Naruto Fan Fiction / Naruto Shippuden Fan Fiction ❯ My Big Gay Path Wedding ❯ To Have And To Hold ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: The characters, items, places etc of Naruto are property of Masashi Kishimoto. These objects are used without permission for entertainment only, not for making money. No infringement is intended.

Chapter 1: To Have And To Hold

Footsteps echoed around the church, the click-click of high heels and softer footfalls of finely polished shoes encompassing Itachi's thoughts as he tried hard not to think about why he was standing at the altar. Kisame stood at his side, both of them dressed in smart suits and jackets, despite the heavy heat of summer weighing down on them.

"Here he comes!" He heard a voice say, causing him to glance over his shoulder as the doors of the church opened slowly and ominously. Deidara beamed at him from atop the giant unicorn he was riding, before said unicorn began to move of its own accord on its wheels down the aisle.

Deidara threw handfuls of glitter and confetti across the gathered congregation, dressed in a white suit and matching top hat. As he turned to Itachi once more, Itachi realised somewhere deep in his subconscious that it was time to wake up and promptly did so.

For the third night that week Itachi dragged himself out of bed at four in the morning, heading to get coffee and trying not to think too hard about the fact he was to be married in the very near future.

As much as he tried to tell himself Deidara would be restrained and would certainly not be riding down the aisle on a unicorn with wheels, one glance around his living room told him it might be possible. The unicorns painted months beforehand were still gracing the walls, proving to him just how completely mental his choice of partner was.

Deidara thought that he had everything regarding the wedding under control. In actuality, Itachi had spent many an alone moment panicking about ridiculous things. Unlike most people who were to be married, worrying over their clothes or the wedding colours, Itachi was worrying about appearing perfect enough while in the spotlight.

Of course, when a real problem presented itself, he had no idea how to handle it. Deidara wanted to be married in August. Itachi had done everything in his power to make that happen, but had faced a hurdle he had expected but disliked- finding a venue and someone to marry them. Eventually out of sheer desperation he had knocked on the door of a hotel that looked inviting and simply asked the lady at the front desk if they had a civil partnership license.

Upon hearing 'actually, yes we do' Itachi had proceeded to thank her, take the hotel's paperwork, walk back outside, burst into tears born of frustration and relief and then walk straight to the doctor's office to make his need for anxiety meds very clear.

It wasn't a church like in Deidara's fantasies, but they both understood that wasn't an option. Regardless it was lovely- the staff were friendly and the prices were good, and it even meant they got a luxury room in the hotel itself as part of the package. There was just one problem for Itachi, and that was it wasn't enough. Nothing was perfect enough.

And so, it led to many early morning starts like his current one, plagued by wedding nightmares and clutching coffee like a lifeline, trying to convince himself to just call the damn hotel, book it and tell Deidara he had a wedding date for him.

He'd run into the same problem with the car, with the ceremony music arrangements, with the kimono he was going to wear, with- well, with everything. All the while Deidara simply let him get on with it, asking no questions and giving him the full control he had promised.

There was also the teeny tiny problem that he had been avoiding, which was that his parents still didn't know the plan. He had nimbly sidestepped Deidara's questions about it, but while Sasuke was sworn to secrecy he was also a terror.

Itachi had been called the night before by his bemused father, saying that it would be lovely if they shared dinner together as a family. That included Deidara since he was also family, or should be family, and wouldn't it be lovely and oh did he mention family?

Itachi had got the hint that Sasuke had pretty much organised the whole debacle in an effort to force a confession from him, and had reluctantly agreed when his father refused to let up about the idea.

Thus that left him with a dinner to organise on the coming weekend, though he was tempted to take the easy route a book a restaurant instead. Regardless it was another thing to stress about, and he had plenty of those already.

"Itachi?"

Itachi glanced up to see Deidara in the doorway, sleepy but smiling as he leant against the frame and yawned. Itachi gave him a tiny smile in return, knowing his melancholy had already been spotted and making no effort to hide it.

"Morning," he murmured in response as Deidara joined him at the table. Deidara nodded in response and frowned across at him, reaching out and clasping one of Itachi's hands gently.

"What's wrong?"

As much as Itachi wanted to brush it aside, he wouldn't. His fight with Deidara at Konan and Nagato's wedding was always in the forefront of his mind- he had said he wouldn't keep things from his partner anymore, and had kept his word. "I'm just worrying about everything and anything," he admitted.

"Getting cold feet about marrying me?" Deidara asked with a cheeky grin. "Or are you worried what your brother will do to you on the stag night?"

"Sasuke is under strict instruction to make sure he does not spike my drinks, does not hire any strippers of either gender, and is make sure that we get home with our clothes and dignity intact."

Deidara snorted at that, rolling his eyes. "Right. Maybe you'll be alright, but we both know I'm going to end up tied to a lamppost naked, yeah."

Sensibly, they had both agreed to hold the stag night a couple of weeks before the wedding itself so they could recover from the inevitable hangovers in peace.

Unsure of what the usual tradition for male partnership stag nights, they had simply decided to go out together- though Kisame and Sasuke had been collaborating something between them.

They weren't willing to say what they had planned, but judging by the whispers and wicked grins they shared it wasn't going to be anything innocent.

"Deidara, I think I've found somewhere," Itachi said before he could lose his nerve. "It's a hotel. The paperwork's in the drawer in the kitchen."

Deidara's face lit up and he went to fetch it, pouring over it at the table studiously. "It looks good, yeah. What's the catch?"

"None that I can see. We'll get a hotel room, full use of the reception hall and a sit down meal included in the price. We will have to decorate it and organise our own music, but that's alright."

"So why haven't you booked it yet?"

Itachi faltered for a moment, laying one hand over Deidara's. "I'm having... Complex issues," he remarked quietly. "I've been driving myself crazy trying to find something perfect enough, and-"

Deidara silenced him with a kiss, shaking his head as they broke apart. "I think it's perfect, yeah. Book it."

"I'm on meds again," Itachi continued while he still had the courage. "For anxiety."

"Has it really been stressing you that much?" Deidara asked concernedly. "Don't worry about it! All I care about is that we're both there on the day, yeah. All the rest is irrelevant."

"You should know by now you can't talk sense to me about this, Deidara."

"Yeah, yeah," Deidara sighed dismissively. "So now we have a venue, can we pick a date?"

"Whatever you want."

"August 3rd," Deidara replied immediately, as though he had already thought about it previously. Itachi raised an eyebrow in question at him. "It's the first Saturday of the month," Deidara explained. "Weekends are better for people, yeah."

"Will you be inviting any of your family?"

Deidara faltered at that, looking uncharacteristically shy for a moment. "My mother. I'm not in contact with anyone else. There's just one tiny problem."

"Do tell."

"She doesn't know I'm in a relationship."

Had Deidara been anybody else, Itachi would have been surprised. However he nodded, accepting that piece of information readily. "Unsurprising, considering how rarely you talk. Do you think she'll mind?"

"Doubt it," Deidara shrugged. "She's pretty liberal."

"Would I be able to meet her before the day itself?"

"I'll try and arrange something," Deidara promised. Itachi smiled gratefully at him before mentally preparing himself for the meeting.

Deidara had never spoken of his mother, so his mind was left to paint a vivid picture of her. Would she be an artist too? Or would she be the opposite of Deidara? He mulled it over as he drank his coffee, feeling a small surge of excitement at the thought before it was quickly engulfed by fear.

What if she hated him? He willed Deidara to make the meeting as soon as possible, knowing his mind would terrorise him about the entire ordeal until it was over otherwise.

He didn't expect his mental request to be granted quite as quickly as it was. Within three hours of discussing it with Deidara, Elise Andersen was standing on the doorstep. Itachi barely had time to panic as Deidara, who had not told him the meeting was to happen right then, grinned and explained who it would be before going to answer it.

Itachi hadn't quite known what to expect. The fact that Deidara resembled his mother very closely was to be expected, and thus didn't come as much of a shock. The sunny smile on her face was identical, as were the blue eyes and blond hair.

Hers had a curl to it, pulled up into a high ponytail with a few wavy bangs left shorter around her face while the remainder sat about halfway down her back. She was dressed in a smart white blouse and black pencil skirt, looking almost like she had walked right out of an office. Perhaps she had, Itachi mused.

"You are Deidara's housemate?" Elise asked, holding a hand out to Itachi. Itachi took it, unsure of what to say. It was a good assumption to make, even if incorrect.

"My name is Itachi," he replied instead.

"Elise. It's a pleasure."

Ever the good homemaker, Itachi offered coffee which was accepted thankfully, leaving him to slink off to the kitchen and calm down his racing mind. The fact Elise had noted the unicorns on the wall and said nothing bad of it meant she had to be used to the idea of such things, but with Deidara for a son that made sense.

"Mum, sorry to call you here, but there's something you should know," Deidara said once Itachi was back in the room. Itachi mentally berated him for waiting until he was present to break the news. "I'm going to be getting married, yeah. To Itachi."

Elise blinked a few times, eyes flicking between Deidara and Itachi before turning back to Deidara again. "So you're telling me you're gay?"

"I suppose."

"Old news," Elise shrugged. "You think I didn't know that? I know you moved out early but I saw enough of you growing up to know. Are you after my blessing?"

"Not really, yeah. We're going to do it anyway."

"Is that so? I'd have given it regardless."

Itachi watched the way they interacted, fascinated by it. Back when they had first become friends he and Deidara had discovered they held similar relationships with their mothers, but he had realised quite how similar they would be.

"So the unicorns- I take it that was your idea?" Elise sighed to Deidara. "You haven't changed a bit."

In the subsequent hour long meeting Itachi discovered a few things about Elise. She was an architect- her table always being covered in technical diagrams which was what had intrigued Deidara's artistic mind as he grew up, and to keep him away from her work she had bought him crayons and paper. He had loved it, and the rest was history.

She explained why she hadn't bothered to change her married name despite Deidara's insistences (too much paperwork), that she was allergic to cats (and thus sympathised with Sasuke's plight) and she had a weakness for green tea and ginger biscuits (though not together).

In return Itachi told her about his family, his studies and conveniently skimmed over his mental issues. Such things were not first-time-meeting conversation points, even if his complex had been dominating his life for, well, most of it.

Elise seemed satisfied, smiling and giving them a wave as they saw her out the door, standing side by side and looking the part of a happy couple- which they were, so all was well.

"She seems nice," Itachi mused as they shut the front door behind her.

"Yeah," Deidara shrugged, and no more was said about it. Itachi knew why they weren't all that close, and given that he had until recently been in the same position, he wasn't going to push it.

"We're seeing my parents this weekend for a meal," Itachi warned. "I don't know whether to cook for them or just go to a restaurant."

"Whatever you want. Any particular reason?"

"No," Itachi shrugged. Technically that wasn't true, but he had plans for the meal that Deidara wasn't yet privy to. "Just a family thing Sasuke organised."

"So we're seeing Sasuke as well?"

"Yes. You realise you're going to have to get along a little better since he'll be your brother in law."

"He's my best man, yeah. I already have to be civil."

"You chose him!"

"I was feeling nice."

"You made your bed, now you must lie in it."

"If my bed had Sasuke in it I'd be pretty pissed off."

"I wouldn't approve much either," Itachi remarked slyly, sending a tiny grin in Deidara's direction.

Deidara grinned back and wrapped his arms around his partner's neck, locking their lips in a gentle kiss that Itachi welcomed. No matter how stressed he became, being in Deidara's arms always seemed to calm him down. Even when they laid in bed together, hot and sticky with mussed hair and stupid grins depicting afterglow, he had stopped caring about how perfect he looked.

He would allow his long hair, often tangled and damp, to stay that way until the mood had passed rather than jumping straight up to shower and straighten out. He wouldn't try to hide the love bites Deidara gave his neck, allowing Sasuke to mercilessly tease him for 'being childish' when in reality Itachi loved it when Deidara had his lips to his neck just like that-

"My to-do list this afternoon," Deidara purred into his ear. "Involves you, then booking the venue. Any objections?"

"Why would I object?" Itachi murmured in response, suppressing a shudder as he closed his eyes.

"I thought you wanted to study this afternoon, yeah."

"That can wait."

"That's good to hear," Deidara mused as he unbuttoned Itachi's shirt. "You've come such a long way."

"My mental issues do not make good talk for the bedroom," Itachi chided.

"We aren't in the bedroom."

"That is true."

"I do think we spend more time in the shower than in the bed, you know."

"Mm," Itachi hummed in a non committal tone, since Deidara had once again latched his lips to his neck.

"Perhaps we could change that."

"Mmhmm."

"How about the kitchen counter?"

"Unhygienic."

"Trust you to be a killjoy even now, yeah. Fine, what's your suggestion?"

"Stop talking and start acting."

"Oh," Deidara responded with a smirk, lifting his own shirt over his head. "I like the way you think."

Somewhere between the shedding of clothes and getting Itachi onto his knees, the doorbell rang. It rang again, again and then a final time before Itachi finally cursed under his breath- much to Deidara's amusement- and gathered his clothes together. Slipping them on quickly, he left Deidara to do the same as he went to greet the unwelcome visitor.

"Oh," Sasuke smirked when Itachi stood before him, shirt ruffled and his hair a mess with a very telltale look of frustration on his face. "I was passing by and thought I should deliver a message to you in person, but perhaps I should have called instead."

"What did you want, Sasuke?" Itachi sighed, leaning against the doorframe. Somehow, your little brother sussing you out was a definite mood killer.

"I hope you don't have plans tonight," Sasuke replied, his smirk still firmly on his features. "That meal we planned for next weekend? We're going out tonight instead. We'll meet you in the car park at the back of the cinema at seven!"

With those words he turned and headed back down the path. Itachi knew that smug grin was still present even without seeing it, slamming the door with a sigh.

"Don't take this the wrong way or anything," Deidara said as Itachi re-entered the living room. "But could we please kill your brother?"

Chapter End