A/N: This chapter has been revised. It has been a good many years since I really sat down and wrote anything, so this is sort of like a whole new experience in a way. I've gone through and read all of my old stories, which are now pretty crappy in my opinion. Some may be re written and uploaded at a later date, though I don't hold my breath on the majority of them having a conclusion if it does happen.

This is one of my old ideas that I never actually wrote about, so I feel pretty comfortable using it as a way to expand my mind past it's rut that it's in and create a new writing style from scratch. That being said, please don't judge me too harshly. I expect many mistakes, but that's half the fun of fanfiction! Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise. Please do not sue me for my pocket lint.

It was the moment that many had been talking about for years. The moment that would change the lives of over a thousand people at a time, one where it was custom to wear a cap and gown, moving the tassel from the left side to the right, signaling the end of what most considered to be a crucial part of life. There was one individual who had been both waiting for and dreading this day for a few good months by then. The normally stoic man was fidgeting, the tassel in front of his face not helping a bit as it moved every time he did. He pulled at his gown collar as if it were choking him, even though it was obviously over-sized. There was only one reason he kept himself glued to his seat, and that was the blond haired man sitting to the right of him. Otherwise he would've bolted a long time ago.

Then it happened. Their row was called to stand, a wave of navy blue gowns standing all in uniform as they made their way to the long line that was stagebound. Names were being called as people shook the hands of their principal and school district leaders, Some people crying and others beaming with happiness as cheers were heard from the audience. It was enough to make anyone clam up, palms sweating as if they had become water faucets.

"Deidara Iwa." He heard as his blonde haired boyfriend walked calmly from one side of the stage to the other, shaking hands and bowing at the appropriate time. It made the man who stood behind the blonde suddenly ten times more alert as to what was going on, seeing his boyfriends bleached ponytail swaying in the distance and the look of distaste on the principal's face. He knew what it was, the blonde's hands were always incredibly sweaty, almost as if they were little tongues instead of hands. Then his name was called, and that time it was a call of power. One that signaled the end of his thirteen year journey, and the beginning of adulthood.

"Gaara Sabaku." Rang through the air, and the red head forced himself to take the last steps onto the stage. His face held the same expression it always held, one of stoic origins, but his insides were screaming when he took hold of his diploma. That was it. It was all over at that point. He could hear people clapping, and the feint calls from his two siblings, Temari and Kankuro, in the crowd of people. But he couldn't bring himself to do much else besides getting his diploma and off the stage.

That was it. He sat back in the chair that he was in before and watched the rest of the procession with both a sense of relief and sadness washing over him. It was a good feeling, to finally be done with overbearing lessons he couldn't control, on subjects he couldn't be bothered with. It was a freedom that anyone at his age would want. But it was the same freedom that saddened him. There had been multiple occasions where school had been the only thing keeping him and Deidara together. He had caught the blond with both men and women all but four times, and there is no telling whether there had been more or not. He knew that his blond boyfriend hung out with the wrong crowd before they started dating, many of which were druggies and sex addicts. But he also couldn't say that he was a perfect little angel, either. So, Gaara came to accept the fact that Deidara was trying to change his ways when the red head first confronted him about it. That had been their sophomore year. He had been caught three more times since then, and it had only left Gaara more paranoid, since most of his past relationships were a hell of a lot worse. He knew he probably should have left the blonde the first time he caught him with another person, but he loved the man, and he couldn't deny that a part of him was still hoping it would work out.

"We're finally breaking out of the nest, Gaara! Time to get on with life, new places to see and people to meet, yeah?" Deidara said as he leaned back in his chair. He watched the procession lazily, smirk on his face that the red head could only read as satisfaction. Gaara, however, didn't move, his arms crossed and his eyes shut as he composed himself. The nerve wracking part was indeed over.

"It is nice to finally be graduated. Though that doesn't nessicerily mean done with classes." He would say, earning a snort in response. Gaara had sent off letters to all of the major universities, wanting ultimately a degree in business so that he would be ready to take over the business his father left behind. He may not have seen eye to eye with his father, but the business was stable, and rapidly growing at that. Stability was something Gaara never had, but always craved.

"You have fun with all the major fancy classes, Koi. I'll stick with having a job and a hell of a lot of free time." Gaara bit the inside of his cheek at that. He didn't know what this over abundance of free time would bring for the blonde, but he knew it probably wasn't anything good.

Finally the procession drew to a close, and people started making a mad dash out of the huge stadium to meet up with their respected graduates. Gaara was glad to finally take off his cap and gown, feeling suffocated in the fabric. He stuffed them into a bag he had brought with him and kept underneath his chair, not really caring about if the gown got wrinkled for his official graduation photos in a week. Temari ordered them specially to join hers and Kankuro's, but it was mainly for show. They met him outside of the stadium, standing in a nearby planter box that was home to a large tree. Deidara had already left to meet up with his older brother, not bothering to say a word to the red head as they parted ways. Gaara had grown used to that kind of behavior, the blonde becoming more short with him as time went on.

"Oh Gaara, we are so proud of you!" Temari called, bringing him into a bear hug while her on and off boyfriend, Shikamaru, watched with somewhat of a bored look. Kankuro showed one of his rare smiles as he pulled his baby brother out of Temari's clutches and into a one-armed hug. "Yeah, can't believe you actually made it out of there alive. For a while there we didn't know if you were even going to make it to high school." Kankuro would say. Gaara knew what he was talking about, they all did. Middle school had been the worst for Gaara, between his constant bad relationships and their father's mentality being shot, he had always been a target in one way or another. If it wasn't for his siblings, he probably wouldn't have made any farther than a street gang.

Temari insisted on some pictures after that, pulling out his cap and tassel from his bag and stuck it on his head long enough to snap a couple of group selfies. They mainly consisted of Temari smiling in someway while leaning into a bored Shikamaru behind her. Kankuro would be making some attempt of annoying his little brother in one way or another, and said red head, other than a tiny bit of an annoyed frown gracing his lips, looked mostly the same. They went and got the picture framed afterwords and gave it to Gaara, who left it on his dresser at home. His older sister even made the effort of baking a cake for the occasion, even if Gaara wasn't too fond of sweets.

"Is Dei-Chan going to come over tonight? He adores sweets, why don't you invite him over?" Temari called to Gaara from their kitchen, he was lounging on a large sectional in the living room. He absentmindedly played on his phone, looking up different games that the app store had to offer while he waited for the party to start, mainly with family friends that Temari and Kankuro had invited to celebrate.

"He's been invited." The red head spoke, unfazed as he beat yet another level in an impossible game. He wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Deidara didn't show up, the blonde had a lot more friends to hang out with and probably a lot of party invitations, too. Gaara felt a little twinge of jealousy hit him at the thought of what his boyfriend would be doing at said parties- or more specifically WHO he would be doing. He wondered if it was too much to ask for the blonde to get drunk and do him for once, but told himself that was the jealousy talking and shoved it away. He didn't like being such a jealous person.

There was no definite start for the party. Gaara soon found himself surrounded by old and young faces alike, and stuck with people he knew better than others. Lee decided to talk his ear off, aspiring to one day be a track running in the world Olympics with Tenten making comments every once in a while. Temari was completely wasted, and had soon disappeared altogether with Shikamaru. Kankuro talked mostly to his buddies from work, and occasionally trying and failing to get his long time crush, Matsuri, to notice him. Gaara smirked as he watched his older brother be chased out the door after he allegedly grabbed Matusuri's ass.

Once Gaara became bored with the party, he went to his room with a couple beers in tow. He knew people would leave either of their own accord, or when Temari woke up the next morning and shooed out the people to drunk to leave for the night. He made it a point to turn down the music after a certain hour, not really wanting to deal with the cops coming over from them being too loud since the last time they were there he was the one who dealt with it. He checked his phone and sure enough, there was no word from the blonde.

He sighed, taking a swig of the beer he had opened in the other room. Temari knew that he drank even though he was a minor, but she also knew he was smart enough to not get himself totally wasted or become an alcoholic. He had too many plans for the future for that. Though he had a creeping feeling that those plans were not going to involve his love of three years, and that even though it wasn't spoken, graduation had also been the end of their relationship. Laying on his bed, Gaara would feel himself go numb from the alcohol. He had not cried in many years, and he didn't intend to start, either. So he would just lay there, letting himself get enveloped by the buzz he had acquired and the banging music from the other room as he slowly drifted to sleep.

A week went by, and it felt as though he was just on summer vacation. Deidara had come over the morning after the party, apologizing for his absence and even offered to help Temari clean up the place. It was when Gaara saw the fresh purple bruises on his neck that he knew his suspicions had been correct. He hadn't bothered to say anything as he left the house that day, and had no intention of seeing or spesking to his blonde haired... he wasn't even sure what to call Deidara at that point. Temari ironed out his graduation gown, and official graduation photos taken. His picture was added to his older siblings grad photos on the wall they had for that specific purpose. And soon the day came when Kankuro would not even bother to knock on Gaara's door as he rushed in, a handful of mail and a grin from ear to ear plastered on his face.

"Hey squirt, looks like you got your replies from the universities." He said, interrupting Gaara from his leisure time. The red head looked up from his desktop computer to the bundle of mail in Kankuro's hand, taking them while ignoring the fact his older brother hadn't knocked.

"It will take a bit to sort through all these. Don't hold your breath, Kankuro." Gaara went to his bed and started opening the letters one by one, and seeing how long it would take him to open them Kankuro eventually left and came back with a palm sized model sword used as a letter opener. He sorted through the accepted and rejected letters, Not really caring about which ones had rejected him. Instead he looked through all of the acceptance letters, and out of all of them he decided to choose between Suna University and Konoha University.

He didn't particularly want to go to Suna University, but it was within walking distance of his home, so he could just live at home while he went to school. That would be the cheap way to go. Though he had been to Konoha many times as a child, and had in some ways preferred the greenery to the consistent desert. It would also mean that he would be able to get a fresh start with a whole new set of people, though not totally alone since that's where Lee, Tenten, and Neji lived. Thankfully he still had a month to decide on what he wanted to do, so he threw away the rest of the acceptance letters and went out to the living room to show Kankuro and Temari which schools he would choose between.

"These are the two you've decided on, huh? They're both really high up there schools." Temari said. He knew his siblings would both want him to go to opposite schools. Temari wouldn't want him to leave Suna, being more of his motherly figure to him since middle school. but Kankuro believed it was time for him to spread his wings.

"And your surprised, Temari? Come on, Gaara's a genius. I'm surprised he didn't get accepted into higher schools, but they're full of a bunch of rich snobs anyway who probably paid their way in." Kakuro said, kicking up his feet onto the ottoman in the center of the sectional. Gaara watched as his siblings went on about the schools, not really leaning towards one or the other and stayed quiet. He decided to leave shortly after a shoe flew by his head towards Kankuro, not wanting to get involved with the older two's squabble.

He hadn't really left the house much since Deidara had paid a visit. The fresh air felt good against his face, even if it was desert air, and he would probably like it even more if it was twenty degrees cooler and shaded by decently leaf covered trees. He found himself walking to one of his favorite music shops, being old fashioned in preferring a collection of CD's instead of buying all of his music online. It was also one of the places he and Deidara both liked, and would often let himself let go and enjoy the store, or at least as much as he would let himself go in public.

To no surprise he actually saw the blonde there, and was about to walk up to him when something caught the red heads eye. He would see another red head, only he had darker hair and was taller, his eyes a muddy shade of brown. The man also had on a smirk, something that you couldn't entice out of Gaara if your life depended on it. Deidara's makeup was thicker than normal, his eyes outlined completely by thick black eyeliner, something he had stopped doing after Gaara and him had started dating.

If that wasn't enough to send Gaara over the deep end, the stranger in Deidara's compay added salt to the wound by leaning in and nipping at Deidara's ear. The blonde instantly melted into the touch, and the one soft moan that escaped his lips was enough to send Gaara over the deep end. He walked up to them and did something he hadn't done in years.

He socked the blonde right in the jaw.

The other red head just stood and watched, raising an eyebrow in amusement as Deidara's boyfriend hit him, seeming unfazed by the display of violence. Deidara looked up, shocked at what happened since he knew Gaara wasn't all that fond of hurting others. He pulled himself back up and brushed himself off, looking to the visibly shaking red head in front of him.

"...Look, Gaara, It's not what you think, yeah? Sasori's an old friend." He said, which only made Gaara's anger grow. His eyes would narrow to slits as he picked the blonde up off the floor, despite the height difference. There was murder in his eyes. Deidara didn't move, or even try to defend himself. He had seen this confrontation coming for a while.

"You and your 'old friend' can make out someplace else." He threw the blonde into a nearby stand full of DVD's, the blondes back hitting the steel rack hard as it and him went crashing down. Gaara turned towards the exit, ignoring the look of shock on the cashier's faces. "Don't bother calling me again. You've blown all your chances." He said, venom dripping from his voice as he left without another glance.

He knew at that point that he wasn't going to stay in town for college. Even when Kankuro brought up later that night that change would be good, he already knew what his final decision would be. The house was eerily silent for the majority of the night, save for Temari cooking up Gaara's favorite dish and the TV going just for the background noise. It hadn't been that way in over three years, but they fell into it just like a routine. Someone had hurt Gaara again. Again, there was contention in the Sabaku household.

He decided then that he wasn't going to be hurt anymore. He'd start over fresh, with new people and a new reputation. He decided to study in Konoha.

A/N: Not sure how I feel about this so far... Please review.