Naruto Fan Fiction / Naruto Shippuden Fan Fiction ❯ With You I Will Journey Life's Path ❯ Under the Sea ( Chapter 12 )

Disclaimer: The characters, items, places etc of Naruto are property of Masashi Kishimoto. These objects are used without permission for entertainment only, not for making money. No infringement is intended.

Chapter 12: Under the Sea

Lunchtime couldn't come soon enough for Itachi. He gave Sasuke and Deidara some money and pushed them in the direction of... Well, he didn't know. The direction of anywhere that was away from him, telling them to play nicely while he sought out Kisame.

The morning had been rather hellish- starfish had been a nice idea in theory, but it was less nice when Deidara had noticed a sign for dolphins nearby. He'd dragged Itachi and Sasuke along to find that, for a fee, you could feed said animals.

He'd then spent the next hour sitting on the edge of the pool, screeching back at the dolphins when they screeched as though they might actually understand him. Itachi had eventually left him to it and decided the starfish were better company, especially given the looks the dolphin handlers had given him for his boyfriend's insane actions.

It wasn't hard to find Kisame in the cafeteria, standing near the doorway waving at families as they passed him still in costume.

"Are you free?" He asked with a smile as he approached him.

"I am," Kisame confirmed. "I was just passing the time while I waited. I'll get you a coffee- get us a table, alright?"

Once they were sitting at a table, coffee and cake in front of them, Kisame removed his shark headpiece and flashed Itachi a broad smile.

"So," Itachi began in response. "I've sent Deidara and Sasuke off together. I hope they don't kill each other, so let's not beat around the bush here. What's going on, and what can I do to help?"

"You're as kind as always," Kisame sighed with a smile. "I'll be fine. This job's only part time but my mother's going to be putting me up and getting me back on my feet when she returns."

"If you won't stay with me, at least let me cook you a meal from time to time."

"Stop fussing," Kisame chided lightly. "I'm a grown man, Itachi! Stop acting like such a woman. I swear, getting into a relationship's domesticated you."

"Showing concern for my oldest friend is hardly a sign of becoming 'domesticated'. When is your mother coming back?"

"Next week, she hopes. You know what my dad's like though- it could be a month. 'Come to Jamaica with me, woman!' and she goes crawling back like she has done for the last fifteen years and does exactly what he says. You wouldn't think they were divorced."

"Some people can't live with or without each other," Itachi chuckled ruefully, his mind immediately thinking of Sasuke and Naruto.

"Enough about me- I want the gossip on you," Kisame ordered as he picked up his coffee. "How's the therapy and the medication?"

"Both are better now than they were before."

"There were problems?"

"Something like that. I had to change the medication because the side effects were messing with me, and Deidara and my brother set my therapist straight with some more details she was missing."

"I bet she was missing them because you didn't tell her, right?"

"That's irrelevant," Itachi told him firmly as he sipped his coffee and fixed him with a look that suggested he change the subject.

"Alright then- what about the marriage thing?"

"It's not happening."

"Oh come on!" Kisame protested. "You love the guy, don't you?"

"Yes, of course!"

"So what's the big deal?"

"Am I the only one who can see why getting married would be a terrible idea?" Itachi remarked with a sigh.

"Look at me, Kisame. I'm a guy getting over a perfection complex, who struggles sometimes to function like a normal person. What possible good would getting married and adding that level of stress to myself do?"

"Why would it be stressful?"

"It's Deidara!" Itachi protested. "Why _wouldn't_ it be stressful?"

"I don't know- he seems like a nice guy."

"He is, but he's insane."

"Even so, it's not about him, is it? It's about you."

"Of course it's about me," Itachi muttered. "If it was him, we wouldn't be together."

"So what's the deal with your uncle Madara?" Kisame asked, finally relenting on the topic much to Itachi's relief.

"He wants me to take over the family business from my father, should he give it to my father in the first place. He's using every dirty trick in the book to get me, but don't worry about that." He smirked, giving Kisame a tiny grin.

"I have a plan, and it's all falling into place. With any luck both my father and I will get what we want, and Madara won't know how I've done it."

"Typical Uchiha sneakiness," Kisame sighed. "I expected such things from your brother, but it's nice to see it from you for a change. You were always too proper. It used to drive me mad. You never wanted to do the things I suggested."

"That's because your suggestions usually involved alcohol and seedy bars in backstreets, Kisame."

"What's the problem with that?"

"I was fifteen?"

"I fail to see your point."

"You've met my father. Please tell me how turning up home completely totalled whilst underage could be construed as a good idea in his eyes."

Kisame shrugged leisurely. "Details, Itachi, details. You were too perfect for such behaviour, I know."

"Indeed. Instead I got to drag you home- you realise how much shorter than you I am? That was no easy task. I have no idea how your mother put up with it."

"Because she was five times as bad when she was young!" Kisame protested. "She always liked you, you know. She'd be all 'why can't you be more like Itachi?' at me."

"You don't want to be more like me," Itachi noted ruefully. "It was... Well, it was sort-of fun to be honest, looking back."

"The good old days," Kisame chuckled. "Now I'm back in the area, perhaps we could have more of those times. Do you drink these days?"

"I have been known to drink to excess occasionally."

"Excellent. You can bring Deidara too, of course."

"If you want to get shown up by him, sure. He's the type that finds dancing on tables whilst drunk the epitome of comedy."

"And that's why you love him," Kisame noted with a cheeky grin. "And precisely why you should marry him."

"This again? Can't you just accept my decision?"

"I've never seen you this way, Itachi. You're..." Kisame paused, struggling to think of the right word. "More laid back, almost. Meeting Deidara and addressing your complex has done you the world of good."

"Thank you," Itachi replied with a small smile. "However we will have to continue this another time. If I'm not mistaken, that shrill voice coming up behind us is my lovely boyfriend, and that agitated voice answering him is my poor, put upon brother."

"Itachi, tell him he's a moron," Sasuke complained as he and Deidara came to Itachi's side. "He was talking to the fish."

"A lot of people talk to animals, Sasuke."

"Sure, but do other people draw speech bubbles on the glass, write in them and then attempt to take photographs of the fish in the right position to make it look as though the fish are talking back?"

Itachi glanced at Deidara, who was scowling at Sasuke with his arms crossed. "No," he relented. "They do not. Deidara- explain yourself without using the word 'art'."

Deidara turned his scowl on Itachi. "Det heter din megge," he snapped.

"Using Norwegian to insult me is horribly unfair, Deidara. How does that even work anyway? You can't remember most of the language, but you can insult me?"

"Who says it was an insult?" Deidara countered, but his cheeky smile gave him away. "Besides, of course I can remember the bad words! Who wouldn't?"

"He called you a bitch," Kisame cut in helpfully. Deidara turned to him, looking momentarily aghast.

"What? Learning to curse in foreign languages is practically mandatory when you spend so many months undersea with no other way to entertain yourselves. I worked with a lot of Europeans who taught me."

"Since when could you speak Norwegian?" Sasuke asked Deidara suspiciously.

"Since I was born there?" Deidara replied, rolling his eyes as though it was common knowledge, when it clearly hadn't been.

"So why the fuck do we have you over here now?"

"Because I moved here!"

"I wish you hadn't."

"Enough," Itachi sighed, holding up his hands in an attempt to mollify them. "We're going to go and look at fishes and pretend that you are both capable of acting like rational adults."

"I'm heading back to work," Kisame noted, standing up and putting his shark suit headpiece back on. "Later guys."

He waved and headed off, leaving Itachi to mediate the storm brewing between his partner and brother. The last thing he wanted was for either of them to find a stray fish-tank somewhere and attempt to drown one another.

"So what's that?"

"I have no idea, Deidara," Itachi sighed. "I know as much about fish as you do. Read the signs."

"It's a nice colour, yeah. It's vivid," Deidara mused before snapping a photo of it. The flash startled the gathered fish, sending them swimming away rapidly. Deidara, miraculously, realised his mistake and sheepishly turned the flash off before snapping a few more shots.

"It's a Butterflyfish," Sasuke noted in a bored tone, leaning against the side of the tank looking as though he'd rather be anywhere else but his present location.

"How do you know that?" Deidara asked, narrowing his eyes apprehensively.

"Because I'm not a moron."

"Helpful, Uchiha. What about that one that looks like Nemo?"

"It's a Clownfish. Any more stupid questions? Would you like to know what that little creature sticking out behind that rock is?"

"That's a seahorse!" Deidara exclaimed excitedly, snapping some pictures and ignoring Sasuke's sarcastic jibe. "Aw, he's so cute! Hello little guy!"

"It can't hear you. Even if it could, it can't understand you."

"Leave it Sasuke," Itachi sighed, shaking his head in an attempt to defuse a potential argument. "As I said earlier, a lot of people talk to animals."

"Are those people all clinically insane?"

"No, Sasuke. Don't be rude."

"So what's the deal with Kisame?" Sasuke asked, seamlessly changing the subject. Deidara glanced towards them as well, indicating he was listening.

"Ah- I wanted to discuss that," Itachi noted, glancing straight back at Deidara. "Deidara, would you mind if Kisame stayed for a couple of days?"

"Why?" Deidara asked suspiciously, lowering his camera.

"Because he's living out of his car right now. He told me not to worry but he's always had my back, and I can't willingly let him continue to do that."

"That's understandable," Deidara nodded, surprising Itachi and turning back to the fish tank. "Sure, it's no problem."

"Thank you," Itachi nodded gratefully. "I'll catch up with him before we leave and coerce him into leaving with us."

"I heard every word and you'll do no such thing," a voice behind them noted. They all turned to greet Kisame, still dressed in a shark costume.

"Itachi, stop fussing. Incidentally, my mother has just called. She'll be home tomorrow- my Dad's not happy, but she put her foot down. I'm surprised, I can tell you."

"You're her son," Itachi pointed out. "It's no surprise she's pulled out all the stops for you."

"Being his mother doesn't automatically mean that's true," Deidara pointed out quietly, instantly sobering the mood. Sasuke, unable to resist, picked up on it immediately.

"Do tell," he cooed mock-sympathetically. "What terrible slight did your mother perform against you? Did she ground you because you painted her house bright pink or something?"

"Sasuke," Itachi hissed warningly, but Deidara waved a hand in his direction to silence him.

"No Sasuke," he replied airily. "She refused to leave my abusive father and only did so when he hospitalised me, and even then she went crawling back, yeah."

Sasuke stared at him, clearly looking for any sign that he was joking. "Seriously?" He finally asked.

"Who would joke about something like that?"

"Sorry," Sasuke muttered, actually looking genuinely apologetic.

Deidara shrugged and turned back to the fish tank to take more photographs, leaving Kisame to awkwardly fill the silence.

"So, yes- thank you for the concern, but I'm fine. However, this means I'm in the area for your stag night," he hinted with chuckle.

"I'm not getting married," Itachi told him sharply, whereas Deidara laughed outright and slung an arm around his partner's shoulder.

"I love you too," he sighed, planting a kiss on Itachi's temple before turning back to the fishes.

"Come this way," Kisame told them, gesturing over his shoulder. "Have you seen the underwater walk yet?"

Itachi let himself be led, glancing over his shoulder to see Deidara and Sasuke following before turning back to Kisame. "If she's coming back tomorrow at least spend the night at my place," he offered again.

"Here we are- the entrance is here," Kisame replied, ignoring the statement. "None of you are hydrophobic, right? Earlier today some poor girl who was ended up being dragged through here by her boyfriend."

"I've never heard anyone scream so loudly about how she was going to die because she thought the glass would collapse on her."

All three of them shook their heads, glancing around as they began their walk. Above them, a vast expanse of water and fish captured their attention, water glistening blue and fishes darting rapidly around above them.

"Look!" Deidara pointed as a stingray floated above them, immediately snapping photos with his camera.

"Is this what it's like for you underwater?" Itachi asked Kisame as they walked.

"Not really," Kisame replied after a moment's thoughts. "This is a lot more... Controlled? It's hard to describe. The ocean is unpredictable."

"It's a murderer," Itachi noted. "Majestic and beautiful, but still a murderer."

"It's hardly a sentient being. It doesn't know what it's doing because it doesn't have the capacity to know or care."

"I still speak the truth. People are claimed by that ocean all the time."

"Well aren't you morbid today?" Kisame mused. Itachi knew even without seeing his friend's face that he was being frowned at. "Cheer up and enjoy the fish parade, would you?"

"Only if you'll swallow your pride and accept you need help."

"I need help?" Kisame chuckled. "Worry about yourself- I'll be fine."

They completed the rest of the walk in relative quiet, save for excited murmurs from Deidara and the beep of his camera as he snapped shots. Only when they exited the tunnel did Deidara break the silence.

"How did you guys meet?"

"School," Kisame replied. "I'll give you the story if you'll come back to the lobby with me. I'm supposed to be greeting people, remember?"

"It really isn't very interesting," Itachi attempted to say, but Deidara had already set off following Kisame in glee at the thought of possible gossip on his boyfriend.

"As I mentioned, we met in school," Kisame began once they were back where he needed to be, absently waving at people as they entered.

"I was a couple of years older than him and happened to catch some little brat giving him backchat in the locker room one day. Itachi being Itachi was attempting to keep the peace and ignore him, but I wasn't going to stand for that so I knocked the guy out."

"Isn't that a little bit overkill?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Well, perhaps..." Kisame conceded. "I didn't mean to! I didn't know my own strength, I guess. Itachi thanked me while he dragged the guy to the nurse's office like the good person he is, I introduced myself, and from there on I ended up keeping an eye on him."

"I handled myself fine," Itachi interjected, mostly to keep his pride intact.

"Right, right. How about the time that other kid tried to set your hair on fire with a Bunsen burner, and I happened to be delivering a message to your teacher and noticed?"

"You set his shirt on fire."

"I got away with it too!" Kisame declared proudly. "The teacher believed he'd done it himself and he was too frightened to say I'd pushed him in the way of the flame."

"So what you're saying is you became friends because Kisame is ridiculously overprotective and destructive?" Sasuke summed up.

"Something like that," Itachi sighed, putting one hand to his forehead and sighing heavily.

"People began to leave me alone, I have to say. He was an effective guard..." He faltered, glancing at his friend in his suit. "Guard shark," he finished with a light grin.

"Hey now, I had a reputation of my own," Kisame argued. "Remember that brat who insulted me? I broke his nose and put him in hospital."

"I've heard this story," Sasuke grinned. "Itachi told me when we ended up in trouble for something similar."

"You were in a fight?" Kisame asked Itachi in disbelief.

"Long story," Itachi replied quickly.

Somebody called Kisame's name behind them- they all turned, Kisame immediately snapping to attention.

"That's my boss," he muttered. "I think that's my cue to stop socialising and get some work done. I'll catch up with you soon, okay Itachi?"

"Fine," Itachi sighed, defeated. "Take care of yourself."

"Yeah, yeah. You too, pal."

That evening Itachi found himself in the tree in the front garden. Deidara was working on an art piece and was therefore lost to the world, giving Itachi plenty of time to think things over.

The tree was far from comfortable but as he gazed up at the night sky he didn't mind- it was peaceful, which was what his mind needed right then.

"Half Uchiha, half cat?" A voice called up to him, startling him from his thoughts. He glanced down to see Kisame, grinning and looking a touch sheepish. "Mind if I join you?"

"If you wish," Itachi nodded, leaving Kisame to expertly scale the tree and seat himself on the branch next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I figured all your pestering to stay the night might have been a hint that you needed someone to talk to."

Itachi gave him a tiny smile at that. That hadn't been the idea, but it was Kisame's way of retaining his pride- he knew the man, so to him it was obvious. "I'd rather share a drink than a talk," he hinted. "Shall we go inside?"

Once in the house Itachi poked his head round the bedroom door to inform Deidara, who simply nodded and waved him off- he was absorbed in his art, fire in his eyes and paint on his hands. Itachi liked seeing him that way- or rather he liked to see him that happy, no matter what it took.

He returned to find Kisame had already raided his alcohol stash, settling on a bottle of whiskey. He had set two shot glasses out, filling them both and looking at Itachi expectantly. Itachi sighed and joined him at the table, picking up the glass tentatively.

"Three, two, one," Kisame counted down before knocking the shot back, Itachi only moments behind him. "Good man, Itachi. How about another?"

Itachi reluctantly agreed and before he knew it, he and Kisame had managed to take a reasonable chunk out of the bottle. Alcohol had tended to animate Kisame when they were younger, and it seemed nothing had changed.

"So tell me," he asked Itachi, a slight slur to his voice. "Since you're gay and all, I guess you didn't get with that really cute redhead in your class? You know, the one that used to practically stalk you- long hair, huge ti-"

"I like girls as well," Itachi cut in quickly to prevent the rest of the sentence from being said aloud.

"Oh. So did you get with her then?"

"No. I wasn't interested in relationships before Deidara." He paused, frowning for a moment. "Actually I wasn't interested when I met Deidara- it just happened."

"So you had no relationship experience? What did you do with each other then- hold hands and make paper fortune tellers like high school girls?"

"You're lucky I like you," Itachi warned. "Only you can get away with joking like that. Deidara and I did just fine in the beginning and we continue to do so now."

"Please don't tell me you lead a vanilla sex life. I might have to disown you."

"I am not sharing those details."

"Oh come on! I'd tell you about mine if I had one."

"And I wouldn't want to hear it!" Itachi protested. "Can you stop filling my glass up? My vision is starting to blur, which is a sign I need to stop."

"It's a sign you need to drink more," Kisame argued. "I've never seen you drunk, remember? Don't think you're getting out of that one so easily."

He paused, looking momentarily serious for a moment. "Speaking of getting out of things, what's the real reason you won't marry Deidara?"

Itachi hesitated before finally shaking his head and sobering slightly. "I'm scared," he admitted.

"What of?"

"Commitment. Change. Not being a perfect enough partner for him."

"Whoa, hang on," Kisame said, eyes widening. "Not being perfect enough?"

"Stupid isn't it?" Itachi remarked with a shrug, swirling his drink nervously around in his glass.

"I haven't told him that. I don't think I've really admitted it to myself until now. He walked out on me recently because I'm such an idiot. I'm not good enough for him yet."

"But he came back," Kisame noted. "Honestly, Itachi? I've never heard so much trash in all my life."

"I'm done with this conversation," Itachi sighed as he knocked back his drink and stood up. "Goodnight, Kisame."

Kisame grabbed his arm and fixed him with a pointed glare. "Sit back down. I'm not letting you off the hook that easily. I've been protecting you since you were eleven, and I'm not about to change that habit just because the person giving you shit this time is yourself."

"No," Itachi disagreed as he pulled his arm free. "I refuse to talk to you whilst under the influence. You're going to push me to answer questions about my relationship."

"I'm going to pretend I have no idea what you're talking about before eventually caving and spilling the details, and if we're lucky I might not end the night crying into my drink while you regret ever asking about it all. There- I just saved us three hours."

"You let the man paint a giant fucking unicorn on your wall," Kisame replied bluntly. "Marriage is a lesser transgression."

Itachi wearily sat down, glaring at Kisame across the table. "Alright, I'm humour you. Say we get married- that's wonderful and all and very romantic, but let's be realistic. It's a civil union for a start, and who would agree to do it? Not many people around here I imagine."

"You haven't looked. Don't be so fast to disregard it."

"Alright. How about the other complications? Who walks down the aisle and who stays at the altar? Do you attend each other's stag night? Do either of us change our surnames? Is there an option on your average form to fill in Mr. and Mr. as opposed to Mr. and Mrs?"

"You're over-thinking things, as always. Not a single one of those things matters in the long run. You have an excuse for every eventuality, but what it comes down to is what you said earlier- you're afraid to disappoint. Let me spell this out for you Itachi." Kisame paused and leaned forward on the table, looking Itachi in the eye.

"You're high maintenance. I mean that in the nicest possible way, but you are. Deidara is still here. You let him draw ridiculous things on your walls and he lets you be pedantic about things that don't matter. What more do you want?"

Itachi, unable to answer that question, simply poured himself another shot with a sigh of defeat.

"I've known you a long time," Kisame remarked, his voice taking on an edge of seriousness. "I've watched you achieve perfection time and time again, just like everybody else has."

"But I've seen you stay awake for forty-eight hours to study. I've seen you pass out because you were sick and you should have been at home resting, not in school. I've even seen you crying in frustration because you felt you just weren't good enough, even when you were."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Before Deidara, the only other person who might have seen any of that was Sasuke," Kisame concluded. "And even then I doubt he has. I've seen the less perfect side of you and I've seen how much effort it took you to maintain that. I'm still your friend, aren't I?"

"I am still failing to see your point."

"For a genius you really are stupid sometimes," Kisame sighed, glaring lightly at Itachi. "Being in a relationship of any kind, friendship included, is not about being perfect. It's about liking each other for who you are, flaws included."

"You don't have to change a thing to be 'perfect' for Deidara, because the fact he's here with you shows he already loves you just the way you are." He paused and knocked back his shot, giving Itachi a grin. "Pep talk over. You can relax now."

"Excellent," Itachi murmured. "I think now is a good time to go to bed."

He put his glass down and made his way to the door, slightly unsteady on his feet. Kisame watched him go, smiling as he did so.

"Itachi? Thanks for offering your place for the night," he called.

Itachi paused and glanced over his shoulder, a tiny smile on his face. "You've always protected me and set me straight," he noted. "It's nice to return the sentiment."

Kisame smirked at that. "I haven't set you very straight if you're shacked up with a guy," he quipped. Itachi hesitated before smirking and blowing his friend a kiss, earning raucous laughter in return.

"Go on, go to bed. I'll let myself out in the morning. My mother's going to be back early, and it'll be nice to see her."

"It's been nice seeing you," Itachi nodded in return. "What's your next plan of action?"

"I don't know," Kisame shrugged. "I might just hang around here for a while and take a break. Either way you'll be seeing a lot more of me, if you'll have me."

"Of course I will. Deidara does like you, contrary to how he acts sometimes."

"Don't you think that's kind of cute? That little spark of possessiveness?"

Itachi frowned at that, shaking his head. "That same spark is what's caused the rift between Deidara and Sasuke. Sasuke has absolutely no idea how to share me since he's never had to."

"Still the clingy little brother then?"

"And I'm still the protective big brother. Not much has changed."

"Plenty has changed," Kisame mused as he stood up and made his way over to Itachi. "Go on, get to bed. Take care of yourself, alright? I expect an invite to the wedding!"

"There isn't going to be a wedding," Itachi replied firmly as he took the hug Kisame gave him. "Stop deluding yourself."

"You need to tell yourself that."

"Good night Kisame," Itachi grinned, ignoring the comment and heading for the bedroom.

Deidara was fast asleep, half naked and sprawled across the double bed possessively. His blond hair, loose around his shoulders, was equally spread and he looked so serene that Itachi couldn't help but admire him for a moment. He still had a few licks of paint on his cheeks, only slightly visible in the moonlight.

"I'm so lucky," he murmured to himself as he slipped under the covers next to his partner, lightly nudging him over for space. "Thank you, Deidara."

"What for?" Deidara muttered back sleepily.

"Nothing," Itachi replied quietly. "Go back to sleep, love."

"You must be drunk," Deidara mused as he turned over to get more comfortable. "You never call me that."

"There's a first time for everything," Itachi countered, but Deidara had already slipped back into peaceful slumber.

In the distance the click of the front door told Itachi that Kisame had no intentions of taking his offer to spend the night, but he didn't have the energy to chase him. He sighed heavily and told himself that he had, at least, tried.

Chapter End