So it would seem like I have a little mini rotation going on with my stories here as of late. It doesn't follow a particular order - it's just a matter of knowing what I'm doing and how fast I can accomplish it. Since the chapters for this story are short and I haven't updated it in a while, it was the first on my list. So this morning I sat down, brainstormed some ideas and cranked out a chapter. (The only sad part is that I didn't get to upload it until now :( But oh well! Here I am now, and here is chapter 30 (yay!) of Parallel Lines. Enjoy~ ;)

When your roommate tells you that you'll have the apartment to yourself for a full month, your first thought is to go crazy and do all the things you couldn't do when your roommate was around like walk through the place butt naked all day, invite friends over, order pizza every night, eat on the couch, watch endless hours of the show your roommate hates, talk to yourself, let your trash sit around for a few days before throwing it away and doing pretty much whatever else you wanted to do but couldn't when you were living with another person. Especially when that other person was an antisocial, well-to-do neat freak like Itachi was.

When your roommate was still a stranger to you, however, the rules of the game changes a little bit. You then have the power to wander through all the rooms that were once restricted to you and are free to sell their precious belongings on the internet and disappear before they learn what hit them while they were away.

But not Kisame. At forty-one years old, Kisame was too old to throw wild parties and invite friends over like a teenager whose parents left town for the weekend. That, and he didn't have any friends to invite over. Even if he was younger and still had friends, he respected Itachi too much to trash their shared apartment while he was getting treatment for his cancer. And it was for that reason that he didn't dare enter Itachi's bedroom or touch any of his roommate's belongings while he was gone.

But nobody said there was anything wrong with watching crime scene investigation shows for hours on end on the flat screen TV, clad in only your boxer shorts. He was in the middle of grabbing a drink from the fridge when he heard the tumblers of the front door rotating and clicking, signaling that somebody was trying to break in.

What did he do?! He could've sworn that he locked the door when he came back from work this afternoon, but maybe he didn't? Well, he'd most definitely need to look for another place to live after today…

He couldn't let that happen. He worked too hard to gain Itachi's trust, and he damn sure wasn't going to break it by letting some punk break in while he was away.

"Hello? Anybody home?" A young man asked, pushing open the door. "What the fuck?" He exclaimed when he saw Kisame jump out from behind one of the kitchen cabinets and swing at him.

-8-8-8-

"I said I'm sorry!" Kisame apologized for the millionth time.

Sasuke didn't pay him any mind as he stalked into Itachi's bedroom, muttering "Fucking Itachi and his fucking psycho-ass roommate."

When he re-appeared a few moments later, Kisame blocked his path. "I said I'm sorry! Look kid, can we please start over?"

"Sure." Sasuke smiled and extended his hand to shake Kisame's. "Hi. My name is I'm-going-to-have-a-black-eye-tomorrow-because-of-you. And you are? Oh wait, I don't give a fuck. Introductions over. Goodbye now." He asked and stalked away.

"I thought you were a burglar or something!"

Sasuke scoffed. "Oh yeah, because all burglars have keys to their brother's apartment where they themselves used to live."

Kisame cringed as he thought of logical explanation for his actions that would make Sasuke see that he was sorry. "Listen, I honestly didn't know you were Itachi's brother!"

"Yeah, because Itachi and I look so different."

He was running out of excuses. "Itachi never talks about you. All I know is that you guys weren't talking to each other at the moment. I didn't know that you used to live here or even had a key!"

Sasuke stood poised at the front door, one hand clasped loosely around the handle. "Hey, do me a favor and stay the hell away from me, okay?"

"Wait, where are you going? I said I'm sorry!" Kisame called after him.

"Back to the hospital."

"I said I'm sorry!"

"Yeah, I heard you the last fifty fucking times. It's bad enough that Itachi is letting you sleep in my room; the last thing I want is to be punched in the face when I wake up tomorrow morning." He said and disappeared down the hallway.

Kisame sighed and fell back onto the couch. "And I thought Itachi was bad."

Sorry! Short chapter, I know, but the chapters for this story have never been really long (especially the Kisame) chapters. What's more, this chapter (at 745 words) is far from the shortest (at 400something words) so y'all should be happy (I don't know if The Secret Sal is happy that Kisame punched Sasuke in the face, but hey, someone had to step up to the plate and take one for the team!) The next chapter is set to be an Itachi chapter, and I do not know how long it will take me to get around to updating it. (I seriously need to continue Things Better Left Unsaid and want to work on Shisui's Guide to Being a Wingman unless an idea for chapter 31 strikes me and I feel the overwhelming need to sit down and write it) But for now, review and tell me what you thought of the big 3-0~

****To AbsoluteAnarchy: Well...he didn't really get the chance to behave himself before Kisame took a slugger to his face so...does he still get ice cream or no?

Until next time,

Sasori33-001