Chapter 2:

Deidara fell asleep before Sasori returned. In all honesty, he was glad that that happened, because he could already tell he and his roommate were not going to get along at all. Their views on art were completely different and, though the blonde was willing to accept the redhead's opinion, he had a gut feeling that the other didn't feel the same way.

He woke up the next morning to find Sasori already gone, bed made perfectly as if he had never even laid on it. Deidara let out a sigh and threw the covers off of him, revealing his bare toned chest and black boxers. The sun was beaming through the bare window, the alarm clock on the desk reading 8:56.

Classes weren't starting for another few days, so he had to find some sort of activity to keep him occupied until the school year started.

In truth, he wanted it to begin. He wanted to start going to classes he actually wanted to take, know what it was like to walk around a campus with snow falling lazily in fat clumps to the ground, and, finally, to just start his life without any unnecessary obstacles in the way.

He unzipped the clay bag and reached his hand inside, feeling the palm mouth scoop up some clay and begin to chew on it. He closed his hand into a fist, waiting for the final product to appear. He unclenched his hand and smiled at what the palm mouth produced, placing it on top of his desk.

Today, he recalled, was the Activity Day for Freshmen, where activities and clubs would try to get freshmen to join, activities from acapella groups to fraternities. Deidara didn't know what was in store for him, but he wasn't about to stay in his dorm and wonder for the whole day.

So he quickly got ready and ran out the door, leaving the clay bird still perched delicately on top of the desk.

"JOIN THE LOCKET KEYS! THE BEST A CAPELLA GROUP AROUND!"

"Wanna learn how to DJ? Well here's your chance!"

Deidara rolled his eyes once more as yet another flyer was thrust into his face. He knew the Activity Day was a lively event, with all the clubs and groups waving colorful signs in the air and tables with bright tents on top catching the eye, but nothing could have prepared him for what he was facing.

Freshmen were everyone, running from one booth to the next, eyes ablaze with awe and fascination at all the opportunities being given to them. However, for the blonde boy just standing and watching it all, it looked more like an out of control circus than it did anything else.

This is beyond pointless, he thought, turning to head back to his dorm when a black-cloaked arm threw itself over his shoulder. He moved quickly away, ready to blow up his attacker, but was met with a smiling face and black eyes.

"Join Akat Suki Sigma!" the boy smiled at Deidara. He gave the other guy a once over; he was about the same height as he was, with long hair, but it was black and pulled into a low ponytail that disappeared under the black cloak he was wearing, which had red clouds outlined in white scattered about on it.

Deidara knitted his brows together, his gaze traveling to the group that stood behind him, each one decked out in the same cloak, then back at the still smiling boy in front of him. "Is this a fraternity, un?"

"Hell yeah! And I'm the President of Akat Suki Sigma, Itachi Uchiha!" the boy pointed a hitchhiker's thumb at himself, grinning wider, if that was even possible. Deidara had never thought about joining a fraternity before. Watching movies that portrayed them as just party-throwers and drunks really turned him off on the idea of joining once he went away to college. He didn't want to waste time drinking booze and playing beer pong until he puked.

"Say," the raven-haired boy interrupted his thoughts. He trained his blue eyes on Itachi, who was scrutinizing with his dark gaze, "you wouldn't happen to know my brother, Sasuke, by any chance?"

"Sorry, the name doesn't ring a bell, un," actually, it did; it most certainly did. Back in high school, Deidara remembered how every girl had a crush on the popular Sasuke Uchiha. Not a day would have passed that his name didn't reached the clay artist's ears. In truth, he had always been slightly jealous of the Uchiha. He and that blasted Naruto were the star pupils that everyone knew and praised, including all the teachers. While Deidara sat in the background, hatred burning inside him when no one recognized his art as something truly magnificent.

"Oh, that's too bad. He's pretty chill once ya get past that ego of his," Itachi lightly hit the blonde on the shoulder, insinuating a tiny smirk from the latter. The Uchiha looked back at his group and smiled. "Think we have ourselves a recruit!"

He turned his gaze back on the blonde. "What's your specialty, huh?"

"My what?"

"You know, what are you good at doing? I specialize in the Sharingan, Kisame is an expert on water, etc. So, what are good at?"

"Oh, that, well…it's," Deidara knew exactly what he was good at. His skill was explosive clay and just recently, he had perfected the art of C4, a very hard and excruciating task. However, at the current moment, he did not have his clay bag with him, so he couldn't show off his skillset to impress this group of obviously strong people. He found his blue eyes trained on his feet. "I specialize in explosive clay, but-"

"Wow, that's amazing!" his head snapped up to see Itachi staring wide-eyed at him. He couldn't help but grin sheepishly and rub the back of his head with his hand. "Well, I wouldn't call it 'amazing', but-"

Suddenly, he felt someone move past him and he watched as Itachi went behind him. He turned to find a very human-esque puppet hovering in the air, hands holding two swords dripping with thick purple liquid that the blonde could easily tell was poison.

Anger flared inside him as he saw his roommate, Sasori, standing a few lengths away from the puppet, chakra strings connecting the two. Itachi stared, awestruck, at the puppet, then turned to the redhead. "Is this your specialty?"

"Yep, and the purple liquid you see there just happens to be poison I concocted myself," Sasori smiled, turning his amber eyes to Deidara, who clenched his fists and teeth together, trying to keep himself calm.

Itachi placed his hands on his hips. "Well, this is amazing! What's your name, freshman?"

"Sasori."

"Well, Sasori, wanna join the Akat Suki Sigma Fraternity?"

The redhead made a conscious effort to stare down the blonde while answering. "But of course."

Itachi whooped loudly and went back to his booth to get something from inside a box. While he was occupied, Sasori walked over to Deidara, who was about ready to blast that annoying smirk off his face once and for all. "Looks like you're already behind, brat."

"Keep calling me that and we'll see how far you last dealing with me, un," he glared his blue eyes at his roommate, his palm mouths lively in his clenched fists. The redhead chuckled once, amber eyes looking ahead. "I'll give you this…you want to make something of yourself, you're going to have to prove it. Because right now, well," his gaze traveled up to the taller boy's face, "you just look pretty pathetic."

And with that, Sasori walked over to the booth and was handed a cloak by Itachi, who clapped his hand on the boy's shoulder, an obvious sign that he was already a fully accepted member.

For Deidara, he was sick of Activity Day, so he packed up his slightly bruised ego and headed back to his dorm room, his bed sounding more and more comforting with every step he took.