I own Naruto about as much as I own 20 billion dollars, the rights to Taco Bell, and that one province in that one Country. Yea.

-xXXXx-

The Rain Country was exactly what its name entailed; rainy. Not a light drizzle, either; a flood causing, heavy, loud downpour. What was odd was that it suddenly started raining like this almost exactly when they stepped over the border and went through customs. Gio actually threw a curse to the sky and flipped it off, and nearly a few seconds later a rumbling thunder answered, almost like mocking laughter. Kakashi's gravity-defying hair had lived up to its name and kept on defying. Shisui was laughing or at least smirking the whole time because Itachi kind of looked like a drowned cat and was not happy about it. (Shisui was grinning also because his wet clothes clung to him in ways that should have been illegal. Needless to say, Shisui was pointedly blocking Gio's view of Itachi until they got to a hotel to change and dig out their rain coats, previously unneeded since the rain had been light enough.)

And now they were making their way over the lake that surrounded Amegakure, with their rain coats barely keeping them dry. They were taking a ferry since Kanto couldn't just walk over the water, but none of them were complaining since they now had a relatively dry shelter for the hour or so it took them to get to the city.

"Heads up," Gio started. Shisui and surprisingly Itachi were involved in a game of cards with Kakashi, but looked up at the red-head. Kanto sat on a bench, stuffing his face with food they had gotten at a small store before they boarded the ferry. Gio was looking at the city with an unreadable expression, and after a few seconds he turned to them so it was easier for them to hear him over the downpour.

"Like you know, there's been a civil war here for the past few decades. It's almost over with, but there are still a few resistance groups. The fact that we weren't attacked proved that the number has gone way down." He sighed then, and glanced back at the city. "My point is that the leader has personally wiped out almost all resistance. Single-handedly. Do not talk about anything he would find unpleasing. He will find out, even if you think you are alone. I can promise you that."

"Wouldn't he find out about you telling us this, then?" Kakashi asked thoughtfully.

"Hm," Gio mused, looking out at the rain. He held his hand out, letting the droplets hit his hand. "Probably. But the people of the city consider him a God. They won't hesitate to report you if they suspect you are doing something wrong. If there's nobody to meet us when we dock, there's a chance we'll probably get arrested on sight."

"Arrested?" Itachi asked sharply.

"This whole arrangement was made by him and his right-hand kunoichi. They don't run the police force, and I can gaurantee the civilians won't be too happy seeing us," Gio shrugged and frowned at the city.

"You don't seem too happy returning home," Shisui noted. Gio gave a dry smile but said nothing.

-xXx-

"Hey, Itachi..." Shisui began. They had finally reached the city and were waiting for everyone to unload. Itachi, his arm no longer in its sling thanks to Gio, looked at Shisui questioningly.

"Hn?"

Shisui didn't take his eyes off the sky, which was almost blocked by the tall skyscrapers towering above them. "This rain is...weird." Itachi looked up as well, red eyes widening at the light purple tint to the clouds.

"The clouds have chakra in them," he murmured. "This rain is forced...?"

Gio, who was unloading the horse, gave them a short look. Kanto was being helped off the boat by Kakashi. "Don't talk about it too much," the red-head warned.

Shisui grunted in acknowledgment, looking down from the sky when something caught his eyes. Two inches from his face, a small white moth fluttered about, and he backed up to get better look at it.

"Origami?" Itachi asked in confusion, his brow creasing. The moth moved to dance around his face for a few seconds before it flitted away into the city.

"You are one of the few people to notice the rain right away," a woman remarked calmly, and the Konoha shinobi turned to her. She stepped out of the alley the moth flew into. Indifferent, hazel eyes looked at the Uchiha cousins. "But then again, Sharingan sees chakra as colors, yes...?" She had blue hair with a white rose pinned into a bun. A dark cloak with red clouds was draped over her, and she looked to be around her thirties.

"My name is Konan," she began, nodding her head forward in a slight version of a bow. "I am here to show you to your hotel and then to escort you to the meeting with our Leader."

"A change of clothes would be nice," Kanto agreed, stepping forward. "I am ambassador Kanto of the Fire Country, and these are my bodyguards." He gestured to the shinobi around him. Konan's eyes flickered to each as if memorizing them before settling on Gio.

"Welcome home," she told him. Gio gave a deep bow.

"Tenshi," he murmured in greeting, earning himself a few confused looks.

Konan looked back to Kanto. "I will now show you your rooms. Please enjoy your stay in our city."

And though it was wet and dreary, Amegakure was a magnificent city. Skyscrapers, some at least a hundred floors high, towered into the sky, and a shocking white light let the Leaf Nin know there were lightning rods on the towers. The fact that the skyscrapers were almost all a dark shade of black or gray added effect to the colorful neon signs advertising all along the roads. The villagers, seeming not too bothered by the downpour, were shocked by the sight of people from the Fire Country walking with their Angel. The ones that weren't frozen in shock or anger bowed deeply as Konan passed. The Leaf nin wondered about this, but Gio seemed unaffected as he followed her. Konan stopped before the entrance to a smaller tower.

"This will be your hotel. If you would like, you can change here now. I will be waiting for you to finish." She was speaking as if she was bored again, and the Leaf nin gladly left the slightly akward atmosphere for the shelter of the inn.

"Three rooms again?" Gio asked as Kakashi picked up their keys.

"Complimentary," the copy nin interrupted before he could blow a fuse. Gio rolled his eyes. Shisui had stayed behind to find a place to keep the horse during their stay.

Kakashi handed the keys out, figuring Itachi and Shisui were rooming again. He stopped the two before they could leave for their rooms, though, and told them, "Only Ambassador Kanto and I will be going to the meeting."

"What?" Gio complained, grimacing. "I wanted to meet Leader."

"We're not here to intimidate or show we distrust them by having a full team present," Kakashi explained, shrugging. "You can walk around if you want, but I'd rather you not since people here don't like us much."

"Just wear rain coats and take off your forehead protectors," Gio suggested. When he got a hesitant grimace from the other shinobi he ammended with a frown, "Or just wear it around your neck, jeez. The collar of your rain coat will hide them."

"Well, we should get ready now," Kakashi stated, turning to follow the way Kanto had gone. "Stay out of trouble." And he shot a look directly at Gio.

"Why are you looking at me?" the red head asked indignantly.

"Because Itachi apparently is the only one who knows proper etiquette out of you three."

"Hey!" And then a slightly smirking Itachi recieved a half-hearted glare. Kakashi disappeared behind a corner and Itachi and Gio were left standing there.

"...So," Gio drawled after a while, giving Itachi what almost seemed like a flirty smile. The Uchiha rose an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Wanna sight-see?"

"With you, hardly," Itachi stated, walking to the doorway of the inn and peering out for Shisui.

"Ouch, cold," Gio hissed. Itachi heard him walk up behind him and jumped in shock when hands grabbed his hips, dangerously low, and pulled their bodies flush together. "I know all the good places, though..."

Itachi jerked around and punched Gio square in the jaw, knocking the red-head away from him. He straightened up and made a show of irritably brushing at the places where Gio had touched him as the other sat up from the floor, lightly touching his jaw with a wince.

"You will not touch me," Itachi spat, fixing a scathing flare on the red-head. "Especially in such inappropriate ways."

"Alright, alright," Gio surrendered, holding his hands up, palms forward. His one green eye looked up at Itachi slyly as he smirked. "...Though you are pretty fucking hot when you're mad."

Itachi flushed lightly at the comment, but still had the perfect 'what the fuck?' face just in time for Shisui to open the door and trudge in, dripping wet from the rain.

"Hey, guys," he greeted, then paused when he took in the scene. "Um..."

"Pay no attention to him," Itachi stated indifferently, holding up the key to their room. "Let's go."

"Wait, wait," Shisuu interrupted as Itachi started walking and Gio picked himself up off the floor. He looked between his cousin and the angry red mark on Gio's face surprisingly the size of Itachi's fist. "...Did you just punch him? When I wasn't here to see it?"

Gio continued rubbing his jaw, opening it wide a few times to try to work out the soreness. He smirked. "He's a feisty one."

And then his head snapped back when he was punched again.

"Stop hitting me!" Gio whined, voice muffled since he was holding his nose with both hands, and Shisui grinned at the scene.

"Stop being inappropriate," the younger Uchiha shot back.

"Yes, sir," Gio pouted, then turned and waved at the shocked inn keeper. "Happens all the time, ma'am, no need to worry."

"For your sake, it better not happen all the time," Itachi muttered as he stalked to their room.

"What did he do?" Shisui asked, resisting the urge to laugh. The last time Itachi had been this irritated was when one of their clients on a mission had mistaken him for a girl.

"Hn," the younger Uchiha grunted. Shisui shrugged, still grinning at seeing Itachi punch Gio. They arrived at their room and locked the door behind them, noticing that this room was much smaller than their previous rooms had been, though they apparently had enough space to fit in two beds along with a table and t.v. stand.

"The city's on an island, so they probably don't have much space to begin with," Shisui guessed as they kicked off their sandals.

"That explains the numerous towers," Itachi muttered. "They most likely build up instead of out." He walked towards the two doors at the end of the room and checked out the closet and bathroom, nodding in approval when he realized it wasn't as bad as you would think for a hotel with rooms this small. "We're not going with Kakashi and Kanto," he stated, setting his pack on the floor beside the bed he was apparently claiming and digging out the scroll he sealed his clothes in.

"I figured we weren't," Shisui shrugged again, digging out his own scroll. Two small pops sounded as the desired clothing appeared, both sets merely copies of their current clothing. "It's a nice-looking city, though, despite all the rain."

"It is better than I thought it would be," Itachi agreed. "Though we've only seen part of it so far, so I could not properly tell."

"We could take a look around after-"

Shisui stopped talking and blushed hard when Itachi turned slightly and calmly stripped off his soaking shirt, revealing the smooth expanse of pale skin beneath it. The older Uchiha turned before Itachi could see his face and distractedly began taking his own clothes off.

"Shisui?" Itachi turned to look at his cousin when he stopped in the middle of his sentence, and blinked in surprise when he was met with the sight of Shisui's bare back. He paused, his hands frozen in the act of balling his shirt up, to stare at the body before him. Shisui turned slightly as he tossed his shirt into the bathroom sink through the open door, the movement causing a few drops of rain water to run down his back.

Shisui made a noise of questioning as his hands moved to fiddle with the buttons of his pants as Itachi's eyes trailed the drops to his waistline. A slow red crept up Itachi's face and he found himself unable to turn away. Shisui's hands moved to the edge of his pants, pushing down slowly and revealing angular hip bones and even more tan skin...

"Yea, Itachi?" Shisui asked, looking over his shoulder. Itachi jerked around, his blush deepening even more as he prayed Shisui hadn't noticed him staring. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Gods, what is wrong with me...?

"Itachi?" And then he opened his eyes and leapt back, his blush darkening to an almost comical color because Shisui had been right in his face, dark blue eyes staring into his with concern. "Are you alright?" the other Uchiha asked with worry, placing his hand on Itachi's forehead. Itachi thought he was going to faint with embarrassment.

"I'm fine," he said quickly, moving away from the hand. Shisui frowned.

"Then why are you so red?" he challenged.

On the inside, Shisui was battling the need to grin. He was almost giddy with pleasure because he had caught Itachi staring at him. And because it was adorable, really, watching his crush squirm with embarrassment and blush like a virgin on her wedding night.

"It's nothing!" Itachi pressed, backing up when Shisui stepped forward. He put his hands out to press against Shisui's chest, then paused and proceded to blush an even darker red that drifted all the way to his chest when he realized where his hands were.

Shisui began to feel a genuine twitch of concern when Itachi squeezed his eyes shut. He was so red that looked like he was close to fainting. "Hey, maybe you should sit down for a second," he started with a frown, backing off. He took Itachi's wet shirt and held it to his forehead to cool him off, grabbing him by the shoulder and steering him to sit down on one of the chairs at the small table in the corner.

Itachi let him, his blush slowly fading but not disappearing. He felt his lips twitch into a small smile as Shisui dabbed his soaked shirt on his face, the cold a nice change from the burning heat on his cheeks. He listened only a little as Shisui started rambling on about some completely unrelated subject, mostly watching his expressions and adding the few necessary comments.

Shisui laughed, and Itachi smiled because it was nice to see Shisui smile, and he decided he liked Shisui's laugh. The older's thumb rubbed circles into his shoulder, the action seeming unconscious, and he decided he liked his touch, too. The way he said his name was nice, the way he made it seem so easy to make him smile...

An expression of shock came over his face when he suddenly realized how he liked the other teen before him. He stared at Shisui, incredulous that he had evoked this type of emotion in him. Shisui paused in dabbing at his face, lowering the cloth since all that remained of the blush was a small dusting of red on his cheeks.

"...Have an epiphany?" he asked, flashing a grin. Itachi was struck dumb again by the surprising charm of it before registering the question.

"...Maybe," he admitted, finally looking away from those navy eyes. He didn't even think he liked men...!

Well... he thought, onyx eyes flickering up to the older teen for a moment. It's not that I'm not attracted to women. It's just that Shisui is...Shisui.

And that shock back on that day! The memories ran through his mind. But such a cliche thing couldn't possibly be...!

Shisui tilted his head curiously when Itachi wouldn't elaborate. "..Am I gonna get to hear it?" he asked. He blinked in surprise when another light blush appeared on Itachi's face as the younger looked down again.

"...Maybe." he repeated. Shisui pouted and the corner of Itachi's mouth twitched when he saw it.

"Can I get a hint...?" Shisui begged with a grin. "Because you looked like you had a life-changing moment right there. It was actually kind of funny."

Itachi hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should tell him or not. He actually dreaded Shisui finding out and reacting badly, but he knew that Shisui was too smart to not figure it out eventually and that it was only a matter of time before it was out in the open.

Swallowing the sudden feeling of panic, he faked a small smile and pretended to think for a moment, deciding to go along with Shisui's game as the older bounced slightly in anticipation.

Ah, guessing games were his favorite, weren't they? he wondered, watching his eager cousin.

"...Three words," Itachi stated softly. "It can be summed up into three words."

"Aww, I can't do anything with that!" Shisui complained. "Give me another one!"

"No."

"No?" Shisui pouted again.

Itachi smirked slightly. "No. Not until later."

"'Tachii," the older Uchiha whined.

"No," Itachi repeated. Shisui then sighed dramatically and sat down on the floor with his legs crossed.

Itachi watched him think, knowing it shouldn't take too long for him to figure out the other clues and get more hints from them. He enjoyed games and puzzles that made him think, because to create a genjutsu as detailed as his usually were then you would need the brain to do so. He regularly found puzzles to keep his mind active, and when he didn't have any more problems to think about he would ask someone to play 'Guess' with him.

"Well, you turned pale and then blushed after you realized whatever it is you realized," Shisui began.

Did he? Itachi tilted his head. He hadn't realized.

"...I didn't blush," he muttered after a second.

"That's a lie and we both know it," the older Uchiha declared happily, then went on. "So, things that make you blush... You embarassed yourself in front of someone and just realized it," Shisui held up one finger, "You...'had a random heat flash,' is what your answer would most likely be in reply to whatever I guess..." They both grinned at that as Shisui held up another finger. "Or...you realized you had a crush on someone." After the slight grimace at his own words (which sounded slightly ridiculous now that he thought about it, because, come on, it's Itachi), Shisui proceded to gasp and scoldingly say, "Itachi! Miss Konan's like, twenty years older than you!"

And Itachi had to laugh at the ridiculousness of the statement. "It's not her," he objected, still smiling. Shisui gave a wicked grin.

"But it is someone," he stated, and Itachi flushed slightly and scowled at his mistake. Shisui chuckled mischeiviously, but the whole while he felt like he had been kicked in the gut. "Oh, who is she?" he asked eagerly, composing his disappointment. "Is it Hana? That Yugao chick in Anbu? Anko? Oh it is Anko! I knew it!"

Itachi gave an exasperated smile and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "None of those."

"Can I get a hint?"

Itachi paused for a moment, before looking away. "You know this person." He cut Shisui off before he could respond. "And that's all for today. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for any more clues."

Shisui puffed out a sigh in disappointment, and Itachi smiled again. He felt like he had been doing that around Shisui more often lately.

Suddenly he paused and shivered, drawing a confused look from the other teen.

"I forgot we were changing," he admitted, rubbing his arms for warmth. "Holy Gods, it's cold."

And then Shisui erupted into laughter, and Itachi couldn't stop himself from following.

-xXx-

On the rooftop of the tallest tower in the city stood a man, staring out into the clouds thoughtfully. A woman appeared next to him in a flourish of papers, looking at the rain with him.

"And?" she asked. The man moved his ringed gaze down to the city, looking at the hooded figures scurrying about in an attempt to stay at least partly dry. He yearned for the day when peace came and he wouldn't have to constantly drench his beloved country in an attempt to keep an eye out for it.

"...They do not plan on trying to attack us," he stated. "They are indeed here for strictly diplomatic purposes."

"And the boy?" the woman asked. Though she was as drenched as the man beside her, the paper flower in her hair stayed as perfect as if it were dry.

"It's only by chance that he came here as well," he stated. "He is still a shinobi loyal to Konoha, Konan. We cannot recruit him until Madara finishes his plan." Konan only nodded in reply, before her head moved slightly to glance behind her.

"The Fire ambassador and Hatake Kakashi are here, Pein." Pein nodded as well, turning with one last glance at his city to attend the meeting he frankly found unnecessary.

-xXXXx-

Alright, I know, the chapter's short and late. Blame writer's block and school... D: *hides from torches and pitchforks*

And I've decided that I'll try to make my chapters slightly shorter, to see if that will help me prevent getting invaded by Mini Elmer Fudds in search of "Pwot Wabbit Season."

In response to the people wondering if there will be a lemon in this story, there's good news and bads news. Good news: yes, eventually, I plan on having multiple lemons. Bad news: not before some kind of time skip or something, because unlike other authors who are fine with it, I am not comfortable writing about a 13 year old having sex because I do not think 13 year olds should BE having sex. Not trying to start anything here, btw, just stating my opinion. :D

So, yea, I'm going to try harder to get the chapters out faster, but just so you lurkers know, reviews give an author a kind of boost and encouragement when writing ;) Hint, hint!

It's 12:00 a.m. here, btw. Don't you love me for staying up this late to finish the chapter tonight?

Ciao!