Disclaimer: I am not Masashi Kishimoto. Naruto is his.

"Hey, come on now, that's not a way to greet your brother." Neither Sasuke's tone, nor his face revealed smugness. His outfit and appearance weren't the only thing different about him.

No… There was something more to it.

Sasuke leered at them. He didn't look surprised or bothered in the least.

Itachi scoffed. He disappeared to leave crows in his wake. Kisame assumed that was his cue to use Samehada to occupy him- to screw with the teen as a way to get him distracted. Simply half-heartedly swinging the shark skin sword was wasteful of his abilities, but this brat was not going to get in their way. He wouldn't look forward to being berated by Leader if that were to happen. It won't happen.

The brunette evaded any potential slashes from the shark scarcely. Call it grace, but his movements were far from suave- really rough and quick. It was something along the lines of swagger. Shifting sharply and abruptly was all he could do.

Soon enough, Itachi managed to get behind him and made hand signs. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" (Yes, in the rain, I know.) Then, the other sibling just stood there.

The smaller Uchiha grinned, which made the raven haired nuke-nin feel insulted almost.

"Substitution Jutsu!"

He saw that coming, but what he nearlyregretted to not predict was….

"Windmill Triple Blades!

Okay, the weasel could handle the log. This, though, was a technique being blatantly misused right in front of his eyes. It could have worked nicely with the Sharingan to ensure it would've been successful. Heck, channeling a chidori through it would've been a great combination.

He avoided the one pulled back shuriken without a second thought.

Blindly running towards him, Sasuke rapidly flashed through several hand signs and yelled, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Four Sasukes headed forward with blank faces. Itachi dodged each of their attacks. Some shuriken got rid of the clones, and Itachi kicked the real one at the back of the head. Sasuke landed face forward on the ground.

"This isn't a welcoming party? I would've thought you'd be pleasedto see me."

That statement received a slight chuckle from Kisame.

He had heard this one alone killed Orochimaru, so why couldn't the younger do a little better than this? It was kind of pathetic to tell the truth. Kisame expected more of the survivor of the Uchiha massacre; though, he did last longer than the last battle he remembered the brothers having in Konoha. How long had it been since then? Three years? About that time.

Sasuke stood up and dusted the dirt off of his face, which had a couple of scratches.

"What? Did you not recognize me?" It was a genuine question.

"Tch," was the response he got.

Again, Kisame laughed.

"Hey, Itachi, maybe we should bring him with us."

"Why do you say that?" Itachi tried to keep his usual calm, stoic composure.

[O_O]

How did he get talked into this?

Itachi sighed. Atleast they were heading out of Ame, because all of them had been soaked. While the shark didn't mind, he did. The boy, he wasn't sure of… His otouto wasn't brooding as he foresaw. Though there hasn't been any conversation since they started their departure from the Village Hidden in the Rain.

For five friggin' hours, the men had been dripping wet and extremely cold on their way to find somewhere to stay. It did take a while to find a quaint town with an inn.

[O_O]

"Ah, finalllllly~!" Sasuke purred.

He walked through the doorway of their room dry and warmer now that they were inside. It was a decent size. The one thing that disturbed Itachi was there were two beds in it. It was a stroke of luck for them this room was even available, so he left his concerns about the unnerving fact unsaid.

"I'm going to the onsen as soon as possible, if either of you'd like to join me."

Kisame flashed a grin to reveal sharp teeth, which threw the boy off.

"Sure, just give me a few minutes."

The young man ran off to the men's changing rooms. Well this isn't awkward as hell.

"Kisame, disorienting, vindictive nuke-nin of Kirigakure. Yeah, that title fits," Itachi thought to himself.

The raven found an empty drawer next the second bed and stored the few things they brought. Medical supplies, their weapons pouches, and... Ramen? Eight small packages of it fell out of the bag, for they were occupying the most space.

"Kisame."

"Yes?"

"Why did you pack all of this ramen?"

"You never know when you're going to need it, Itachi-san."

Right. Like they're going to need any ramen for lifeordeathsituations. Or to satisfy sudden Sasuke's cravings for reminiscing in his days in Konoha.

"Kisame?"

"Hm?"

"If you don't leave this room," Itachi paused and turned around with a face more intimidating than Yamato's. "… I will not be afraid to use Tsukuyomi on you."

Kisame shrugged. "Alright, alright. I get it- you want to be alone."

[O_O]

"Mmmmm," Sasuke moaned.

"Visiting the onsen after traveling for who knows how long is nice."

"It certainly takes stress off you." A voice mused behind him.

The boy spun around in the water to see his brother's companion. "Oh, you again."

[O_O]

AN: Thank you all, you little lovelies for the reviews, follows, and faves! *o*

I'm sorry for taking a while- I had a bit of writer's block. Since I decided I needed a break from stressing over the fic, I watched the Road to Ninja movie. (Yes, I hadn't seen the movie until then, so feel free to point and laugh.)My speakers weren't working, but atleast there were English subtitles.

I must say that it wasn't at all like I expected. I remembering thinking halfway into the movie: "Where the hell is Sasuke? I've only see him TWICE." He had practically NO screen time whatsoever, but oh well. I got to admit that I loved seeing Naruto spend time with his parents, even if they weren't the real ones. What brought me to tears was watching the part when the actual ones sealed Kyuubi within him and saying a few things before they died. Menma really pissed me off though.

Whoever decided to make the Akatsuki mercenaries was a genius. "There was no contract to fight against the nine-tails. We didn't get paid for that." XD And I was sure that the moment Itachi swept Sakura off her feet and jumped on Deidara's bird just screamed ItaSaku. (Just so you know, I don't particularly love or hate Sakura so don't kill me.)

I hope you enjoyed this chap- *Shot* I know it's too short, don't kill me. I promise a much longer chapter by sometime next week! Ja ne!