Hi there. This is chapter seven of Underwater. I honestly didn't think that this story would make it so long. I just thought it was a momentous yet rare inspiration that would die pitifully like The Open Door did. (Smiles). I have proved myself wrong. I tend to do that a lot. Anyways, a super-big "THANK YOU." goes out to all who have been supporting my fanfiction through reading and reviewing. I couldn't do it without you guys. It was initially like that, but I forgot to change it in the chapter. And now, on to the story!

Disclaimer: What?! My own anime? You've gotta be joking. How could I own Naruto? If I did, I'd be a lot richer than I am now. Oh, and the poem is called "The Guilt" and it was written by me. So do not take!! At least not without my permission.

Warnings: hardcore lemon...(gulp...) I recommend listening to Poison by Groove Coverage while reading this chapter. I was just too lazy to re-type the lyrics.

Chapter 7. Poisonous Love

Sasuke walked along the bridge with his hands in the pockets of his beige shorts. Rain plastered raven locks to his forehead. That was how his heart felt, as if it had been locked with Naruto's disappearance and the key had been taken away with him. Briefly he looked up at the sky, ignoring the curtain of needles that jabbed at his eyes. He wondered somewhere inside of him if it was raining wherever Naruto happened to be.

Sadness twisted at his soul and grief had made him bitter. Even Kakashi-sensei had had a difficult time getting the Uchiha to come out of his room for more than an hour. And yet here he was, alone and walking in the rain instead of being with his sunshine. HIS Naruto. For Naruto was no one else's. Only his.

He hated to think of the not-so-happy-go-lucky-anymore genin as an item. A belonging. They were irrevocably linked at heart and nothing could take that away.

So then why was he fretting? Why was he pacing out in the pouring rain where he could catch a cold in a matter of minutes? Because. He. Didn't. Care. Not at all. In fact, he welcomed the infection with open arms. Naruto had quickly melted the ice around his frozen heart and wormed his way inside. Now it was hard to breathe without the genin around.

Naruto had his moments of depression. That was true enough. But he had never felt this way about any other genin, male or female. And he was too ashamed to admit it, but he was afraid to ask Kakashi-sensei for advice. After all, the Ichi Ichi Paradise-reading teacher was simply too...Well...It would be too embarrassing to ask him for help for obvious reasons.

Why wasn't he searching for Naruto? That's what he wanted to know. Why wasn't he slipping on wet tree boughs as he searched for his love around Konoha? Because Tsunade herself had gone through Naruto's room, noticed the missing articles, and said that Naruto had left completely of his own free will.

That fact had been hurled at him like a ball of thorns. They had scratched and dug at his heart until it wept with blood. His heart, now cut up by rows of razor-sharp prickles, bled with grief, anguish, and torment. Why? Why had Naruto left him?

'You run away from me

And I try not to scream

My hand slips from reality

And I fade into a dream'

Nothing made sense to him. It was illogical. His mind whirled and buzzed with a thousand different excuses, but not of them even felt plausible. Unless...Unless Naruto left because he found himself to be unworthy of Sasuke in his eyes. Yeah...That was something he could actually see Naruto doing.

"I have to tell...No...I can't. Naruto made me promise that our relationship was a secret. I gave him my word. I can't go back on it. But...where would he leave? Where would he go off to? I have to look for him!!"

"And that is the one thing that Lady Tsunade told you precisely NOT to do. She knew about Naruto's depression. She knew long before any of us did, though how is beyond me. Jiraiya is probably involved. You are to stay here." Kakashi said as he appeared atop the bridge railing.

"The last thing we need is two genin missing, Sasuke." he jumped down from the railing and sheltered the Uchiha with an old green umbrella.

"Shuriken...on an umbrella?" Sasuke questioned as he saw the familiar objects printed on the fabric of his shelter.

"Isn't it cute?"

"If you want a cute umbrella...I guess." Sasuke replied, a small smile slipping to his face in place of the cold mask he usually wore.

He immediately felt guilty for feeling even the slightest bit of happiness without Naruto around to share it and stopped. The sensei noticed his student's somber expression and his own face grew serious.

"You two...you were with him, weren't you."

Sasuke found himself unable to lie.

"Yeah. We are...were."

"That's a big step you took. Come on. Let's get out of the rain."

Sasuke shrugged. A valence of rain hung about them, clouding out their view from the rare passerby. They walked to Kakashi's home, where the genin took off his muddy blue sandals by the doorway before drying off with a towel provided by his sensei.

"I'll make tea and we can talk." he said.

Sasuke gave a slight nod, cueing several beads of water to stream down his hair. He wiped the water from his eyes and gazed off into space, lost in thought, wondering and wondering where Naruto could be.

A blonde genin watched the river flow before him with impassive eyes. In his hands he fastidiously shredded a leaf into tiny bits. Questions popped up in his mind like pustules on a person with smallpox. They were ugly, nightmarish questions that left him shaken to the core.

"Why?" his voice cracked. "Why?"

His eyes were like pieces of shattered glass, revealing the map of a broken person through the razor sharp shards. A single tear traced a path down his cheeks. Depression overcame him and the floodgates opened. He wasn't aware of Kisame's presence until the older man pulled him into his lap and let him cry softly into the folds of his Akatsuki cloak.

"There, there." Kisame said roughly as he wasn't particularly used to comforting people.

The sight, all and all, was rather pathetic; two wet people clinging miserably to each other. Finally Naruto ran out of tears. He wiped his eyes, which were red and puffy, and stared up at the fish-man.

"What did he do?" the elder asked gently, allowing Naruto to ease away slightly but still share some of the warmth of their contact.

"He...kissed me." Naruto's cracking voice made it sound like it was the most complicated thing in the world, although considering it involved Itachi, it probably was.

'I try my best to stay alive

And function without you here

But I have no reason to strive

Isolation drives my fear.'

'I don't want to say he wasn't thinking because that will only hurt Naruto's feelings even more. But...what was he thinking. Does he really feel that way...about Naruto?'

"He was thinking with his heart, Naruto. He loves you."

"I was with...Sasuke...but...that's why I ran away."

"Was he abusive?" Kisame asked sharply.

He was ready to hurt anybody who dared to harm Naruto. In the short duration they had been together, Naruto had become like a child to him. Almost...Kisame sometimes thought...Almost like a little brother.

"No. He was nice to me. He helped me with my depression. But...I felt bad because..." he swallowed hard to get the last part out. "Because I started cutting myself to make me feel better. I hid it from him, but the guilt...it like...ate away at my soul, you know? And I didn't want to feel like that, so I ran away. But I guess...I guess I don't really miss him at all. It's sort of weird."

"Did you like it when Itachi—"

"Yeah...Actually. It felt...even better than with Sasuke." he replied, realizing the fact as he spoke.

"Then what do you think you should do?"

"I would hunt him down again, but...he left...I think because he feared my reaction. Maybe he thought I would reject him."

"He won't stay away forever. Come on. Let's go get dry. Parts of me are soggy that I didn't even know could get soggy."

Kisame laid a gentle hand on Naruto's left wrist and they teleported back to the cave. It was dark and the wind moaned through the cave like a shrieking beast. While Kisame got the fire going again, Naruto set about with housekeeping. He piled his extra clothes on a high shelf carved from the very rock itself. He swept excess dirt from the cave with a wind jutsu and hastily folded clothes that had been hung to dry inside the cave.

All the while he kept thinking about the kiss. The kiss. That was how he referred to the brief fleeting joy that had lifted him up on paper wings. It made his blood warm and brought a smile to his face just thinking about it.

'He doesn't care that I'm damaged. I mean...he cares...but he accepts it. And he made me feel so perfect in that one instant. Sasuke put a band-aid on my heart, but Itachi...he...erased the pain. For that moment when his lips met mine, I felt no pain.'

Naruto absently touched a hand to his lips, earning a smile from the blue-skinned shark-man. He could plainly tell that the genin was reminiscing even from his position by the fire.

'Its like Itachi helped him heal somehow. Where is the little prat, anyway? He should be here by now. The sun is going down.'

And sure enough it was. The sky had parted to reveal a strip of blue sky washed with warm pink, orange, and reddish hues. It stole Kisame's breath away as the last dying fingers of sunshine caressed the world before sinking down behind the tree line. A low echo of thunder boomed overhead, but the storm had passed.

Naruto's heart was light as he sat with Kisame by the fire. The heat rinsed over his skin, making him feel clean and warm and for the first time in a long time, satisfied. He felt happy and mellow. His eyes gazed half-lidded at the cave entrance as the curtain of night fell over the forest.

Just then Itachi came in, soaking wet and chilled to the bone. His skin looked paler than ever as moonlight washed over it. Naruto thought the man could pass as a ghost. Heat flushed through him as he watched the older man approach the fire and sit down with a sigh. He looked tired, but more than that, he looked like he was lost.

'So lost without your guiding hand

The guilt-ridden look in my eyes

I faltered under your demand

The confidant in me killed by lies.'

"Itachi." he murmured just loud enough for the missing-nin to hear him.

With his heartbeat thumping loudly in his chest, he sidled over to Itachi and sat down in his lap, eliciting a small gasp from the other man. He lowered his eyelashes demurely and stared at the man. He gave a coy smile before mustering up all the courage he could and kissing the elder on the lips.

"You never gave me a chance to show how I feel." he said, pulling away with a heated blush.

'My heart...it's pounding in my chest. And I can hardly breathe. Is he going to be angry? He shouldn't be.' Naruto thought as he gazed into twin fiery cinnamon eyes.

"Why is your Sharingan active?" he whispered somewhat fearfully.

"So I can memorize every part of you." Itachi replied, kissing him again.

A soft tongue darted out to catch Naruto by surprise. Naruto groaned as he deepened the kiss, not caring that his lips would be swollen or bruised afterward.

"Oh for the love of Kami, Itachi, go elsewhere with your make-out session."

The man smirked beneath Naruto's lips and, dragging him by one hand, led him further back into the cave.

"It-Itachi..." Naruto bit out as the man slowly reached his hands into his pants and touched his member.

"I do...I don't think I'm..." he gasped as Itachi slid a finger over the head of his southern appendage.

"Ready for this."

"I can't help it. You're too beautiful." Itachi said as he unbuttoned the waist of Naruto's pants and pulled them down, eliciting a surprised gasp from Naruto.

"Then do it." Naruto replied while giving in to the ocean of sensations flooding through him.

They kissed again and again, pressing their lips together in a feverish battle of tongues and wills. Itachi actually surrendered under the pressure of the kiss and ran his tongue against Naruto's teeth, begging for permission to enter. The genin opened his mouth allowing the man to explore the cavern with his own tongue.

They parted to breathe before diving back together again. Itachi leaned down until Naruto was touching the floor before taking off the other male's shirt and tossing it into a corner.

"If we're going to do this right, then this," he plucked at the older man's shirt ", needs to change."

And with that he unbuttoned the Akatsuki cloak and spread it out on the ground beneath them.

Itachi bent down to kiss the side of Naruto's neck. He sucked along the edge until he found a pulse and bit down slightly. A trail of blood made its way down his flesh but the man licked it up, shivering at the delicious metallic taste.

He kissed Naruto on the lips, giving the boy a sample of his own blood. His eyes were two blue pools of lust and ultimate desire, but they had not yet lost their innocence. Just then they changed. A glimmer of red shot through them quickly and then it was gone.

Suddenly Itachi found himself beneath Naruto as the genin swiftly undid his pants and used one foot to push them down to his ankles.

"You're mine." he hissed, a bit of the Kyuubi's voice snaking its way through his own.

'I'm still hurting from this today

Repaired my heart with tape and glue

Cut the infected part away

My heart isn't whole and I'm missing you.'

He bit down hard on Itachi's neck and laved the side until it was coated. Then he moved down lower and lower, trailing heat in his wake with his tongue. He ran the appendage against the other man's nipple. Itachi arched towards him, creating delicious friction between their sensitive areas.

"Na...Naruto." he moaned uncharacteristically.

He was losing himself in the sensation. Falling off the brink of some indefinable abyss of pleasure. He shivered at the heat that pooled down by his already-hard member. His mouth opened in a silent sigh as Naruto's hand slid down to attend to his needs.

With painfully unhurried movements, he ran his hand down along the member and back up again. Itachi drew in his breath as pleasure raced through every nerve of his body in spine-tingling jolts.

"Kami...Naruto. You're sure...good...for someone who's never...done the nasty before."

"Done the nasty?" Naruto smiled wickedly while brushing a lock of hair away from his face. "I'll show you nasty."

He lowered himself until his mouth hovered just above Itachi's erection and blew on it with heated breath. His cock twitched, earning a smirk from the younger man. Then he licked the edge of it before letting the edges of his mouth just barely touch the skin. Naruto's mouth sank down onto the member and began sucking lightly, gradually applying more and more pressure.

Itachi wanted to scream. He'd never felt like screaming out more in his entire life. Liquid fire rushed through his veins while Naruto did something wonderful with his tongue that made him fist his hands in tangles of wild blonde hair.

"Na—Naruto. That feels...so go— " the older man's breath hitched in his chest as Naruto suddenly deep-throated him.

Naruto relinquished Itachi's member and crawled back up to his chest where he sucked on a nipple before taking it between his teeth. Itachi couldn't stand it anymore. He flipped Naruto over and pressed his body flush against the other male, rubbing their erections together frantically.

Now it was Naruto's turn to gasp as Itachi reached down with a tender hand and traced a finger along the tip of his member. Heat pooled around them in a luxurious coat. They were both sweaty and panting, but they were far from finished.

Itachi bit down on Naruto's nipple, earning a gasp as he nibbled at the tender flesh. He went lower until he was near the nether regions before dipping his head down and taking Naruto into his mouth. The boy let out a moan that made the missing-nin shiver in anticipation.

He was about to take Naruto from behind when he saw a red spark flash through Naruto's eyes once more. That was just before he found himself being pinned to the ground by a crimson-eyed angel.

"I'm on top.'" he growled.

The nine-tails chakra was coursing through his body, causing his fangs to become elongated and needle-sharp. He bit down into Itachi's neck, unwilling to let his...lover...escape from him. Itachi whimpered shortly at the hot myriad of pain that deluged him.

'Oh kami...this feels so good. I guess the nine-tails has experience or something because...'

His train of thought was stopped dead in its tracks as he felt something hard and wet press between his cheeks.

"Are you ready for this?" Naruto asked.

He wasn't sure why he was asking. He wasn't even sure why he was on top. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten there in the first place. It was like some primal instinct had taken over his mind.

"Why are you on top?" Itachi growled playfully from his position on his hands and knees.

"Because." he said, rocking his hips against Itachi and causing the elder to moan. "If you do it...that's like...rape. And besides, I never agreed to being uke."

"Fine." Itachi ground out, trying to lose himself in the sensations once more.

"Suck." Naruto said, placing his long delicate fingers before Itachi's mouth.

His penis was pressed flush against Itachi's backside, rubbing back and forth to produce more friction to make it enjoyable for the man.

'It's like the fox is guiding me or something. Who thought it could be such a pervert?' Naruto wondered as Itachi brought the other male's hand to his mouth and sucked on the fingers until they glistened with saliva.

A rippling pleasure spread across him as Naruto inserted a finger and moved it around.

"Kami...you're tight." he murmured as he lay slumped over Itachi's figure.

With another hand he reached down and took Itachi's hard member into his hand. He flicked a digit across the slit, receiving an earnest groan in response. Their bodies were both sheathed in sweat and hair was plastered to their foreheads, cheeks, and skin. Naruto's ice-blue eyes shone with love, light, and danced with an inner fire ignited by passion.

"Fuck me...already."

'Shadows of stone capture my soul

I walk home lonely in the rain

The sun would only come out if

I could see your smile again'

"My, my, what language." Naruto teased, flicking another finger across the slit of Itachi's penis; prelube dotted the tip and he licked it off as Itachi lay down on his back to give Naruto better access.

They kissed again without hesitation. As their mouths came together, Naruto rushed forward and then suddenly he was inside Itachi. The elder man grunted softly at the sudden intrusion, but waves of pleasure quickly overcame him. Naruto went in as deep as he could before pulling out and slowly entering him again.

He repeated the action, picking up speed incrementally. Itachi groaned, rocking his body in rhythm with the younger male's steady thrusts.

"You feel...so good." Naruto panted as he suddenly came inside Itachi.

The raven-haired man felt the explosion of heat and ejaculated himself, spilling white liquid over his skin. Naruto's limp member left Itachi after one final thrust and they collapsed, sweaty and panting, on top of each other.

"Did the Kyuubi-no-kitsune teach you that?" Itachi asked, somewhat hesitant.

A soreness was starting to spread around his posterior though he wouldn't readily admit that Naruto was almost as big as he was. He found it pleasurable but found with dismay that his member was already starting to harden again.

'Think of cold water, think of cold water, think of cold water.' he thought.

Naruto eyed him with blatant exhaustion.

"No more." he breathed before burying himself in the warmth that was Itachi.

Itachi wrapped the edges of the cloak around them even as sleep threatened to drag him to the floor. Once that was done, they cuddled together, sharing each others body heat as they slipped easily into a heavy slumber.

O..M..G...(has a gushing nosebleed). This chapter...Oh, my filthy mind. My filthy, filthy mind. Someone beat me to death with a dish towel now. (falls to the floor) Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. P.S. PLEASE don't ask how I could write something like this. The answer will never be known.