(A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and support. This is the epilogue, and thus, the story is complete. Finally. Enjoy.)

And the Beat Goes On

Epilogue: Pool Party!

"What the hell?" Orochimaru asked, letting his towel drop from his arm to the ground.

"I have no idea," Itachi replied, also looking in disbelief at his pool.

His pool seemed to have suffered a sudden infestation of people, mostly Sasuke's classmates. There was an abundance of pool toys scattered about the deck, along with water by the gallon, or so it seemed.

There were a couple pitchers of something or other on the table, along with plates of crackers and other edibles. There was a cooler filled with ice and pop on the patio, beside the patio table. All sorts of mismatched patio chairs were littered across the patio.

"What is this, public swim hour at the Uchiha residence?" Orochimaru asked, frowning at all the people in the pool. They seemed to be having a good time, but they were ruining his good time.

"Apparently so," Itachi replied. "What baffles me is why Sasuke let all these people in here. He's not too. . ."

"Friendly," Orochimaru supplied, deadpanning.

"Exactly," Itachi agreed.

"Where is the little brat anyway?" Orochimaru asked, looking around. "He's got all his friends here, but isn't out here?"

"Sounds typical of him," Itachi said.

"Maybe he's plotting ways to kill Naruto," offered a voice from one of the lounge chairs.

It was Nara Shikamaru, who had a pair of ridiculously large sunglasses perched on his face. He was lying on his back, staring up at the sky. From the colour of his skin, he was going to have a very nasty sunburn tomorrow.

"What did Naruto do now?" Orochimaru asked.

"He planned this entire thing, didn't he?" Itachi asked, surveying the 'damage' in his backyard. Yes, this certainly looked like the results of a Naruto plot.

"Yes," Shikamaru replied, never moving to look at them.

"Well, I wouldn't doubt he's trying to drown the dunce in the pool then," Orochimaru said, picking up his forgotten towel.

"That's too simple," Itachi said, "and not bloody enough for Sasuke. Might I suggest looking in the tool shed for him?"

"Actually," Shikamaru said, because he was being surprisingly helpful for one so lazy, "he went inside to hide from the hordes of fangirls who mysteriously found a way to get invited."

"Ah," Orochimaru said.

"Poor boy," Itachi said, without any empathy in his voice.

"Where's the other brat then?" Orochimaru asked, looking around. With his shock of blond hair, Naruto usually wasn't one to be lost in the crowd. He was nowhere to be seen.

Shikamaru shrugged. "It's too troublesome to keep tabs on him," he said with a sigh.

"Lazy ass," Orochimaru muttered.

"Thanks anyway," Itachi said and shoved some chairs out of the way, making for the pool.

"Oy!" Orochimaru called, running after him. "Where the hell are you going?"

"To swim in my pool," Itachi said blandly.

"In case you hadn't noticed, there's a bunch of. . .things in your pool," he retorted.

"It's still my pool," Itachi said, "and they can get out of it, because it is not their pool."

Orochimaru followed him to the water's edge and rolled his eyes. "Good luck with that," he said.

Itachi said nothing, but dropped into the water. Almost instantly, there was at least a three foot radius around the Uchiha heir where there was no one. The older teen blinked. "How does he do that?" he asked, frowning in bewilderment.

He nearly went over the edge of the pool and into the water when someone barrelled into him. "Oy!" he shouted, whipping about. "Watch where you're -oh, it's you, Short Stuff."

Sasuke said nothing, and just stood there, blinking. Orochimaru frowned. "What's going on here anyway?" he asked.

"That goddamn Naruto invited everyone over for a pool party!" he barked, balling his fists and grinding his teeth together.

"Oooh, murderous rage," Orochimaru quipped. "It looks good on you."

"Shut up," the younger teen growled. "Have you seen that moron anywhere, anyway? I'm going to try drowning him."

"Actually, no, I haven't seen him. I'll let him know you're looking for him if I do," the older teen said with a cheerful smile, before he moved off.

He was glad he moved, because just seconds after his departure, a stampede of girls latched on to Sasuke, hellbent on mauling him or something equally as awful. He winced in sympathy as he watched Sasuke disappear in the mob.

"Poor boy," he said, pushing his sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose. "Don't women ever learn?"

"Hey there!" Naruto called to him, waving. He was standing over near the table with another boy, a brunet, who obviously liked his food a little too much.

"Hey," Orochimaru said, raising an eyebrow at the blond, "Sasuke's looking for you."

"Eh?" Naruto said, and glanced in the direction of the mob of screaming girls. They were very useful for keeping track of Sasuke, but also hazardous to Sasuke's health. "Aw, crap, not again!"

The blond dashed across the patio, switching from "cool guy" mode to "hero" mode in two point five seconds flat. Orochimaru marvelled at the speed of the transformation. He flopped down in one of the chairs and watched as the blond teen pried apart the girls to drag Sasuke from their midst.

The brunet standing at the table was watching too. "That's the third time he's had to do that today," he said, stuffing another piece of cheese into his mouth.

"Three times, eh?" Orochimaru asked. "How long have you guys been here?"

"Oh, maybe an hour," the boy said, turning his attention back to the snack table.

Naruto had peeled the fangirls off Sasuke and now, the Uchiha boy was trying to get the blond into the pool. "Just get in the pool so I can drown you!"

"Oh, so I save your ass, and this is the thanks I get?"

Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "Maturity, thy name is SasukeandNaruto."

"That's two names," Shikamaru commented, still not having moved from his chair, which was about three chairs over from the table.

"Oh, shut up," Orochimaru grumped.

Shikamaru gladly did so and went back to his cloud watching. Though, one supposes cloud watching is made rather difficult when there are no clouds in the sky.

A pink-haired girl and a blonde walked by, hand in hand. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "Well, there's something you don't see everyday," he said.

Shikamaru shrugged. He turned toward the table. "Ah, Choji, pass me my coke?"

"Sure," the teen at the table, Choji, replied, handing over a can that had been sitting on the tabletop.

Naruto and Sasuke were still fighting. Sasuke still wanted to drown Naruto. Naruto thought that he deserved a better reward for saving Sasuke. Orochimaru couldn't decided who had more valid points, but it was probably Sasuke. Naruto would win the argument, though, simply because he was even more bullheaded that Sasuke. Orochimaru wasn't sure how that was possible.

"I don't see how they can do this," Shikamaru drawled, "it's so troublesome."

"I hope they do it again next year!" Choji cried. "It's so much fun!"

"You're only here for the food," Shikamaru told him.

"I hope they don't have another pool party," Orochimaru grumbled and sunk lower into his chair.

He supposed he'd have to wait and see, though, because, after all, next year was a whole new year.

The End