Hey there how are you guys doing? ;) I've got for you another chapter! :D Although let me say that this is part one of the actual chapter. The other part/parts will be published soon ;) I didn't want to put in as a whole because... well... it's kinda longer then other multichapter stories :p So... um... yeah :D Part two will be published at the end of the week (probably sunday).

Now for the reviews ;)

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DarkAngel90111: Hm will Sasuke be good? That's a good question ;D Seriously, as of now I'm not really sure myself. I mean, I know up till some point but after that, who knows? ;)

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.: No it wasn't Kabuto. Actually the guy who did it was Sakon ( from Sasuke Retrieval Arc; Sakon and Ukon) Though I changed his eye color, that's all :P

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cutsycat: Sasuke's got more to do with it than you think ;)

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black laurel: When I saw your review my first reaction was ROTLF xD I've never seen longer review in my life :P Though I'm really grateful that you liked the last chapter. Hope this one will also be to your tastes ;D

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only4you: Um... I'm not quite sure but... is this where I'm supposed to be scared? ;D

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lawlz: I simply must congratulate you! Your imagination is beyond me, seriously ;D Though the stuff about WH cracked me ;D Next time the black cat will cross my path I'm gonna be ready for the worst ;D

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ItachisCat: As mentioned before, the guy who drugged Naruto was Sakon (you can check it on naruto dot wikia dot com) Though his eyes are black (i think ;P) so don't be too hard on yourself ;D Plus, why do you think Sasuke is evil the moment you saw him? ;P

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Random muffins of DOOM: I'm glad that you like the story ;) About Itachi torturing someone... hm... we might see it coming pretty soon actually ;D I'm happy that you like AU's now, though I must warn you that I am PLANNING to put something that may seem a little 'supernatural'. Albeit it will still be on realistic bases (something scientific ;P)

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One more thing ;D For the first time I came up with a title for this chapter :D Though more like the title came to me on its own but whatever ;P You may be confused about the hours that will pop up here and then, but that's basically because of the title. 'How much time will pass before Naruto wakes up?' that kind of feeling if you get my meaning :P

With nothing else to say, please enjoy the story ;)


Previously on Black Guardian:

The bodyguard wanted to hit himself. He wasn't doing his job very well. Had Kiba not been there, it would have been easy for someone to snatch up the blonde while he was unconscious in the bathroom. The whole thing might have been planned. It was a good setting, after all. It was easy to make mischief in big crowds.

Then Itachi did hit himself.

"Oh, fuck."

It was a set-up! The man in grey, Naruto being drugged, it all made sense. And the people targeting the teen were no doubt planning to take him in his weak state, when he would go to the bathroom to recover from feeling ill. Then, once he was alone and unguarded, they would kidnap him and that would be it. And now, they were right in the place where the abduction would supposedly have taken place. While they were sitting ducks and he wasn't doing anything about it.

"Itachi...?"

"I'm so stupid!" he exclaimed, gathering Naruto in his arms and standing up.

"What's wrong now?"

"We need to get out of here. We're going back h-" Uchiha cut himself off mid-sentence. He had been about to say "home," which certainly was not what the large house was to him. "Hurry." Kiba nodded, disregarding the oddity because of the tense situation.

"Open the door," The raven curtly said to the brunette. In any other situation, he would have told him off for being rude and refused. But, since his best friend was drugged and unconscious and they were all near the people who wanted to abduct Naruto, Kiba hastily decided to comply. That is until he heard the sound of glass being shattered.

Both man turned around to see the same man in grey Itachi saw earlier. The raven cursed his luck because with the unconscious principle in his arms, there wasn't really much he could do. Though he knew what they should do. And that was to get the hell out of here.

"Kiba!" The Uchiha called and for some completely unexplained reason, the brunette knew what the bodyguard wanted to do. Without hesitating he opened the front door widely. Itachi slowly took a few steps back, still facing the man that was grinning widely, before his back hit something. He quickly turned around out of instincts and came face to face with the mirror image of himself. Charcoal eyes widened as he murmured one particular name.

"Sa…suke?"


~~"Countown- part 1"~~

20:20 pm

The onyx eyes were looking upward at the older version of himself in complete shock.

"A…Aniki?" Sasuke managed to utter the words from his constricted throat. Though there was no time to answer because Kiba bumped into the bodyguard, waking him back to reality.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here?" The shock only lasted a moment, as the brunette was in a big hurry. He wasn't about to let the teen get in his way. So Kiba quickly brushed past him all the while opening and digging through his pocket for his cell phone. He was one of the very few people to have the White House's personal number on speed dial. After pressing the number six, he smashed another button and held the phone to his ear.

Once Kiba had passed the ravens, Itachi had obviously come to face the man in grey. The bodyguard was suddenly confronted by two conflicting emotions. One was anxiety, bordering on simple worry for the boy in his arms. The other was anger, with a little confusion mixed in.

Besides feelings, two courses of action occurred to him. He could keep walking out of the theatre and continue to get Naruto to a safe place, doing his job. He could also let out his anger by violently getting information from the male facing him, throwing all chivalry and respect for the man aside. Technically, that would also be considered as doing his job. But Uchiha couldn't just pin the stranger against a wall and mimic his performance from restaurant toilet as his hands were quite full.

The obvious thing to do would be to get Naruto out of there, but that would mean the man would get away. And while he didn't have proof he was involved in the scheme, his hunch was strong enough to act on. Or so he believed. He couldn't do both, and the fact made him want to explode.

Even worse, a commotion had begun around him. The blond had obviously been recognized by someone, and word had gotten round in the crowd that the president's son was both unconscious and among them. A congregation of curious moviegoers began to form, and it quickly became a pushy crowd fighting to see the scene. Kiba was nowhere to be seen, Sasuke was right next to the door with a confused expression and Itachi was almost cornered by a mass of young people. Not to mention the man who was the subject of his anger was right in front of him. What security the place had was trying to tame the crowd, but to no avail.

With an angry grunt, the bodyguard turned and rammed into the crowd, trying to make it to the theatre's exit. He had to fight his way through the crowd, whose members were like leeches; each person he passed almost latched onto him. He wasn't sure why anyone would do such a thing, but he didn't like it. And he wasn't about to be defeated by a mob of mostly teenagers.

But before he could reach the glass double doors, the stranger has rushed past him and began to flee the scene. Itachi wanted so badly to bolt after him and drag him back with him for an interrogation. Things had not been going well for him. Not well at all... that is, until flashing lights and sirens skidded around both corners of the building, surrounding the area.

Police poured from the cars and paramedics from the ambulances. Obviously, Minato, as an over-protective father and powerful man, had sent an army of law enforcers and doctors to his distressed son. Itachi saw the opportunity to get both things he wanted done, and immediately took it.

"Get that man!" He roared, gesturing to the fleeing male as well as he could.

"He's the one responsible for this, arrest him!" Uchiha knew he was exaggerating, and bending the truth just a little, but it would get him in their custody anyway. He made a mental note to thank Kiba for calling the squad, despite the size of it being a little too overwhelming. It was clear that he had made the call; the frantic voice of Minato's son's best friend would summon such a force much easier than any other voice.

A handful of police officers promptly took chase after the running man, though the bodyguard couldn't tell if they were having any success. He was too busy dealing with the pushy paramedics surrounding him. They kept asking him questions, all at once, and he couldn't understand any of them. He was already stressed, and really didn't want to put up with the people vying for his attention.

Their general, shared urging was to get the president's son into one of the three ambulances. He decided that their questions could be answered later, pushing his way through the small mob. The doctors followed him as he quickly climbed into the vehicle, allowing them to inspect the blond and do their job while still doing his. Itachi remained, kneeling over Naruto, by his side as the paramedics finally got answers from him. They were short and concise, spoken monotonously from the man with a furrowed brow.

Had he been more alert and attentive to his conscious, Itachi would have realized that he'd never felt more on edge, never felt more frantic in his life than he did right then and there. Perhaps this was a good thing, and the realization would, no doubt, both disturb and frighten him. And that within itself was a hard thing to do.

"What's wrong with the Usuratonkachi?" the sudden voice made the raven's head shot up and look at the person which, without a shadow of a doubt, was his younger brother.

"He's been drugged." Sasuke's face showed a little surprised expression. And just as the teen was about to say something Itachi cut him off.

"I'm sorry but I don't have the time to talk with you right now." And with that he nodded to paramedics who closed the door. Sirens were on and the ambulance drove away, accompanied by a dozen of police cars.

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20:37 pm

The ride to the closest hospital was short, though the minutes were hours for one particular Uchiha Itachi. When the vehicle screeched to a halt and the doors were flung open, he actually jumped. And although the man was dazed and not quite in touch with the real world, instincts provoked him to protect his principal. It took much urging from several hospital employees to get him to release his hold on the boy, and he was promptly taken away into the building. The bodyguard followed closely, refusing to be separated from the blonde on the moving stretcher.

The raven was still rather out of it through the process of Naruto getting settled. He hadn't expected him to need to get settled at all. He hadn't thought it was so serious, hadn't thought there was a need to go to the hospital at all. The blond would go back home, and be watched over by some personal doctor in his room, resting comfortably on his bed. Instead, he was now lying on a small, white bed. At least they hadn't changed his clothes; a traditional cheap, paper-like robe didn't really suit the teen. Now the suit he'd recently bought, that was a different story...

Itachi was surrounded by bustling doctors, no doubt poking and prodding him excessively. He saw blood samples being taken out of the room, and he hoped they would identify what had been put in his veins. The only reassurance he had was the fact that they had the grey-haired man in custody, and a well-drawn profile of the man who had drugged Naruto, courtesy of Kiba. But it wasn't much assurance to him, because the situation was graver than expected.

It was determined that the drugged blond was in a more critical state than previously thought. Whatever it was that had brought him into unconsciousness was powerful enough to have kept him there for a while. The clock on the wall told Itachi that he'd been out for about an hour. And they were still trying to find out what was wrong. His frustration was barely being contained, watching the professionals rushing about the room.

He was the only person in the room besides Naruto who was not a doctor, and was sitting on a small chair in a corner. No one else had been allowed in. Technically, he wasn't supposed to be there, either. A few nasty threats and assertions of authority, along with a firm statement about his job given by the president, got the bodyguard into the room. He wouldn't become friends with any of the medical personnel at the facility that was certain.

This is ridiculous, he thought. All I can do is sit here and wait. I hate waiting.

None of the recent events had boosted Itachi's confidence in his abilities. If anything, he felt like he was losing his touch. It wasn't supposed to be a tough job. And yet he was already failing.

I... really suck. The raven sighed, annoyed with himself. He folded his arms across his chest angrily and glared at the white floor tiles.

Just a little more trouble and I can say that I fail at life. It's just... ridiculous. Were the tiles under his intense gaze alive, they'd be scared out of their wits.

Regardless of how the bodyguard felt, the doctors kept working, the clock kept ticking, and cerulean eyes kept shut.

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23:48 pm

It had been a while since the bustling in Naruto's room had calmed down. They knew that he'd been injected with a whole lot of something, but wasn't in any immediate danger of dying or anything too dreadful. Less people were there, now, and the few (three that is) were quietly working on identifying the drug in the teen's body. The doctors had informed him, after he'd basically demanded answers, that there wasn't much they could do at the moment, save for make him as comfortable as possible.

Itachi mused rather bitterly that he might get better soon without so much being done to him; maybe if they'd just stop running tests and sticking needles into the tanned body all the time he'd come back to the world of the living.

And he didn't understand why they had to be crowded around him to classify the drug. They had trillions of samples of everything; there was no need to hover over the boy for such a long time. What else did they need from him? Surely just looking at his principle wouldn't solve any problems. Which is what they were currently doing, scribbling on notepads.

Such a ruckus over such a small deal, he thought. The floor tiles were relieved that the man had transferred his angry glare to the men in white coats.

I understand the testing and all... but what the hell could they possibly need so many hours later? ...Idiots. He added as an afterthought.

If he didn't know any better, the bodyguard would've sworn they were trying to make Naruto's state worse than it already was.

00:36 am

Two doctors. That how many were currently in the room.

One of the men in white coats had left for some unknown reason to Itachi, but he wasn't going to complain. He was really starting to believe the people were doing more harm than good. Purely on impulse, he broke the silence by speaking out with a very irritated voice.

"Are you people quite finished yet, or do you intend to poke him to death?"

The two left turned to him in shock, disbelief written on their faces. He only glared at the doctors, trying to be as intimidating as possible.

"Well? You don't look like you're making any progress." He spoke again, lowering his voice for an octave.

"We're... just doing our job, sir," One replied both cautiously and professionally. They seemed to have remembered how scary the bodyguard had been when Naruto had first arrived.

"And I'm doing mine. I believe it is in Mr. Namikaze's best interest if you leave him alone now."

"Well," began the other doctor, "that is not necessarily true-"

"Just give it a rest already! God, you people are so annoying." Itachi said quickly, not giving the others a chance to speak.

"And don't even try to pull the doctor authority thing on me, I have a signed contract with the President of the United States saying that I'm responsible for that boy there, and I say you need to back off."

This continued on for a while, only saying the same thing a little differently each time. Uchiha told the doctors to get out, they refused. Lather, rinse, and repeat.

00:44 am

Finally, they had left. Itachi fought back a childish urge to make a face at their retreating backs. He credited himself for getting them out of the room, though somewhere inside of his mind he knew that they'd left of their own free will.

A few moments after the door had closed, the raven's gaze turned to Naruto's still form. It made him frown. He really wasn't used to him being still and quiet. It was quite unnerving.

00:46 am

Still frowning. The frown wasn't completely directed at the blonde, but rather at the situation. Anyone would be troubled in this circumstance, naturally. Itachi was just... extremely troubled. A small part of his frown was for Naruto, him being upset with the teen for being in his current state so long. It wasn't like him, and he didn't like it. Thus, he blamed his principle for just lying there and not getting up. Because, obviously, it was his fault; he could just get up and they could leave, but no. He had to be unconscious. Such a nuisance!

00:48 am

Still frowning.

The frown held through Itachi's sigh as he stood up from the small chair. He easily picked the chair up with one hand, and strode across the room to Naruto's bedside. Shooting him a quick glare, he put the object down and plopped back into it. His back was facing the wall that the blonde's back, or rather his head was facing, and his chair was parallel to the place he lay.

Only inches from the bed, Uchiha could easily reach him. Feeling childish again, he stuck out a hand and put it in front of the tanned face. He waved it around, like he was expecting him to come to just from the small gesture. When nothing happened, he gave his hand one more shake before returning it to his lap, and sitting there in silence.

00:50 am

"Are you there?" he asked the blond futilely, pretending that he expected an answer, and glaring when he denied him one. Itachi pretended that he wasn't being immature and more out of character than usual. Usually, he'd sit in silence and wait like the unsocial, uptight person he was. Now he was acting like a kid, being mean to an unconscious person, but no one had to know that. Maybe it was the atmosphere in the hospital, or maybe something else. All in all he just couldn't keep it quiet.

The reason he had started to blame Naruto for the situation was not because he actually believed he was at fault, but because he really couldn't take anymore of his own self-bashing. He had berated himself so excessively that he'd run out of ideas of how to do it. He'd recalled his mistakes, criticized himself for them, criticized himself as a person in general, doubted his abilities, doubted he would keep the job (surely the president would fire him), and doubted pretty much everything he could think of. And then, he criticized more. Lather, rinse, and repeat.

But he really couldn't force himself to be angry at the blond. He tried, but to no avail. Itachi couldn't harbor any negative feelings for someone who was a victim of another attempted abduction, which he believed he could have prevented. Should have prevented.

But feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to help Naruto, so the raven tried to think of something else.

Usually an expert at droning noises out to focus concisely on specific things for his job, the man was very frustrated when he could not block out the steady beeping noise of the blonde's heart monitor; which was currently the only thing breaking the silence in the room. The beeps were slow, and their laziness was quite contradictory to their owner's disposition. It reminded him of the situation, and thus prevented him from more cheerful thoughts. His current thoughts, depressing ones of his failures as a bodyguard, had been inside of his tired mind for far too long.

Then, a new thought struck him. Or rather, a question for him to answer. Itachi had briefly pondered it before, but never given it too much time in his head to marinate. It had occurred to him now because of his previous train of thought, recalling the most recent events. Kiba had asked him why someone would want to hurt his friend, and he honestly didn't know.

But the bodyguard wondered could he give the brunette an answer to his question if he thought hard enough? And even more importantly, he wondered if he could answer the question for himself. A question that might hold the key to permanently ensuring the boy's safety.

Why did someone want to have Naruto in their possession so much?

And then there was of course the case of Sasuke, his supposedly dead younger brother. What was he doing there? Obviously the answer for that question was quite simple. Probably the same thing they were supposed to do. Although there was one thing that distracted him for a while. How was it even possible for him to be there? He died during the fire twelve years ago. Not being able to come up with an answer on this one, he decided to think about the previous question.

The most obvious answer would involve Naruto's father, the president. Surely, taking Minato's beloved son hostage could get any kidnapper nearly anything he or she wanted; anything that was in the president's power to give. Money, most likely. It was typical-take something important away from a wealthy person, and demand money in exchange for that something's return.

There were alternative motives, of course. Maybe some psycho got a kick out of manipulating, perhaps even mentally torturing, the most powerful man in the United States. Or, following that train of thought, someone not-psycho could want to disorient the president in order to make the country weak. Could there be some terrorist organization just waiting for the president to slip up? It was another possible reason to abduct the president's only child. But if said terrorists knew anything about the country's government, they'd know that Minato would hand over his duties to the vice-president. That would most likely eliminate a terrorist group as a suspect, and a coup-d'état as a motive.

Were Itachi not so worn down, his mind might have thought of other reasons for the recent events. But he did manage to come up with one more. One that didn't involve Naruto being the president's son, but involving him as a normal young man.

As rare as they might be, Uchiha couldn't quite rule out a stalker as a suspect. But if he did have a stalker, then it was a very smart one. One that could plan, and execute their plans well. Itachi was excellent at his job, and he was still having trouble doing what he was supposed to do.

And it would have to be a rich stalker. One that could afford to hire multiple agents to abduct the teen, and one that could get a hold of the disturbingly powerful drug flowing through Naruto's veins. Unless he made it himself. That thought nearly made him shudder. The image of a dark room with a crazed man mixing chemicals appeared in his mind. A man who wasn't very hygienic, and who put no effort into not looking creepy. Itachi imagined the man being not-so-muscular, but still having the feeling of fatality surrounding him. He saw sharp facial features, sharp like the hidden knife that was strapped to his side. The stalker had dark hair, eyes, clothes, and even a dark living space.

A mad man with a dark life wouldn't be an unusual candidate for a stalker. The raven could easily see a grungy, lonely man/woman deciding to stalk a young boy. And try as he might, the bodyguard couldn't deny that Naruto was attractive. He had an air of innocence around him, and a sunny personality. Just the kind of person a stalker would love to corrupt.

That idea did manage to make him shudder. Only a little, but he still flinched. He didn't like the thought of some evil person snatching the blond away and doing... bad things to him. Itachi certainly didn't want to think of those things. That boy sure could rile him up to the ends of the earth, but no one deserved that.

But oh, how he could irritate him. It was so frustrating. He did the same to him, of course. From the first moment when they had met outside the 'cinema room' surrounded by the little Secret Service friends to the moment when he snapped at him in the movie theatre, he'd always managed to annoy him. Itachi briefly wondered what said friends were doing at the moment. Were they at the hospital too, or were they still at Naruto's house? Truthfully, he didn't care. He was just a curious man.

Eventually, the bodyguard came up with a new way to pass the time. He could think of ways to get on the boy's nerves. Unconsciously, he did it to assure himself that the blond would be fine and things would go back to normal when he wakes up, as he needed some serious reassurance at the moment.

He could make fun of him being so troublesome, or childish. That would always work. And he was loud, too. And he seemed to be very sensitive about people teasing him about his unique hair color for a Japanese. He would laugh at him about that when the boy wake up. Because he would wake up, right? A very large overdose of a sedative wasn't enough to bring down the energetic bundle of sunshine. Or at least that's what Itachi kept telling himself. He hadn't heard of any drug that could have this effect on a person for so long, and not knowing things set the bodyguard on edge. He was used to knowing everything. The raven spared the still boy a glance, only inclining his head the slightest bit. If he didn't know better, the bodyguard would have sworn that Naruto's eyes had fluttered for a split second.


So... um... liked the part one? In this I decided to put Itachi's thoughts about Naruto. I mean lots and lots of thoughts. Part two will have Kiba's thoughts and Deidara will be talking about their pasts ;) Look forward to it ;) And thank you for all the support up until now ;D