Ｐａｒａｄｉｓｅ

XIV

"Itachi, you really shouldn't be smoking that much." Sasuke was worried, not because Itachi was smoking; he'd seen his brother smoke only once, but he was worried about just how much he was smoking. It had been two days now since Itachi refused to come out of the hotel room, and barely now was Sasuke seeing the mess his brother truly was becoming. Sai even told him, but Sasuke never thought it'd be like this, he figured Itachi was just sulking like he usually did when Konan and him fought. "Itachi, are we going to keep going? I can drive if you want."

Itachi sneered towards his brother, noticing the worried look of concern Sasuke's eyes projected. Even Naruto, who stood behind his little brother with Sai, looked equally concerned. "Get ready, then. I'll be back." That was all Itachi said as he closed his room door and walked over towards the steps, walking down and walking to who knows where.

"I think this time they broke up for real, maybe?" Sasuke guessed, turning towards the two behind him. "Well, I guess we should get ready." Sai and Naruto nodded, Sai leaving to grab his stuff from Itachi's room. "Naruto."

Naruto smiled and walked closer to Sasuke, his arms around the dark haired boy and smiling seductively as they inched closer. "Think we have enough time?" Placing a kiss on Sasuke's bottom lip, the two swayed to their room.

---

Itachi never much cared for drinking, nor did he ever think about how other people looked at him as he downed shot after shot from the generous man sitting next to him. He had walked in with the intention of drowning his sorrows and forget what he had done, but now, now he was just a drunk, emotional, and slightly aroused by the unknown man who had offered him drinks. It didn't take much for Itachi to agree to follow him towards the back, where the man was unexpectedly pushed against the wall by a desperate Itachi.

Forgetting about going back to his brother and the others, Itachi let loose and dragged the man to the private rooms in the back, letting the man have his fun with him before Itachi took his turn aggressively tending to his needs. Konan and Pein were but a single thought now, almost a distant memory, it seemed. Who were they again? Why did they matter? Itachi decided he didn't care who they were or why they mattered. He didn't care a heavy feeling of guilt took over him as he cried out in pain, he didn't. His tears may have been for the feeling, or they couldn't have. For all he knew, he was crying from the pleasure of being handled so roughly. This for him was punishment, a very divine, disgustingly atrocious punishment.

---

"He's not coming back, is he?" Sai asked, giving up on leaning against the car and opening the door to sit on the car seat. Naruto sighed, slowly walking to join Sai on the other seat, leaving the doors open. Sasuke coughed, checking Itachi's phone in his hand. It had been exactly four hours ago since Itachi had left to who knows where, and it was irritating him; Itachi was usually always punctual.

"I'll go look around for him." Sasuke decided, throwing the phone towards Sai. "You guys stay here, I'll be back in a bit."

Sai nodded. "We'll go back to the room, it's getting hot out here." Naruto complained about walking back upstairs, and Sai only laughed for the reason Naruto couldn't even walk properly. "Like I said, we'll be upstairs. Naruto, I'll see you later, don't take long on your way up." He laughed, jumping out of the car before Naruto could reach and punch him for making fun of the way he walked.

Sasuke grinned, throwing a wink towards the blond and receiving a sheepish smile back. "I'll be back." He said once again. "Don't hurt yourself on the way up." He laughed, walking away quickly and ignoring the threats from the embarrassed blond.

Walking around, Sasuke decided to check the nearby plaza. If Itachi was smoking pack after pack, it'd make sense he'd run out and head out to buy more. Looking around, Sasuke caught sight of a smoke shop and walked in, checking to adjust his dark glasses before turning to the man. Describing Itachi's appearance to the older man, Sasuke learned his brother had indeed been there.

"Check the pub, that's where he headed." The white haired man suggested. "Boy looked a mess."

Thanking him, Sasuke walked out and looked around, checking the names of the stores around him and finally setting his eyes on a black windowed buiding with neon lights decorating the edges. Sighing, he walked towards it, wondering if they checked for ID. He was close to it now, almost a good twenty feet away from the doors. "H-hey, sorry, can I ask if there's someone I know inside?" He shouted as a man walked out.

"Sure kid, make it quick." The man responded, hearing the description Sasuke described of Itachi and nodding. "Yeah, headed out a while ago with some dude. Haven't seen him come back." Thanking the man, Sasuke ran a hand through his head and sighed, wondering where else his brother could be. He paced back and forth, thinking if he should just wait back with Naruto and Sai, maybe the man had helped Itachi back to the hotel? No, men walking out with you from a bar aren't that nice. Hearing a clash of tin followed by grumbling, Sasuke stopped pacing around and looked at the small alley between the bar and the store next to it.

Stepping slowly forwards, Sasuke lifted his glasses to see clearly and was almost appalled to see his brother leaning against the concrete wall with a few bills scattered around him. Rushing to help, Sasuke also noticed his brother was very drunk and disoriented. "Itachi." He called out, slipping his hand behind his brother's back and helping him up. It was a hard task, so he let his brother down and rushed to the store next door. "I need to borrow your phone." He blurted towards the young lady sitting behind the counter reading a fashion magazine.

Looking up from her magazine to the boy, the girl yawned and pointed to the phone hanging on the wall. Rather old fashioned, but Sasuke took it and dialed Itachi's phone, hoping Sai had it at full volume. "Found him?" Sai answered, clearing his throat.

"Can you guys drive over to the bar across the street? He's a mess, I can't walk him over there." Sasuke asked, wiping small beads of sweat from his face.

"Sure, we'll be there in a sec."

Hanging up, Sasuke looked back towards the girl and nodded. "Thanks...Tenten." He said, looking at the name tag on the girl's shirt.

"Sure." She replied, uninterested as Sasuke walked back out.

He waited next to Itachi, wondering what had happened to him for him to get like this and why there was money in his clothes. "Itachi, you better not have done shit." He said under his breath as he helped Itachi to the sidewalk, sitting him down and letting his brother lean against his leg.

Itachi frowned, telling Sasuke to keep his mouth shut and to lend him his glasses since the sun was blinding him. Sasuke shook his head, looking down at his brother and sighing of relief when he saw the car near.

"Woah, talk about a mess." Sai observed, getting out from the passenger seat to help Itachi into the back seat. "You want to drive with him looking like this? He stinks."

"Shut the fuck up, you shit." Itachi slurred, slowly dragging himself on the seat. "Just fucking drive and don't stop until I say so."

Naruto got out from the car, wiping the sweat off his face as the sun beamed down on them. "Sasuke, you're driving." He slowly made his way to the back, sitting next to Itachi while Sai climbed back into the passenger seat. Sasuke scratched the back of his head and nodded, having no other choice but to climb into the car and drive off.

He really wondered what had happened.