Naruto Shippuden Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Preferable Path to Perfection is You ❯ Almost Perfect ( Chapter 16 )

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 16: Almost Perfect

Itachi rather liked having Deidara back in his life as an actual partner. The most important part he was still basking in was that when he awoke in the morning, Deidara awoke at his side as well. However, contrary to what movies and fairytales would have you believe, it wasn't quite all happily ever after when your new partner was a cover stealing moron.

He scowled as he shivered, attempting to pull the cover Deidara had curled up with over himself even just a little. They had shared the bed for three nights now, and that was three nights Itachi had spent clambering for the feather duvet sleepily when he inevitably awoke from cold. A glance to the blue LCD screen of his new, unfamiliar clock told him it was barely three am and he scowled, yanking harshly on the covers once more.

"Deidara," he hissed, sighing in frustration when the call did nothing and putting his bare feet out onto the cold floor instead. He would go and retrieve a blanket from the airing cupboard and curl up with it himself instead, and he'd turn his back on Deidara out of spite too.

As he pulled the soft blue cover Deidara used to use from the airing cupboard a smile flickered on his tired lips. He and Deidara had slipped into a relationship effortlessly- the length of time they had co-habited previously had clearly helped, meaning the subtle changes to their routine were welcomed ones.

They, of course, now shared the bed. The bed, Itachi noted, that Deidara had somehow managed to spread himself out across in the short moments he had been absent. Shoving him roughly and getting back in, he wrapped the cover he held around himself and shivered beneath it. Perhaps it really was time to start putting the heating on at night.

Deidara also now held his own key. It had been the first thing Itachi had wanted to do, choosing a colourful tartan design for the key in question from an array on display in the store.

He'd even re-cut his own boring, gold key into a red and black one and silently admired it every time he came into contact with it. The novelty hadn't worn off yet and of course, Deidara had absolutely adored them both for their artistic measures.

Lastly, the perfection complex. Itachi sighed, trying to will the thought away. It was the most difficult challenge he'd ever had to face and Deidara had been clearly pushing him in the right direction. Sometimes literally, when Itachi had been faltering between trying to take the easy, perfect path against changing to a less perfect one as he'd promised he would.

He scowled lightly as he recalled Deidara shoving him while he'd been holding coffee in front of a whole cafe of people the evening before, promptly dropping it. Then the idiot had practically pinned him down to prevent him trying to hide in the bathroom from shame, forcing him to confess untruthfully he had dropped it like an normal, imperfect human to the staff as they attempted to clean up.

When they were walking home, Itachi had had the grace to thank him for helping before shoving him into a gutter.

It seemed he was wide awake as well, realising he was thinking and not sleeping. He exhaled and turned back towards Deidara, already having made the decision to rouse him from sleep too- it was his fault he was even awake anyway, the idiot.

"Deidara," he murmured, shaking his shoulder. "Wake up."

Deidara turned to him with sleepy, half lidded eyes before smiling gently. "Itachi," he uttered, curling into Itachi's side as he did so. Itachi let him, placing his arms around him gently as though he was made of glass.

Deidara was far from delicate, but Itachi was still feeling a little like he was dreaming. The notion that if he was forceful in any way he would shatter the life they were beginning to build in his mind was keeping him gentle.

"You stole all the covers again," Itachi whispered in his ear, holding his breath slightly as he felt the rise and fall of Deidara's bare chest against his own. "I woke up freezing because of you."

"Turn the heating on, yeah."

"Why don't you just not steal the covers?"

Deidara didn't reply, curling closer into Itachi and laying one hand on his naked chest. Itachi closed his eyes in elation, tightening his grasp around Deidara just a little. Perhaps he could fall back to sleep after all, curled up comfortably against a loving body that was radiating heat.

Deidara moved, sitting up and yawning slightly as he did so. Stretching his arms up rather like an oversized cat, he slipped off of the bed much to Itachi's annoyance.

"Shall we go for a walk?"

"It's three in the morning, Deidara."

"I'm awake now, yeah."

"I'm not going for a walk at three in the morning. Get back in bed."

"Can we go later?" Deidara asked, unrelenting. "There's a really nice park near my..." He faltered, looking like a little downcast. "The college I was going to go to, and I think you'll like it."

Neither Deidara nor Itachi had expected the college in the next town over to refuse to give the scholarship back once Deidara turned it down for the other more distant one.

Itachi had felt an immeasurable amount of guilt for contributing to his decision to change in the first place, but Deidara being who he was had smiled and simply shrugged it off.

However disappointment radiated from him like an aura, leaving Itachi saddened that there was nothing either of them could do.

"Are you coming back to bed?"

Deidara hesitated before climbing back under Itachi's cover, throwing the one he had stolen over them as well. He curled back up against his boyfriend's pale chest, pressing his lips gently to the soft skin as he sighed contentedly.

"Deidara?" Itachi murmured, half asleep already. "Does it feel strange to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"This. Us."

"Should it?" Deidara asked, seemingly confused. "We've been a part of each other's lives for long enough that it doesn't really feel that weird, yeah. Does it for you?"

"No," Itachi replied, a smile on his lips. "That's why I asked."

Deidara kept silent, burying his own smile in Itachi's side until he felt the soft, gentle rhythm of sleep emanating from him. Taking that as his cue to get up, he did so carefully so he wouldn't disturb the other man and slipped off to fetch his sketchbook from his bag.

An idea had been eating at him and he had less than two hours to implement it, settling down in the desk chair and flicking the lamp on to get started right away.

Itachi awoke to the buzz of the alarm at five, turning over to hit the very convenient snooze button on the top sharply to stop it. It was a feature his old clock hadn't had and now he owned a clock with it, he had no intentions of ever owning a clock without it ever again.

Deidara was sitting in his desk chair with his sketchbook in his lap, looking awfully pleased about something. Itachi pulled himself to a sitting position, gesturing for Deidara to speak as he clearly wanted to.

"I only finished a few minutes ago," Deidara explained coyly, getting up to hand the closed sketchbook to Itachi. "I'll make you coffee."

He vanished from the room quickly, leaving Itachi to grab his glasses from the bedside and blink a few times in an attempt to banish the last traces of sleep. When he felt he had done so he opened the sketchbook onto the bookmarked page he presumed he was supposed to be looking at, eyes widening as he took in the image before him.

As was the case with a lot of the sketchbook, it was himself that he saw emblazoned on the thick white paper. It was only a rough sketch, showing time hadn't been on the artist's side, but he had still managed to put across the necessary details that he had wanted to.

The Itachi in the picture was fast asleep, the blue cover curled up almost protectively in his arms- much like Itachi had been doing when he awoke, in fact.

Deidara had attempted to draw him once before, but Itachi had awoken before he finished. Itachi smiled at the picture before him, closing it with a soft snap when Deidara returned carrying a white cup of much welcomed coffee with him.

"How long have you been wanting to draw that?" He asked softly.

"Since the last attempt failed," Deidara admitted. "I'm glad I got the chance, even if it's a little rough around the edges, yeah."

Itachi accepted the mug with a nod of thanks, setting it on the side to cool as he slipped out of the bed. Deidara caught him in an embrace as he did so, one hand tenderly on the back of Itachi's head as they pulled apart.

"Can we go for that walk?" He asked pleadingly.

"Let me shower and drink my coffee first," Itachi sighed, rubbing a weary hand over his eyes. "Why don't you make some breakfast and we'll take it with us?"

"Breakfast?" Deidara replied, frowning as Itachi stepped out into the hallway. He followed to continue the conversation. "What am I supposed to do, pack cereal and milk or something yeah?"

"No," Itachi sighed, turning to raise an eyebrow at him. "Use your imagination."

Five minutes later when he was standing under the warm cascade of the shower, he realised with a start what he had just given permission for. The last time he had given Deidara full reign over his kitchen it had ended in blue cake- he groaned, rinsing his hair quickly and snapping the shower off.

He needed to put a stop to whatever scheme his artistically minded boyfriend was implementing right then, no delays, no questions asked.

Deidara turned to greet him with a butter knife in his hand. Normal, Itachi noted. That was good.

"What are you making?" He asked casually, trying to make it seem like he'd simply decided on a quick shower that morning, rather than he had cut it short to check up on the idiot.

"Breakfast," Deidara replied cheerily. "I have it under control, yeah. Go and drink your coffee."

Itachi reluctantly fetched his coffee from the bedroom and settled at the living room table, attempting to steal glances across to the kitchen. He couldn't see any traces of blue food dye and he couldn't smell cake, which was definitely a plus in his eyes.

He finished the drink and took the opportunity to spy as he washed the mug in the sink, eyes straying to where Deidara was grating cheese onto a chopping board. He blinked a few times, noting the cucumber that sat nearby.

"Cheese and cucumber sandwiches?" He asked, not quite sure he could believe his eyes.

"What did you expect?" Deidara replied, glancing up in confusion as he paused his grating. "They're portable and taste good, yeah."

"I suppose," Itachi agreed with a shrug, heading from the room and feeling a lot more satisfied. He didn't catch Deidara's smirk as he quickly added another ingredient to Itachi's sandwich, acting innocent as he packaged them up.

"Are you ready?" He called when he heard his boyfriend return to the living room, wanting to get out of the house as quickly as possible so Itachi didn't smell the telltale sign of his tampering.

"Almost," Itachi called back, stepping back into the kitchen fully dressed and tying his wet hair back into a ponytail. "I hate leaving the house with wet hair," he admonished with a sigh as he opened the fridge. "Especially when it's cold."

Deidara just smiled nervously, edging towards the door with the packaged breakfast items in hand. Itachi emerged from the fridge with a bottle of cold water, taking a sip as he leant back against the counter. He frowned after a few more small sips, features twisting in confusion.

"I can smell cinnamon."

"Don't be ridiculous," Deidara attempted to cover, but his guilty look gave him away. Itachi's eyes fell on the sandwiches in the other's hands, looking unimpressed as he quickly worked out what had happened.

"Did you put cinnamon in my breakfast, Deidara?"

"I thought you'd like it?" Deidara protested weakly.

Itachi sighed, putting a hand to his eyes and tilting his head back. "You can't blame that on art," he pointed out. "There's nothing artistic about that."

With that he set the bottle of water down, stalking across to Deidara meaningfully. Deidara slipped into the living room to get away, setting the sandwiches on the table as Itachi wrapped his arms around him and kissed him fervently.

It took only a few seconds for Deidara to recover, kissing back with equal vigour until Itachi broke away and gave him a stern look.

"Are you angry?" Deidara finally asked, though really it was a stupid question. Angry people didn't kiss the person who had irritated them, surely?

"Idiot," Itachi chided in a soft, tender whisper as the strict look melted away as though it had never been real in the first place- which it hadn't. "It's things like that that made me fall for you."

"Those other things had a basis of art though, yeah."

"I could never tell the difference between your artistic ventures and your moments of idiocy," Itachi shrugged. "Come on, let's go. Are you packing that sandwich?"

Deidara halted in doing exactly that. "Yes?"

"I'm not eating it."

"You just said you liked it when I did things like that, yeah!"

Itachi paused in his stride to the door and turned, shaking his head. "That doesn't mean I'm going to eat that. Make another and I'll meet you out in the car."

Deidara nodded in agreement, a tiny smirk on the edge of his features as Itachi vanished into the hallway. If Itachi wasn't going to be in the house, he wouldn't know if another sandwich got made or not...

"Oh, and Deidara?"

Deidara glanced at Itachi, who was peering round the doorway. "What?"

"I'm putting trust in you. Don't let me down, will you?"

He slipped off again, leaving Deidara to feel a touch guilty- not because he'd been about to flaunt that trust, oh no. Rather, because he had every intention of still doing it anyway. He put the sandwich into his bag and closed it quickly, throwing it onto his shoulder with a satisfied grin.

It was Itachi's fault for putting confidence in him, really. After all, when had either of them ever subscribed to doing things like normal people?

They walked with fingers intertwined tenderly, their free hands clutching paper cups of coffee as they strolled through the small park Deidara had mentioned. The morning's early dew had settled on the ruddy grass- golden leaves had fallen to it and the pathway they walked, leaving the trees bare yet beautiful. They were captivating still, even in their semi-naked forms as they glistened with light frost that would soon vanish in the early morning sun.

Deidara kicked the rusty leaves up as they walked, grinning rather like a child in a candy store as they stuck to the soles of his dark shoes. Itachi frowned at him, exhaling heavily as he observed his partner's behaviour.

"Stop that," he scolded lightly when he could stand it no longer, tugging on Deidara's hand to pull him away from the edge of the path.

"You're no fun, yeah."

"Fun to you is putting cinnamon in cheese and cucumber sandwiches."

"I shared mine with you! Don't tell me you're still annoyed about that!"

"Just walk normally," Itachi requested with a heavy sigh, taking a sip of his coffee and wincing when he realised it was still too hot. Deidara pursued his lips in distaste but obliged, letting his grip on Itachi go to swap the hand he held his coffee with.

"It's beautiful," he remarked, indicating the park around them. "Who knew something so wonderful was right here on our doorstep? Even though the college thing didn't work out I'm glad I came to this town and found this place, yeah."

He stopped, passing his coffee to Itachi without a word and pulling up the camera around his neck. Itachi watched with a tiny smile on his lips as Deidara snapped photographs of their surroundings, stepping up next to him and glancing at the cloudy sky wistfully.

"Yes," he agreed softly, the words taking a double meaning in his mind. "Who knew?"

Chapter End