laughed.

Itachi chuckled along with him, understanding the importance of a stable career, especially when one finishes up with college. "I don't know many artists, but the ones I have met seem to be hell-bent on either pursuing a career that gets them nowhere or one that's highly competitive. For all the work that you'd need to put in, I don't think it's worth it."

"Well, I've never been one to fit the mold." He said, smiling wistfully. "I mean, just because I'm gay doesn't mean that I'm going to violate you or crawl on top of you when you're sleeping, that's just creepy. But everybody thinks that there's some gay agenda to convert everyone to the 'other side' or something yeah, but it's not. In fact, there is no gay agenda, yeah. I'm the same as everybody else except for the fact that I'm a man who likes men."

Itachi knew that Deidara was homosexual from the moment he walked through the door but hadn't wanted to say anything about it. That "lifestyle," as his parents always referred to it, wasn't for him. It wasn't something he particularly wanted to witness, hear about, and definitely wasn't something that he wanted to participate in. However, during his time in high school, he'd witnessed a kid being bullied for his sexuality and was mercilessly teased until he committed suicide and nobody, no matter their "lifestyle" or "life choices" or "preferences" or whatever you wanted to call it, deserved to be treated in such a manner.

He was pretty keen at distinguishing who was homosexual and who was heterosexual, but wasn't comfortable attaching such labels until it was confirmed. He expected Deidara to mention it at one point or another, but this, this was different.

Looking up from the backs of his hands, his knuckles white from clenching the sheets underneath them, Deidara noticed Itachi's overwhelmed expression and immediately colored. "I'm so sorry for going off on you like that, I really am, trust me." He said and smacked himself in the forehead with the heel of his palm. "God, why am I such an idiot!?"

"Deidara,"

"My cousin said that this would happen. She said that when we were all settled and everything, I should gently explain that I was gay and ask if you were okay with that but why should I have to apologize for something I can't change, yeah? Why should the first thing I say to you be 'Hi, my name's Deidara, and I'm gay and I'm sorry if my sexual orientation offends you. Let's be friends, okay?' but I just can't do that, yeah. My name's Deidara and I'm here to become a high school chem. teacher and hone my skills in art. Oh, and I just so happen to be gay, a tiny aspect that in no way defines who I am."

By the time he was done, he had his face and his hands and was visibly shaking. Although Itachi was hesitant at first to make any physical contact with him, he was not above reaching out to place a hand on his roommate's shoulder to comfort him. "Deidara, it's okay." He whispered.

"No it's not." Deidara whined. "I blew it. You probably think that I'm a gay psychopath now, don't you?"

He shook his head. "Not in the least. I agree that you shouldn't have to apologize for who you are; in fact, I think that you're brave for standing up for yourself." He said, squeezing his roommate's shoulder before letting his hand fall back to his side. "A word of advice though, don't go off like that with everyone you meet for the first time. That, people might be offended by." He grinned and glanced at his watch. "The welcome dinner started ten minutes ago. Care to join me?"

Deidara nodded and dabbed at the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand. "Yeah." He said, hopping off his bed.

"Itachi?" He sheepishly asked him as they were walking down the hallway together. "Thanks, yeah."

"No problem." Itachi answered and faced forward once more.

"Do you remember what you said about not going off on people when I first meet them?" Itachi nodded. "Yeah, my cousin said the same thing to me this morning before I left."

"Is that so?"

He nodded. "I wasn't planning to get so angry like that, but I was just worried, you know?"

Itachi shook his head. No, he didn't know.

"I mean, my sexual orientation isn't something I try to hide, but I was worried about how you would look at me since we'll be sharing a room for almost a year, yeah."

At that moment, Itachi realized the truth in Deidara's words. They would be sharing a room for a nearly a year. And even though Itachi had made it apparent that he didn't mind one way or another what Deidara's sexual orientation was, sharing a room with him was almost the same as sharing a bed, a thought that left him warily considering how the rest of the year would turn out.

Author's Note: I'd like to give a quick shout-out to my first college roommate with her wild ginger hair with blonde streaks, messily packed boxes, and equally, if not, messier electric blue Ford Focus for being the inspiration behind Deidara's character here. I'd also like to thank my cheap-ass roommate I met later on in life who refused to buy the correct sheet size for the bed, citing the same explanation as Deidara here (love you, hon~ 3)

I'd also like to thank Nanaki Lioness for pointing out a critical mistake within the chapter that has now been fixed. (Thank ya, darling~)

Thank you all for reading!

Until next time!

~Sasori33-001

Oh, and PS Not sure if I'm going to stick with the title or not. It may or may not be significant down the line. I don't know yet.