Ｐａｒａｄｉｓｅ

XVII

Sasuke and Naruto were enjoying the silence of the room, laying on their backs and their heads hanging on the edge of the bed as they stared at the wall. There was nothing to do as the night took over the setting sun; they had already eaten with Konan, Pein, and Itachi. Sai was nowhere to be found, and now they had nothing to do but stare at a blank wall. It was already past twelve and sleep couldn't take them.

"So, guess what's coming in a few days?" Naruto asked, smiling over to Sasuke to see if he could guess.

"Hmm.. well.." Sasuke thought, "...October's in a few days..."

"Yeah, what about October?" Naruto smiled some more.

"I know where you're getting at." Sasuke chuckled, "Your birthday."

Naruto nodded. "I was going to spend it at home with friends from my school, but I guess spending it with you is better."

The Uchiha smiled at that.

"I'll make sure it's the best day for you, then." Sasuke assured, trying his best to lean his head over towards Naruto and kiss him. The kiss was interrupted as a knock was heard on the door. Sighing, Sasuke regrettably got up a little too fast, stumbling on his feet on his way towards the door. He ignored Naruto's laugh as he opened it to reveal Itachi. "What's up?"

"We're leaving, get your things and hurry up." Itachi looked... torn? And tired? His eyes sported this dead look on his face but he looked like he'd just ran a mile.

"Itachi why, what's-"

"Hurry up and start up the car. If Sai is anywhere, hurry up and find him becasue I'm not going to wait for him to show up." Itachi pushed his car keys towards Sasuke's chest and left.

"What's up with him?" Naruto asked, joining Sasuke by the door,

---

"Wow, are you okay?" Pein asked, opening the door for Konan.

"Don't ask," Konan rolled her eyes. "Something got to him all of a sudden," She said, rubbing her neck were bruises were visible. There was a tiring pain she felt all over. "He was really rough." She threw a glare at Pein, who laughed as she walked in.

"He didn't follow you, did he?" He asked, taking a look outside before closing the door.

"Are you kidding me? After that he went straight to sleep. Now, are we going to talk about him or are we going to play?" Pein chuckled, hugging Konan from behind and kissing her neck gently.

"You sure your body can take another round?" Konan only walked out of Pein's hug and hungrily attacked his lips.

"Enough talk, just get on with it." She mumbled. "I've missed you."

---

Itachi had pretended to be asleep when Konan decided to get up as quietly as possible to change and leave the room. He followed after her, quietly as she walked to a room located on the other side of the building on the bottom floor. Memorizing the room number, Itachi went back to his room, throwing his stuff over his shoulder and walking out into the parking lot to throw it into the car. Grabbing a few things from the car trunk, he carried them over to Sasuke and Naruto's room, where he instructed them to hurry and be inside the car by the time he gets back all the while concealing the few items he carried behind his back.

Fueled by anger, Itachi walked quickly towards the office where a young, frail looking teen sat behind the counter and ate his late night snack. "Do you have an extra key to room two fifty three? I'm trying to contact my friend but he doesn't answer. I'm worried he's sick."

"Sorry, sir, but I can't give you the extra key without you're friend's permission. It's a privacy-"

"What?" Itachi asked, his face seeming a bit scarier under the poorly dim lights hanging from the ceiling.

"Uh, I mean...h-here." The poor boy shook like a leaf as he handed Itachi the extra key. "Just make sure to.." the boy winced as Itachi shut the door loudly. " ...return it."

Making sure to keep his steps from being heard, Itachi walked up towards the door where Konan had entered. Leaning his ear against the door, he heard a couple of laughs and he frowned. Sticking the key silently and slowly inside, he turned it and slowly, unlocked the door. Peeking in, he witnessed Konan and Pein walking towards the bathroom, closing the door behind them. Taking the chance, he snuck in and began his revenge.

Revenge? Yeah, he wasn't going to reveal to them that he already knew about the affair, no. Itachi may look calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside... He was an Uchiha, and like his father, Itachi had his ways.

"Pein!" Konan moaned. Itachi heard a loud thud on the door and frowned in disgust but felt mostly hurt.

Quickly moving on with his plot, Itachi found it easy that the bed sheets were scattered. Using a cloth he dipped in gasoline back at the car, Itachi placed it under the bed, connected and tied to a thick rope he had on the trunk. Like the cloth, the rope was also bathed in the flammable liquid. It was tied to the cloth and Itachi made sure it reached from the bed to the door, where he would stand and wait for them.

It didn't take long, as Itachi was digging in his pocket for a lighter, he closed the hotel door lightly and waited for the two. Peeking through the small gap in the door, he watched as they fell right into his trap, Konan laying with her back against the bed and Pein on top of her, both clearly unable to detect the scent of the fuel.

Itachi opened the door a litte, letting the moonlight shine behind him as it entered the dark room. Noticing the light, Konan sat up and with horror, watched as her boyfriend, Itachi, stood with a calm-angry face at the door.

"I-Itachi!" Konan brought the sheets to cover herself, Pein sitting next toher and panicking as the Uchiha did nothing but stare. "B-babe, I can explain, Pein and I were just-"

"Save it." Itachi said calmly, "I didn't want to do anything at first, but I guess I am one to hold grudges."

"Itachi, I'm sorry." Konan cried, tears falling down her cheeks, she cupped her hand over her mouth.

Itachi shook his head, "I'm the one that should be sorry."

"What?" Both Pein and Konan asked.

"Konan, I'm sorry, but as it turns out, I'm a lot more scarier than my dad," Itachi said as he lifted his end of the rope. Pein and Konan followed the rope, slowly noticing it wrapped around the feet of the bed and unto their pillow.

"Itachi?" Pein asked, "What are you.." Itachi lit the rope and threw it inside as it ignited. "Itachi, wait, no!"

"Have fun." Itachi watched as the rope was fast to ignite and the fire sped towards the bed, Konan and Pein quick to roll off of it before the flames took over the bed. Scared, they both ran to the door where Itachi was, but the emotionless Uchiha only closed the door before they could reach it, locking them in the now fiery room as the flames from the bed reached the carpet.

"Itachi!" Konan's shrieks echoed in his ears, though Itachi was too mad to feel anything else but disgust for them. Quickly, he wiped the tears that gave no notice and began walking away, it was barely three in the morning, nobody would be up at this hour to see him walk off from the room in flames. As this was a cheap motel, he doubted the cameras were even working and if they were, he couldn't care any less.

Taking deep breaths, Itachi stopped to compose himself before reaching the car where Sasuke, Naruto and Sai waited.

"You said you'd be out in a bit." Sasuke compained. "We found Sai, by the way." He threw a thumb over his shoulder where Sai stood by the car, Naruto standing next to him as they were engaged in conversation. "Where's Konan and Pein?"

"They're staying behind to make sure no one's following us." Itachi lied, walking over to the driver's seat as Sasuke shrugged and opened the door to the passenger seat.

"Will they be joining us?" He asked, watching his brother start driving towards the exit.

"Yeah, tomorrow they'll meet us." Itachi responded, looking both sides before driving away. "Or they might stay behind, who knows?"