Author's Note: So I'm getting over pneumonia. Yeah... fun. Anyways, so this was half-written before I got sick, and I finished it in 2 runs. The ending I've been swishing around in my head for a while now.

Anyways, enjoy! Oh, and I plan on writing a more serious fic after this one, with a Naruto that's not a candy-ass and a Sasuke that's not a pushover. Like I've said for a while now -- this is my release. It's just a feel-good fic. It is what it is. It feels good to write, and I hope you guys feel good reading it. But I want something meatier, with more suspense and meaning.

But that's for tomorrow, and this update is for tonight.

Enjoy!

Muddy Waters

Chapter 8

by Taka Momos

The various rooms behind the tanks were nothing like the decorated exteriors – they were a sterile white, filled with bottles of chemicals and various cleaning tools. Huge pipes led to giant tanks, weaving in and out of massive industrial filters used to handle the enormous task of keeping multi-ton gallon tanks clean. The rooms behind the shark tanks had no other employees – Kisame was skilled enough to handle the shark tanks by himself. In fact, few other employees wanted to work with the sharks, so Kisame was the perfect answer to the problem of staffing for the particular area.

Itachi led them to an elevator in the corner – old, dirty, but sturdy and secure.

"This is the pump room." Itachi commented. Ushering Sasuke and Naruto into the elevators, Itachi hit the Up button. "Now we're heading up to the tank's main room."

The elevator groaned and cried as it rose, lifting them up with a jolt. Sasuke could feel the blond's grip on his shirt tighten, so he pulled him closer. He could blame him – the elevator wasn't in the best shape. He himself was worried about it even making it to the top – the breath he'd held the entire ride released when the familiar ding signaled their arrival.

The smell of fish assaulted them as the doors open, most likely coming from the cooler filled with cut up fish. A table against the wall was covered in fish carcasses, head and bone strewn around in a messily-kept workspace, the knife Kisame must have used to clean the fish laying to the side.

Above the table, lining the walls of the massive room, were shelves of various foods and chemicals – dried algaes, dehydrated shrimp and plankton, fish flakes, medicines of all kinds – for stress, mucus secretion, wound treatments, and things Sasuke didn't even know what were for.

Most noticeably of all, though, was the large, square hole that consumed most of the of the room – the top of the tank. Light danced off the water as small waves distorted the view of the scene below. The tank was relatively dark, as opposed to the light-filled tanks of the other kinds of fish. However, being so close to the surface, with the powerful fluorescent lights above, gave him a somewhat-clear view into the tank below – clear enough to see Kisame rising towards them.

The water splashed onto the tiled floor as he broke the surface, the creases between the tiles running with the water of Kisami's wetsuit as he pulled himself up onto the dry floor. A gush of air blew from his mask as he pulled it from his mouth, turning to remove his gear from his body; heavy gear suddenly much heavier once pulled out of the water.

His mouth, now unoccupied, grinned a toothy, feral grin as he met Sasuke's gaze. Sasuke fought the heat that threatened his cheeks as he succumbed to the predatory look. He braced himself for the man's comments.

"Well, Sasuke, I always figured you'd follow your brother's inclinations towards being the prey. But from what I could tell, you do pretty good as a predator! Welcome to the club!" Sasuke brushed away the man's presented hand, clearly offered in jest. Kisame only laughed at the moody response, half-undressing from his wetsuit, pulling it down to his waist to reveal an incredibly well-sculpted chest of blue muscle. Sasuke's gaze drifted from the exposed chest to his little fox, pulling firmly on the others arm and embracing him when he noticed a blush across the blond's scarred cheeks. He chose to ignore his brother's smirk, not having to look to know that his brother found his jealousy amusing. As far as Sasuke was concerned, jealousy was an Uchiha trait that enforced a widely known fact – all things great belonged to an Uchiha, and those things that didn't soon would.

Naruto's attention, however, already belonged to him, and he would not allow the blond's interest to stray – even to a sight such as Kisame's incredible physique.

Kisame dragged his oxygen tank over to the table, removing his tools as he quickly cleaned and dismantled his gear. He moved almost mindlessly, probably having done this task countless times before. It was probably habit for him by now, cleaning the tools in a certain order, placing one thing to the left while he set the tanks to the right. Sasuke caught the heated glaze in his brother's eyes, but his cheeky comment was cut off by Kisame, who chose that moment to begin idle conversation.

"So Naruto, what's your favorite type of fish?"

"Hmmm... I'm not sure. I kind of like sunfish. Frogs are probably my favorite though!"

"Frogs do have rather impressive tongues." Itachi quipped. Sasuke managed to elbow Itachi in the ribs while the comment sunk in, causing Naruto to blush furiously. Sasuke shifted Naruto in his grip, burying the blond's face in his chest.

"Itachi, I will kill you!" Kisame's explosive laugh interrupted Itachi's reply.

"Well, then it's settled! We'll go see the frogs! We have some very nice specimens up in the freshwater tank. I'll go shower and change, just head out that door, take a left, and take the elevator to the fifth floor. That should get you to the amphibian tanks."

Sasuke nodded his thanks, leading Naruto, still holding him tight, towards the mentioned door. He threw a questioning glance towards Itachi, who, instead of following the two, stayed still. He shifted slightly, before raising his nose to Sasuke's inquisitive looks and heading after Kisame.

"You two go on ahead, there's a certain specimen I need to discuss with Kisame."

Sasuke couldn't help but smile in victory as his brother strutted away.

"Sasuke, look at this one!"

Sasuke could barely keep up with Naruto as the blond darted to different tanks around the room – with no sense of order or logic. All of the tanks were filled with frogs – frogs of every size and color. Bright green, red, yellow, blue, black, some were spotted, some were striped, Sasuke even came to learn that the orange ones, apparently rare, were Naruto's favorite.

Sasuke, however, wasn't interested in the frogs – the sight of his fox racing around the room with so much excitement was enough entertainment for him. And only a very special kind of person could ruin the moment.

"Sasuke, your boyfriend is smudging the glass." Itachi appeared at his side, still wet and disheveled. Sasuke didn't even try to hide the grin that crept across his lips.

"You look like you had fun." His brother only cast him a bemused look.

"In fact, we did. Your little make-out scene got us both going a bit. I guess exhibitionism is hereditary." Sasuke only hummed his reply. As annoying as his brother was, he wouldn't trade the moments of brotherly banter for anything. A moment of silence slipped between them as he returned his attention to the fascinated Naruto, who had busied himself trying to communicate with the frogs. He couldn't help but feel a certain sense of dread.

"I guess I should be getting back to work soon."

"Why?"

"It's been a few days. I'm a high-ranking officer of the company. I'm needed." The sound Itachi made was nothing short of a snort.

"Exactly – you're a high-ranking officer of the company. And high-ranking officers of companies are blessed with the gift of being able to delegate all of their responsibilities onto others. That's what makes you a manager – you manage people. So 'manage' them to do your job."

"The beauty of management..."

"Hey, Sasuke! Can we – oh..." Whatever Naruto had been about to say was cut short when he noticed Itachi. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"You didn't, there was nothing to interrupt. It's nice to see you again, Naruto." Sasuke knew that Itachi's warmth was genuine – he didn't always enjoy being the cold-hearted bastard people saw him as. So he nodded Naruto on, The blond was slow to warm up to the elder Uchiha, but finally settled into a certain comfortable silence at Sasuke's side

"Itachi, isn't your lunch break almost over?"

"Management." Sasuke grinned, nodding affirmation.

"You know, lunch doesn't sound like such a bad idea. I know a wonderful little restaurant nearby. My treat?" Sasuke pulled Naruto close, rubbing his arm reassuringly. Naruto was slow to respond, but eventually nodded.

"Is Kisame coming?" Itachi's only grinned.

"Kisame's already had his lunch."

The lunch was uneventful – for the most part. Sasuke quickly discovered that Itachi's "little" restaurant was actually a high-class French bistro, leaving Sasuke to attempt to translate the menu for Naruto – who, justifiably, wasn't all that interested in French cuisine. Naruto couldn't bring himself to ask Sasuke to pay most of the prices, the suggestion of snails disgusted him, and Sasuke could see the sadness swell in his eyes when they came to the frog legs – not at all helped by their recent visit to the aquarium.

Sasuke finally managed to order Naruto roast duck, though only under the condition that the two would share – he convinced the blond that, not being hungry, it would be far less expensive to share one meal than order two.

A nice, quiet meal later, and the three were walking out. The conversation was light and friendly – something that Sasuke knew would go a long way between Naruto and Itachi's relationship. When he wanted to be, Itachi could be a very pleasant person. Between his lewd, flagrant references to sex, cold disposition, and sadistic sense of humor, he truly was a nice guy.

One packed away in the car, Sasuke and Naruto sat alone – overlooking the park as raindrops gently pelted the roof. While Sasuke wasn't happy that his impromptu walk through the park had been rained on, he found himself mesmerized by the way Naruto leaned against him sleepily.

"Hey, Sasuke?" Sasuke let his arm snake around the lean shoulders beside him.

"Hmmm?" Naruto was silent for a moment, breathing softly.

"Are you happy?" The question was quiet, barely above a whisper – if at all. Sasuke watched the scarred face carefully for a sign behind the question's purpose, though with his eyes clenched shut, breathing shallow, he couldn't gather much information.

"Right now? Yeah – pretty happy. Why? … aren't you?" Naruto's eyes snapped open in shock.

"Of course! That's now what I mean! It's just... if I make you happy, you'll keep me around. And right now it doesn't feel like I'm doing much to make you happy, so I can't figure out why you put up with me..." Sasuke brought his hand to Naruto's cheek, tracing one of the lines lightly.

"You don't have to do anything to make me happy. Seeing you happy makes me happy."

"So you love me?" The question caught Sasuke off guard, and his silence was making his little fox uncomfortable. Finally, he smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Sasuke gently rubbed circles in Naruto's arm. He wanted to ask the question – he wanted so much to ask if Naruto loved him too. He wanted to know if Naruto loved him for him, not because he bought him things or took him places. But he didn't want to know the answer.

Naruto, however, answered it for him, gently snuggling against him as the rain grew hard, a soft smile graced across his lips.

"Good, because I love you too."

In that moment, with Naruto in his arms – alone – he felt as if he had everything in the world he'd ever need.

It was already dark by the time they arrived at the Uchiha's estate; beams of light illuminated the pouring water of the fountains, the house was lit up a like a lantern against the darkness. Sasuke decided, for the first time in months, to enter the main house and show Naruto some of the things they could do the next day – the swimming pool, the billiards room, the theater; Sasuke could think of many things to do in the darkness of the theater.

Sasuke was so busy focusing on his lover's fascination with the extravagant decoration of the main room that he completely missed the guest who entered the room from the lounge – Itachi close behind. He stopped to watch Itachi's face – filled with anger and frustration. It wasn't until he felt a strong pull on his arm that he realized something was wrong.

Naruto was pulling him hard towards the door, spending his quickly-draining strength in an attempt to escape the room. He gripped the blond's shoulders, only to have the pale face bury in his chest.

"Naruto? What's wrong?" A hot wetness crept through his shirt – Naruto was sobbing silently. He shook the blond firmly once more.

"Naruto!"

"T-that's him! Sasuke, it's him!" The rest decayed into violent heaves.

He set his gaze firmly on the man who would reduce his Naruto to a sobbing heap at just a sight – set his piercing, Uchiha gaze straight into the eyes of evil.

"Orochimaru."

Author's Note: So? Did you like it. I mean, I didn't proofread -- feel free to point them out to me. I mean... ok, so, I had to take a piss. Not much more to it.

Anyways, I'm gonna be trying to be much better about responding to reviews. I've been horrible about it, and I'm sorry. Really! I'm just... ya know, unfamiliar with the FFNet system. But I promise -- you review, and I'll respond! Plus, I'll update faster!

So... see ya next update!