Well, hello there and welcome to chapter...lets see, chapter 6 of Underwater. I didn't get a lot of reviews so that has me concerned. Did you all mind the plot twist?

It just came to me and I thought that I would put it in there because honestly, I really wasn't going anywhere with the Sasuke-Naruto plot. I tried though, but I just couldn't do it. So, anyways, let me do the disclaimer and get on with the story already!! (Remember the one-month time skip)

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned Naruto. I do own a Cyborg 009 DVD though that I won from EBay. Yay for me! Oh, and the song is performed by Flyleaf. It's called, "Amy Says"

Chapter 6. Love's Disguise

"Follow my movements."

Naruto watched avidly as his new instructor went about performing a kata.

"...then block, forward, sidekick, stand, bow." Itachi explained as the first kata came to a close.

He stood, breathing slightly elevated although they'd been practicing katas non-stop for the past five hours. Naruto on the other hand was red and sweaty in the face. Beads of perspiration dotted his tan complexion and dampened the plain black muscle shirt he was wearing. It showed off the lean muscle of his arms and enhanced the brightness of his sunshine yellow hair.

Needless to say, Itachi found himself unnervingly attracted to the blonde. He had, in fact, been harboring these newfound emotions for quite some time now. He was unsure of how to proceed but knew he was not about to ask his partner Kisame for advice. They were partners, nothing more. And they especially were not designed to hand out advice on liking another male.

'Ridiculous.' thought Itachi even as he observed Naruto with a glimmer in his eyes that could only be perceived by one as discernable as himself.

"Your kick needs to be a little higher. Do it again."

"But Itachi-sensei. We've been at it for five hours. I don't want to complain, but can we rest a bit? My legs are starting to cramp up really bad and my 'k' itches."

'K' was Naruto's way of shortening 'keloid'. That was how he often referred to the scar on his left leg above the knee. Short. Impersonal. As though he did not want to be affiliated with the mistake that led to the irritating scar.

"Let me see it." Itachi said, walking over to where Naruto had flopped down into the grass.

Naruto was scratching at the raised scar. Several droplets of blood were leaking from the wound. Itachi knelt down and formed a bit of healing chakra in his hands. He pressed the palm of one hand to the wound and chakra flowed readily in a thin stream through the wound. The blood coagulated and flaked off to reveal a patch of discolored flesh.

Naruto looked away while biting his bottom lip. Itachi saw this and mentally frowned.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

"Nothing." the genin replied equally quiet.

"It's something." Itachi insisted.

"...Just...I don't know. This scar was born from my own carelessness. Its like a reminder of a past that I don't want to acknowledge."

Naruto's vocabulary had taken a drastic change in the month he had spent with Itachi and Kisame. Gone was the trademark "Believe it." Gone were the silly phrases he'd used so often back in the village. In place of them were larger words that conveyed more emotion than though possible from the sixteen-year-old. Serious, somber words for a serious somber genin.

'I never want to be reminded of Konoha. Never.'

'Amy says she's all alone

Says the world doesn't even know

About the pain she feels inside

Says happiness is just a lie.'

"Naruto..." Itachi dared to breathe the genin's name.

He was not prepared for two pools of endless blue to drag him down into their depths. It was almost more entrancing than the Mangekyo Sharingan. In that instant, he wanted to feel Naruto's tan skin beneath his own pale flesh – he hated his skin tone but refused to allow himself to tan – and taste the sweetness of those soft pink lips.

"Yes..."

"I..." he started, but the words would not come forth.

How? How could this be? This was the perfect opportunity to tell Naruto that he cared about him as more than a companion and yet it was as though his tongue was being forcefully held so that he could not speak.

Yet, this was why he liked Naruto; the genin made him lose control. Made his heartbeat speed up just a little every time his name tumbled from Naruto's lips. Made him see things in a different light. Naruto was the epitome of beauty with his intelligent blue eyes, light brown skin, and sunshine yellow hair. His short stature made him all the more handsome. And that smile. Oh when he smiled, Itachi swore his bones would melt.

Itachi rolled his eyes inwardly at how childish he was being. Here he was staring into the eyes of his pupil, falling more in love with every breath he took, and yet he was speechless, too afraid of rejection inside to acknowledge his affections or to make them known.

"Uh...Nothing."

'Damn it!! Uchihas do NOT say 'Uh.' How old are you, Itachi? Four?!' he thought indignantly.

"Alright then. I'm...going to walk off the soreness. I'll be back. Let me grab my clothes so I can wash up."

Naruto's walk was slightly off due to his soreness, so he limped lightly as he made his way to the cave. He bent over and picked up his back. Itachi watched with fascination at the fluidity of his movements, shivers of desire racing through him. He wanted to claim those rosy lips and feel his hips grind against the other boy.

Truth be told, he was only twenty-four, but a twenty-four-year old loving a sixteen-year-old? Well. It was questionable. The age difference amounted to a vast eight years. Itachi blew his bangs up with an uncharacteristic sigh. Love truly was a frustrating manner.

Naruto went to fill his canteen up at the nearby river before setting off on his walk. He met with his watery reflection quite suddenly. As he stared down into the depths of the flowing water, he found his own memory floating back to his suicide attempt.

Memory: 3rd person point of view...

Naruto gasped, the pain in his chest ever growing. Kami, drowning was painful. He tried moving his arms to get to the surface, but the rushing water dragged him further beneath the surface. If he didn't do something, he truly was going to die.

Pain exploded through his body as he felt his elbow shatter against a rock. He screamed silently, bubbles floating up to the rampant surface. His tears were washed away by the river's flow. He'd always heard that before one dies, they see their past flash before their eyes. Well, that was happening to him right now. He saw his life flashing before his eyes and smiled at the irony.

In a car underwater with time to kill

Thinking back I forgot to tell you this

I didn't care that you left and abandoned me

What hurts more is that I would still die for you

Naruto gasped as his head hit another rock. His feet slid on the slimy surface of the rock beneath him as he attempted to get his footing. He popped his head up above the surface just long enough to get one lungful of air before he was dragged beneath the surface again. A piece of his orange pants caught on a twiggy log below the tide. He was trapped underneath a deluge of rushing water

'Kuso.' he thought. 'I don't...thu-thump...want...thu-thump...to die.'

He could hear his heartbeat gradually slowing down until it felt like he was trapped inside a roaring monster and the river was its belly.

End memory: 3rd person point of view...

'Smell the roses, throw them down

Just whisper, don't make a sound

Don't want the world to know the truth

You've been broken and abused...by you'

"I didn't want to die...Not really," he told himself. "But then why?"

Depression was no longer a regular occurrence for him, but it still happened on certain occasions. Like, for example, when he caught himself staring at the Uchiha. Sasuke's face seemed to loom out at him like the phantom image one commonly gets after looking directly at the sun.

And right now, the memories seemed to be dragging him down further underwater. That was how he felt most of the time. Like he was holding his breath underwater for as long as he possibly could only to reach the surface and discover that his world had been erased. His heart ached for Sasuke, but he found himself more preoccupied with Itachi. It was almost as if...almost as if...

He couldn't say it out loud. Could not admit to himself for a mere second that the possibility existed of liking Itachi. Like the storm clouds governing the sky, the thought weighed heavily on his mind.

'Its always like this...I never know what to do. I thought I could beat this depression, but it's an uphill battle without a weapon and I'm fighting death itself. Sometimes I wish I could...just...'

"Give in..." he told his reflection.

Watery blue eyes stared back up at him, two indistinct puddles of confusion and misdirected anger. A wave of rage crashed over him; he brought his hand down swiftly over the water and splashed away his reflection. It's wavering gaze left him with a hollow pit in his stomach. Bile rose in his throat but he swallowed the bitter liquid without grimacing.

"Time to go." he told himself, already knowing what he was going to do.

He slid a kunai into his pocket carefully, though he wasn't really sure why he bothered. He was going to cut himself anyway. Had to, to free the emotions he'd held for so long in captivity. Eager to bleed, he took off at a light jog through the trees. Soon dense leafy foliage enveloped him on all four sides, encasing him in a literal forest of green. He slowed to a gentle walk to ease his sore muscles.

'They burn like heck.' he thought, reverting back to his old manner of speech.

Blue eyes closed as his sharp hearing zeroed in on the sound of bubbling water.

"A mile due east."

A small smile crossed his face as he watched a pair of chipmunks chatter away in a tree.

'They're so carefree and innocent. Nothing at all like me...tainted...useless...worthless.'

He knew he was digging his own grave but couldn't make himself stop. The depression was uncontrollable. He felt its evil black hand rising to grip him tightly. To cut him off from the ones he now considered his family. 'Kisame, Itachi...I hope you can forgive me for what I'm about to do.'

Swiftly he drew the blade from his pocket and set it against the edge of his wrist. The metal gleamed in the dead calm gaze of two sapphire eyes. Without thinking he drew the blade across his wrist again and again, slicing deeply into the flesh. For a moment he was horrified as he saw the vein in his arm pulsing below a gaping cut. And then, he reached out and cut again, severing the vein. Blood poured out onto the ground, dripping all over his clothes, running down his arm and fingers, staining the ground red.

"Don't heal me, Kyuubi," he whispered as he fell, faint from blood loss, to the ground. "I'm not needed in this world anymore." The world faded to black around Naruto before he shut his eyes to block out the sound of approaching footsteps.

'And Amy says

I see her laughing at the rain that hits her face

With her arms stretched open soaking in the love

In a world she found so hard she finds so beautiful

There's a hope in you deep inside for me.'

Earlier...

"So, Itachi. Tell me why it is again that you like that little brat."

"I would suggest you stop referring to him as a "brat". You hurt his feelings."

Kisame gave a wicked sharp laugh and grinned toothily.

"And since when did the infamous Uchiha Itachi care about the feelings of another boy? You don't even care for your brother."

"Am I not free to do what I want?" Itachi replied haughtily.

"See. You're so defensive." Kisame teased.

"Shut up, Kisame."

"Hey...Itachi."

"What is it, now, Kisame?"

"I smell blood. Naruto's blood."

"Let's go."

Kisame stood with Itachi and quickly doused the fire with a small water jutsu before running in sync towards Naruto. They ran through the forest where the odor of oncoming rain encroached upon the scene. When they reached him, they both were a little winded and it had begun to rain.

'Oh...shit.' Itachi thought as he saw Naruto's soaked unconscious body on the ground, blood still pouring out from the gashes on his arms.

He gathered Naruto in his arms and teleported back to the cave where he immediately set about boiling water in a small collapsible pot. In the mean time, Kisame used several healing jutsu that he had come across while traveling in the Land of Waves on Naruto. Most of the cuts healed but some of the larger ones remained open and bloody.

"I've done what I can, Itachi. The kid just won't stop bleeding." Kisame spoke to the man by the fire.

Itachi knelt beside the unconscious Naruto and used a cloth sterilized by the water to clean the blood from Naruto's left arm. Then he removed some bandages that had been soaking in the hot water, wrung them out, and began applying them to the genin's wrist. When he was finished, the arm was swathed in bandage from wrist to elbow.

He wiped the sweat off of his face with one sleeve and sat back to ease his cramping back.

'What could have possessed you to do this, Naruto? I thought you were happier here. Apparently I was...wrong.'

Sighing in relief, he turned to Kisame with a frown that marred his otherwise perfect features.

His pale alabaster skin took on a reddish glow as he moved Naruto closer to the fire to keep him warm. The genin's skin was cool and clammy while his face had imbued a rather unhealthy sheen. Perspiration dripped down his cheeks to mix with the rainwater. Itachi tenderly swept aside the damp bands that covered Naruto's eyes and dried his face with a spare piece of cloth.

'The colors of her mind

Bleed into each other

And as the morning melts the night

And the stars enchant another'

Something stirred painfully within Itachi, but he didn't know what. Something about the genin's vulnerability at this moment made him want to curl up beside him and protect him from the fragile world he'd built around himself. He wanted to open Naruto's eyes and make him see that he was special and that he meant something to someone.

Outside, thunder echoed in the distance. Rain swept over the tiny cave, leaving the air damp and slightly stale. Naruto groaned feverishly. His forehead was hot to the touch and slightly damp with sweat. Itachi closed his eyes as he recalled the music his district would often play before the coming storm.

Memories overcame in a rushing tidal wave. Memories that he could not ignore. He remembered training as a child while the looming figure of his father pushed him to do just one more sit-up or one more push-up. He remembered sharpening his own kunai in the dead of night until Madara Uchiha found no flaws in the metal. He remembered throwing the blades until his fingers bled.

"Keep going," his father would say impassively even as Itachi passed out on the wet muddy ground.

"Keep going." Itachi echoed and his shivered as a light chill overcame him.

"Did you say something, Itachi-sama," Kisame asked worriedly, for he recognized the glazed over look in his partner's eyes.

"I'm fine," said Itachi shortly. "Just fine."

Itachi's mind led him further and further into a medley of unpleasant memories. He shivered as an invisible hand crept across his skin, choking him into silence while the other hand explored fields of pale flesh.

'While her eyes are still held shut

She can hear you breathing softly

Your words echo in her mind

And your words are clear

And she knows that you are here

You are here.'

Just then, Naruto rolled so that his head was on Itachi's lap and brought him out of his reverie. Disturbed slightly by this loss of control, the missing-nin's eyes grew dark and serious. Two unreadable charcoal orbs gazed absently at the sleeping genin.

"Hey, Itachi. What're we going to tell Naruto when he comes to, eh? We can't let him think he's going to get away with hurting himself here."

"I know." Naruto's soft voice rang out through the still quiet. "I wasn't thinking when I did this." he lifted his arm for emphasis. "I'm sorry. Achoo!"

Kisame ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Great. Just what I need. A snot-nosed little kid walking around with a cold spreading germies everywhere. Ew." he said teasingly.

His tease brought a smile to Naruto's face.

"Germies? How old are you, Kisame, four?"

"Mm...Nope, last time I checked I was twenty-seven. Uh huh." he replied while nodding his head.

Naruto yawned and sat up, hissing as the wounds on his wrist burned and stung.

"Ouch. That really hurts. How deep do they go?"

"What? Are you setting a goal now?" Itachi asked coldly.

Naruto flinched at each bitter word that came from Itachi's mouth. Guilt was already starting to seep through him like the rainwater seeped through his jacket.

"Itachi." Kisame warned.

"Kisame." Itachi's words were barbed and sharp. He obviously was not in the mood to deal with anyone's crapola.

"Go cool off. Now."

Without speaking, Itachi got up with a flurry of his red and black cloak he was gone, leaving one stunned genin and one concerned partner behind.

"He's a little...upset over what you did. And so am I." Kisame explained.

Naruto's blue eyes held confusion and candid fear. He watched the fish-man with one eye while fiddling with his fingers. Absently he reached out to adjust a log in the fire. The two sat in comfortable silence as the rain outside increased, filling the space with pleasant white noise.

"Why is he so upset?" Naruto asked.

'Why is he so upset? I mean...I know what I did although the reasons aren't clear to me yet. But...does he...have feelings for me? Could that be why his was so furious outright?'

Kisame gave him a look that read, "Are you serious?" but when he spoke his answer was completely rational.

"He likes you, Naruto. You are like family to us now and no one wants to see you get hurt. And that means hurting yourself." his black eyes flicked to the bandaged arm and back to the genin's face.

'Only family to Kisame, but I suspect I may mean more to Itachi.'

"I'm going to go find him." Naruto decided as he stood, stretching the cramps out of his body carefully.

His clothes were still wet and he looked more forlorn than ever in a soaking black muscle shirt and tattered orange pants. One could easily see his ribcage outlined by the clingy fabric. He swiped at a lock of yellow hair that had fallen forward in front of his face.

"You're so thin." Kisame said as he marveled at the sight.

"It's the nine-tails." Naruto explained. "My metabolism is so high because of the fox demon's chakra that I don't get nutrition from everything I eat. Therefore, it's difficult for me to gain weight. Not to mention that I couldn't afford more than ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Occasionally Kakashi-sensei would bring me fruit or vegetables, but..." his eyes grew misty and strangely distant. "...That's all in the past now."

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Anxiety coursed through his veins, numbing them and slight paranoia set it. He bit his lip nervously. Unsure, he focused on Kisame for words of wisdom.

"Go find him, then. He'll be under the bridge by the river. That's where he goes when he gets like that."

Naruto nodded and abandoned the warm, snug cave for the bitter rain outside. Icy water pelted him with a rampant fury. Almost as though it had a life force of its own. The storm attacked him with a vicious wind that tore through his clothes angrily. It felt as though the giant monstrosity in the sky was eating him.

He ran the entire way to the river, eager to see Itachi and maybe, just maybe, confess how he felt inside. Guilt about forgetting Sasuke gnawed at his heart, leaving it swollen and inflamed with pain. Sasuke...well, surprisingly, he found Sasuke in almost every part of Itachi. From the way the man would occasionally mess with is hair to the warm interior hidden by an icy mask.

When he got to the bridge his heart was yammering in his chest that heaved from the three-mile run. He approached the area with trepidation before leaning under the tall bow-shaped bridge and ducking out of the rain. Itachi was there just like Kisame had said he would be. The man had a stick and was absently letting it drift in the water a few moments before catching it again. He didn't acknowledge Naruto's presence at first. But then...

'I see her laughing at the rain that hits her face

With her arms stretched open soaking in the love

In a world she finds so hard she finds so beautiful

There's a hope in her deep inside from you.'

"Why are you here?" his voice was soft and could barley be heard above the rain.

"I came because...I was worried." Naruto finished after a moment. "I upset you," he confessed. ", and for that I apologize. I know...what to do now."

"Which is?" Itachi prompted after a silent pause.

"Talk to you." Naruto said resiliently.

The strength and honesty in his voice made Itachi turn to face him.

"I have something to say." they spoke in unison.

Naruto felt heat creep over his face. Butterflies beat their fragile wings against the confines of the older man's stomach.

The genin swallowed apprehensively. "You go first."

Itachi gave a faint nod. Naruto felt the pulse in his jaw rise as Itachi drew closer and closer until their faces were bare inches apart.

"This...This is how I feel...Naruto."

And as he said that, a hand came up to cup one scarred tan cheek. He leaned forward, lurid red eyes gazing affectionately into blue, and pressed his lips against Naruto's. Itachi shut his eyes and kissed him with all the emotions he could muster. There was no tongue, no battle of dominance; just a simple kissed that ended in the breathing of two people.

Itachi felt his very heartbeat stolen away as though it had been forcefully yanked from him. Disbelief raced through his nerves, numbing them with dizziness and paralytic shock. He couldn't fathom how the kiss had happened; could only remember instead the light shining in on the darkness of his blood-spattered soul.

Naruto was gazing at him speechlessly and Itachi felt shame overcome him. It dragged him down into a spiraling abyss of shame, confusion and, for the first time in a long time fear. He had to get away. He did not want to hear what Naruto had to say. Was sure more than anything that Naruto would hate him now.

'What was I thinking? What was I thinking? I kissed him. KISSED him. I do not think I can...handle his reaction. I have to leave. That's it. I must leave until I can...sort through all of this.'

The Akatsuki-cloaked man teleported away without a trace before Naruto could open his mouth to speak. But he had left a trace of himself behind. On the dirt where he'd stood was a solitary spot of dampness. Itachi had left a single teardrop in his place. And Naruto was left to wonder amongst his hazily confused brain two questions. Did the Uchiha really like him? Or was he just some cruel experiment?

'I see her laughing at the rain that hits her face

With her arms stretched open soaking in the love

In a world she finds so hard she finds so beautiful

There's a hope in her deep inside from you.'

Aw...A weeny bit of fluff at the end. How cute!! I worked hard to get this chapter posted up so soon so reviews are greatly appreciated. Please excuse any mistakes I may have made. I tried to fix them all but I might have missed a few. Thank you for reading and cookies to anyone who reviews.