Underneath It All
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. Oh and for those of you who may be having trouble keeping track, I have listed an updated version of the Inner Nature Lists.
Protectors: Kisame, Suigetsu, Sasori, Konan, Hanabi, Obito, and Naruto.
Nurturers: Itachi, Sasuke, Jugo, Rin, Pain, Hinata, and Deidara.
Chapter 11
A few days later, Itachi snuggles up into Kisame's side and marvels at the similarities and differences between this existence and his life as a human. Spinning was certainly new, but some things were universal. One of these was apparently the Honeymoon Period.
"Mmm as much as I am enjoying this, I believe that it's about time that we check on my foolish little brother." He murmurs as he caresses the other man's cheek.
"You mean you want to make sure that Sasuke and Suigetsu's play fights didn't bring down the rest of the castle yet." Kisame says smugly as he kisses Itachi.
Itachi smiles and returns the kiss. While he wouldn't have phrased things exactly in that way, essentially Kisame was right. God only knows what Sasuke would do when left to his own devices when it pertained to the Great White. He was almost afraid to find out, but he knew that he had to.
The elder Uchiha Brother wasn't entirely certain if Kisame knew what he was thinking from their Mating Bond or if the other man just knew him that well. He supposed that it didn't matter. His point was still valid either way.
"Mmm something like that. Though in Sasuke's case, I don't think he's playing. Fortunately, Great Whites are a rather durable species." Itachi says with a sly smirk.
The Dolphin chuckles when he sees Kisame smirk at that assessment. It was an accurate one, in Itachi's mind. Though they really should get going.
"That's true. Can't lie. I got a soft spot for the kid, but he can be hard headed. That and we should probably check on the Guppies." Kisame says cheerfully.
"The Guppies?" Itachi asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, the newbies. Your brother's friends. Naruto, Hinata, Hanabi, and Neji. Not to mention, we should probably see if the old Sea Slug and that creepy shark are still alive. You know, just out of curiosity. Not that I particularly care what happens to those two." The blue skinned merman replies merrily.
Itachi could only shake his head in response. That was Kisame for you. One never knew what was going to come out of his mouth next.
"Very well. Though I'm certain that's more bluster on your part than anything else. You really don't care what happens to Danzo and Sai?" The Uchiha inquires almost incredulously.
"Mmm. Well I'm not going to go out of my way to hurt them or anything, but I'm not going to risk my tail for em either. You're the one that I care about most. After that, Suigetsu and Sasuke because they're our brothers so to speak. I'm always going to have a fellow Akatsuki's back and your brother's Guppies, but Danzo and Sai? Nah. They can handle themselves." Kisame tells him with a wink.
Itachi wasn't really that attached to Danzo or Sai, but he supposed they did have a moral obligation to at least check on them. After all, they were all in the same boat. (Though perhaps he should say ocean).
"I guess we'll go check on them and what comes of it." Itachi replies.
"You got it. You think that you can swim though. I was pretty…rough on you. It's your own fault though. Being that gorgeous." Kisame says as he caresses his cheek.
"I may be a Nurturer, but I'm not made out of glass. You don't have to worry about such things with me. Though you should probably save your advice for Naruto and Suigetsu. I imagine it wont' be too long before they're Mated to their respective choices. Oh and we should probably have them all tested." Itachi adds as an afterthought.
It had taken him a bit to accept his status as a Nurturer. He could only hope none of the other mermen were Nurturers. That was always a hard pill to swallow at first.
Though now that he had gotten used to the idea, he supposed it made sense. Kisame was the more aggressive between them. It was a case of opposites attract. In a strange way, he represented the more civilized side of their new species and Kisame was a creature almost entirely driven by instinct.
"That brain of yours is going about a thousand miles a minute. Must be normal for someone like you though." The Akatsuki teases him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Itachi demadns.
"Just that you're such a geek. It's alright though. You're one Hell of a hot bookworm. Let's go check on the Guppies." Kisame says as he leads Itachi off.
Meanwhile the Sabaku Siblings were getting used to their new forms. To say the least, it was more than a little jarring. As they were swimming around, Rasa watches them.
"How did I get a Jumbo Shrimp again?" Temari grumbles.
"Thanks to them destroying several labs, the samples were a little limited. Though it's not that bad. You do have a lovely pink tail." Her father comforts her.
His sister was now a mermaid with a squid tail and his brother was a merman with a lobster tail. Well more specifically, he had a tail made out of the same material and color as one. Oh and he was half freaking Orca!
Privately, he muses that he had most certainly gotten the better end of the deal. Orcas. Killer Whales. He could live with that. His black and white tail went rather nicely with his hair. (He knew that sounded a little vain, but whatever).
"Yeah. I guess so. I would have liked Orca better, but the pink is pretty." She concedes.
"The Orca sample was male and we didn't want to risk that…not mixing well with your gender." Her father points out.
That was a good point. Gaara suddenly gets a mental image of a male Temari and shivers. Yeah. That didn't sound good. Better to keep Temari as a woman.
"Can you picture her as a guy?" Kankuro asks and Gaara shakes his head.
He had just tried doing so and he would rather not do that again. Well at least not anytime soon. Though that didn't really matter. What mattered is that they were about to head out into the ocean.
"Did the three of you, do what I asked?" Rasa inquires with a smirk.
His father could be quite cruel sometimes, Gaara muses. Well never to them, but to other people. To other people, the oldest Sabaku could be rather vicious…when he wanted to be.
"Yes, we've done it. Hiashi Hyuga was sleeping and we were able to sneak into his house. It was only one injection, but we left a note by his bed." The red head replies.
"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Kankuro asked Gaara.
Gaara wasn't to be honest. This could backfire horribly. Still his father had a point. The best way to get rid of a snake was to cut of its head. In this case, that was Hiashi Hyuga.
"Not really, but it's the best shot we have." The red head whispered as he slowly slid open the door to Hiashi's room and stepped inside with his siblings.
Gaara immediately knocked Hiashi out when he began to stir. Temari administered the dosage and made sure to put the note where the man would see it when he woke up. Kankuro stood watch.
If nothing else, Gaara knew that he could count on his family. He and his siblings made an excellent team. That and their father was the leader of the Survivalist. If humanity was going to survive its own success, their best hope was genetic engineering.
"Okay, I got it!" Temari said excitedly.
"Good. Let's go before he catches us." Gaara replied as they headed off and he took one last look at the note.
It was a good note. As far as he was concerned, it explained everything. The Traditionalist was going to be beyond furious when he woke up, but that didn't bother Gaara. Quite frankly, he didn't care for the man all that much.
Thankfully, Temari was dating a genius and he had given her sleeping gas in case things ever got bad. Shikamaru had turned into a merman the year before and had a place waiting for them. The Sabaku Siblings wouldn't be human that much longer.
"The sleeping gas took care of the guards. It didn't spread to this room yet, but it's going to. We need to get out of here." Kankuro said.
Gaara nodded in agreement. It was only a matter of time. With that in mind, he quickly hurls something at the window. It shattered.
"Hey! That's going to leave fingerprints!" Temari yelled at Gaara.
"I've wearing gloves and even if it did, so what? I doubt the cops are going to turn into mermen and mermaids to catch us for doing a little Breaking and Entering. If Hiashi told them what was in that note, they'd think he was crazy. So let's go!" Gaara ordered them and with that, the Sabaku Siblings snuck out the window and fled off into the night.
"Good. I knew that I could count on the three of you. I would have done it myself, but we were battling some other Traditionalists that night. Things are about to get out of hand and soon. The authorities won't be able to suppress a public panic for much longer. I'm needed here, but I want you three to be safe." Rasa says.
Gaara's eyes soften, but he knew better than to make a big deal out of the unexpectedly sentimental declaration. His father didn't usually do sentimental. The fact that he was doing it now, that was a bad sign. A very bad sign.
"Will you join us soon?" Temari asks.
"I hope to. I have to continue the fight here for awhile. In the worst case scenario, I've already grabbed some genetic samples for myself and can make an emergency exit. Now, go!" He says and with that, the Sabaku Siblings swim off.
It was far from ideal, but there was a certain freedom to it. The orca part of his brain was certainly glad to be in the water and Gaara was with his "pod." He was oddly happy, even if his human mind knew that he shouldn't be.
Back in Sharingan, Obito smiles as he sits down to eat with his family and the strangers. The strangers who he saw much potential in. True, they were a rather eccentric group and difficult to corral. Though that didn't bother him much. They were also endlessly entertaining.
"More shrimp, My Dear?" Obito asks he offers Rin a tray of it.
"Well maybe, just a little bit." She replies with a smile as she bites into it rather gently.
His Mate's appetite still wasn't what it should be, but it was slowly coming back. Rin was looking slightly better with each passing day and their daughter was growing by leaps and bounds. Princess Akemi had completely enchanted the entire city.
Not that Obito could blame them. She was such an adorable creature. Naturally, he would have preferred it, if his Mate hadn't suffered so much to bring her into this world. Now that she was here though, he was never letting her or her mother go. They were his whole world.
"So Hinata, do you think your dad will ever calm down about all this?" Naruto asks as he stuffs his mouth with some more oysters.
"I hope so." The Angelfish murmurs as she nibbles on a few clams.
From what Obito had gathered, the Hyugas had a family member who was leading the "Traditionalists." Obviously, they had broken ranks though. Otherwise, they wouldn't be here.
The King couldn't see someone like Hiashi Hyuga allowing his family members to become mermaids and mermen to spy on their kind. Their kind was far too scattered for the most part to spy on. Not that Hiashi was aware of that fact, but it was the principle of the thing.
"We aren't that lucky." Neji says with a sigh.
Neji was an interesting one. A brilliant strategist, but a horrible pessimist. The Sharingan King wasn't certain that he wanted to know what had happened to the boy to make him that way. Sadly, he suspected that his uncle was at least partially to blame. That was a problem for another day though.
"Father is really upset about genetic engineering. I don't know why. I like my new tail." Hanabi says as she sips her drink.
Hanabi was another fascinating case. She was the second female Protector that he had spent any considerable time with. The fact that she was so young, made it even more interesting.
Obito knew their Inner Natures because he had asked them the day before. Kisame and Itachi were far enamored with each other to notice. They'd find out soon enough, he supposed. Actually, it was likely they were going to find out during this dinner.
One's Inner Nature appeared to be largely instinctual. She was far too young to find True Love and yet, her instincts were there. It was something worthy of noting, in his mind.
"It's complicated." Sasuke says with a shrug.
"Eh. Not really. He's just scared of change. He should get it over with. It's adapt or die at this point. So we adapted." Sugietsu says as he slides a tray of oysters to Sasuke.
"You should know that's not going to work on my foolish little brother. He's well aware that oysters are an aphrodisiac." Itachi notes in amusement as he swims over to the table.
Judging by the look on Sasuke's face though, the young merman hadn't been aware of that fact. He twitches and lashes his tail at Suigetsu rather angrily. Obito knew that it was more bark than bite though.
Well that was an unusually aggressive Nurturer. Perhaps, there were different degrees though. On the other hand, Itachi seemed perfectly content with his role as he sat down at the table in his new Mate's lap.
"Hey, what's that on your neck?" Naruto asks curiously.
"Oh this is my Mating Mark. Kisame has one as well. You can think of them as similar to wedding rings." Itachi says with a smile.
Kisame smiles and kisses Itachi's cheek. He was glad that his Mate was proud of his Mating Mark. That was a good sign.
"Owe! Hey, watch the tail! I mean it's cute and everything how you pretend that you aren't totally into me. The whole playing hard to get thing, but I draw the line at drawing blood! Sheesh!" Suigetsu growls.
"You should know better than to hit on Sasuke. Everyone that's ever hit on him gets ignored or he tends to do stuff like that! Actually, I'm kinda surprised that Itachi let himself get caught! He usually plays hard to get too! It's an Uchiha Thing, I think!" Naruto says merrily.
"Mmm that is a good point. I am beginning to notice that pattern myself. I'm fortunate that Deidara is such a beautiful and simple creature." Sasori says with a smile as he caresses the blonde's cheek.
Deidara beams and Kisame chuckles. He knew that the underlying message would take a minute to sink in, but it was going to be funny when it did. 3, 2, 1...
"That's right! Hey, wait a minute! Yeah?! What are you trying to say?! Are you calling me simple?! Isn't that another word for stupid?!" The energetic blonde demands.
And there it was. Like clockwork. He had never seen two Mates who bickered more. Kisame are pretty sure that it was all a strange form of foreplay though. That was the only logical explanation.
"No. I'm just saying that you are a creature of instinct. Your wants and desires are rather easily understood. Speaking of that, I think that my Mate needs some reassurance. Thank you, for the wonderful meal. May we be excused?" Sasori asks Obito slyly.
"Of course. There's nothing better than spending some quality time with your Mate." Obito says as he gives Naruto a wink and the blonde blinks.
Hinata seemed to get the message though. The Angelfish was blushing redder than any lobster that Kisame had ever seen. Yeah. This was going to be interesting.
"What are you winking at me for?" Naruto asks in confusion.
Sasuke smacks his forehead and mutters something about oblivious idiots. Itachi didn't look like he was that far behind. His beloved Mate was rolling his eyes good-naturedly.
Kid was completely oblivious. Kisame couldn't argue with that. What kidn of Protector didn't notice that he was in love with a Nurturer? Well at least that's what the Akatsuki assumed they were.
"So did you guys get tested while we were enjoying our Honeymoon?" He asks cheerfully.
Sasuke quickly covers Suigetsu's mouth and nods. That was one theory confirmed. If the younger Uchiha was a Protector, Kisame doubted that he would be that embarrassed.
"Well it seems my foolish little brother is a Nurturer." Itachi muses.
"Shut it!" Sasuke grumbles as he rather viciously stabs his meal with a fork.
"Yeah. I wouldn't tease him about it. Sasuke can get pretty sensitive. I'm a Protector. So is Hanabi. Hinata and Sasuke were both Nurturers. I don't know about Danzo and Sai though. They didn't take the test with us." The sapphire eyed merman continues.
That's when Danzo and Sai came and Itachi raises an eyebrow. Where had they been? Something felt off to put it mildly.
He leans into his Mate instinctively for reassurance as he eyes the pair with suspicion. They were so separate from the rest of the group. As far as he could tell, they were only staying here for safety reasons.
"I'm sorry that we're late. Sai got caught up watching one of the races. I'm afraid that I didn't have the heart to take him away. You're only young once." He says cheerfully.
Cheerfully really didn't suite Danzo. The action of smiling seemed rather alien to him. Kisame might have blue skin, but Danzo was the one who was acting strangely.
"You alright?" Kisame whispers into Itachi's ear.
He shivers from the feeling of warmth. The warmth of his Protector's breath on his ear. It was equal parts comforting an erotic. An intriguing mix to say the least.
Maybe, they should have stayed in their room. They could have gotten a few more spins in. That would have been fun.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Itachi murmurs as he kisses Kisame's cheek.
He didn't miss the look of disgust that flashed in Danzo's eyes. Whether it was because they were both men or Kisame was exotic, Itachi didn't really know. All he knew was that he didn't care for it.
"Yes, that's true. I'm certain that one day, Akemi will also greatly enjoy the races." Rin says with a sweet smile.
Perhaps, she was trying to diffuse the tension in the room. Thankfully, most of the people in it…didn't seem to notice what was really going on. The elderly merman was more than a little repulsed by his relationship with Kisame.
Itachi was considering saying something about it and putting the other man in his place, but thinks better of it. There was no need to make a scene. He was in love with Kisame and Kisame was in love with him. That was all that mattered.
"It was great fun!" Sai says with a creepy smile.
Not the opinion of some fossil who had one foot in the grave. Itachi was happily Mated and that was that. Nothing that Danzo said or thought was going to change that!
Itachi couldn't lie though. Sai's smile was just not natural. Something was strange about that one.
"It's quite alright. Sit and eat. There is plenty of everyone." Obito states.
"Thank you. You've been so generous with your home." Danzo says as he sits next to Sai.
"It's our pleasure. If we are going to make Sharingan the envy of the underwater world, it has to start somewhere." He says as he hands his lobster to another merman.
"That was kind of you to share your food with him." Danzo notes.
Itachi was getting the impression that it had less to do with kindness and more to do with practicality. Was that a food taster? Was Obito really that paranoid or did he have good reason to believe someone might try to assassinate him?
The Dolphin didn't know and that was a disturbing thought. As much as he disliked the idea of a Monarchy in general, Itachi knew that this new world was going to need some form of government. People wouldn't be content to swim around the oceans alone forever. Some type of society was eventually going to form and Obito was as good as anyone to lead it.
"Oh my husband isn't being kind. That's the Royal Food Taster." Rin explains.
"Oh well it's always good to be cautious." Danzo says as he bites into his meal and the taster does the same.
A few days later, Itachi blinks as he hears the sounds of someone vomiting. Immediately, he goes to check on the person in question. It was the Food Taster and the King.
"Someone has been poisoning my meals. I just know it." The King grunts out in agony.
"Come. Let's get you to the healer. She might be able to help you." Itachi says as he offers them both his hands.
"I'll take one and you can take one." Kisame says simply as he swims over to his Mate.
Itachi smiles. There were definitely advantages to the Mating Bond. His lover must have sensed his distress and come to assist him.
"That sounds like a very good idea to me." The elder Uchiha Brother says as he escorts the Food Taster off for medical care and Kisame does likewise of the King.
To say the least, this turn of events was disturbing. Disturbing, but not surprising. Everyone was going to be jockeying for position in a place like this. A place that was still being build and there were no firm rules.
"Will you please tell my Mate that I ate something that didn't agree with me?" Obito asks Itachi and Itachi nods.
"I will. I promise. Healer, the King has potentially been poisoned and the same applies to Choji. Choji the Food Taster." Itachi says as he swims off to find the Queen.
Why wouldn't someone try to kill of the competition at this early stage? It was the perfect time to strike. Obito's guard had been lowered slightly and someone had taken advantage of that fact.
The only question was who? That and could they stop him or her before they made a second attempt on the King's life? What if the next one was successful?
"Itachi, wait up!" Kisame says as he rushes over to his Mate's side.
"Alright. We really should find Rin though." He murmurs.
"We will. Don't worry about anything. It's going to be alright. Obito's made of tougher stuff than that. I'm sure that he'll be fine." Kisame assures him.
Itachi nods. He wanted to believe that and Kisame sounded rather positive about it. The world was much easier to face when you had a Mate by your side. That much was for certain. Kisame was probably the only thing keeping him from panicking.
"You're right. Let's go." He says with a smile as the two of them swim off to find the Queen.