Yo! It's saturday and it's me again! ;D I have few thing to tell you but first of all... DID YOU SEE IT?! :D The last episode I mean! OMFG chibi Itachi was just so... so... ADORABLE! xD I was expecting a boring episode with only Oro and Sasuke fighting, but seriously, practically the whole 24 minutes I was bouncing up and down in my chair chanting 'Tachi, 'Tachi, 'Tachi' in my head xD But really now! I missed him so much! ;( Of course he's in the manga but seeing the moving and talking thing is always better ;D I'm helplessly in love with that voice and those eyes :P Really, why the hell Sasuke's sharingan doesn't make me feel the same way? Dunno that one :P But! *bows low to Itachi's voice actor xD*
So, now for the serious stuff. You will hate me for for two reasons. First: As some of you (black laurel and RmfD) may know, I'm going out for a little vacation. Since my workplace is being renovated (?) and I have two free weeks I would be utterly stupid to pass that one up! So I called my Aunt (well, she's actually a landlady but since I've beed going there every year for almost 10 years she's more like a family :P) and booked a house for us (me and the 3 other friends) ;D This time it's for real ;)The second reason... well, you'll figure it out once you read the chapter (especially the end :P)
About the challenges/requests: If you have one please inform me only via PM for the next two weeks at least. It's easier to read mails on my phone. I accepted FoxxyWeasel, black laurel and RmfD ones, but I can pretty much guess that at least one of them will be finished during my trip (it's 9 hours bus ride -.-) I even prepared five blank documents on in case I'd like to post it ;D (yeah, my phone is that awesome ;P) Joking, joking; auntie has an old PC :P
Oh! And if you were wondering about the 'Elevator Interview' fic; I deleted it xD Not purposefully, of course. I tried to delete 'A promise of a lifetime' because when I'll be back here, I'm gonna post the re-written version (finally!) ;) And since I tried to get rid of it in a half-asleep state, in a hurry and since they were next to each other it just happened. I will upload it again, but for now I want to focus on those one-shots ;D
Now, to the reviews, shall we ;D
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RmfD: Muahaha I love putting those small references to the canon world ;D I had this line for quite some time in my head and now was the good oportunity to use it! Glad your faith has beed restored! ;D And that it made you laugh ;)
Your leading... hm, hate to break it to you, but it's neither of it; for now at least ;) I guess what I'm about to do with this fic will shock and rock you to the core! xD How awesome would that be? ;D You're reading, reading and then, when the time comes your jaws will drop with a loud 'thud' on the floor xD Ok, sorry, that was my off-topic little wishfull thinking here :P
I figured you would say the torutre scene ;) You were really hyped-up about it, from what I remember ;D
You really didn't know about chocolates with alcohol? O_o They're not really that good :P I mean, some of them are, sure, but basically it's... plain ;P (but! I got the idea for the fic with them ;D)
Oh! And I'm still waiting for your answer to my PM about the challenge! :P
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black laurel: Yo nee~~-chan! ;D Long time no see ;P I apologized for the 'blue' thing so it's ok now :P *checks the pen name to make sure she wrote it right this time* Ok! Let's get on ;D
"And again! It's NOT Madara!"
...Damn. But then...
...I really need to go read that part over again... Eh." Well, it may be confusing, but I have faith in you! I'm sure you will figure it out my brilliant sister! xD
"Well, it is rather cliche, don't you think? I mean, Red dawn... That sounds like a rather lame group of criminals. What was Kishimoto thinking... :P" That made me laugh so bad ;D Well, sure, 'Akatsuki' sounds more cool and all, but since it's US I decided to post the 'english version' ;P
"I'm not too suprised... Itachi's not excatly the most stable of all individuals, now is he..." Amen.
"I had to take a break from reading at this point. All sorts of warning signals were blaring in my head... That's actually not a bad thing. There are many good piece's of literature that have made me take a break or two while reading them. My record in fanfiction so far has been one week to get trough one chapter. Seriously. :P" It's not like I'm mad or anything ;) Old habits die hard :P Though I AM wondering what excatly those 'warning signals' mean :P Oh and one more question... how long was that chapter you were reading a whole week? xD
"Thank God! (Or in this case, Kiba.)" "Thank God! (Or Hidan. Whatever.)" That broke whatever was left of my rational thinking and I laughed my ass off... at 2 am xD Mom wasn't too happy :P Oh, the wrath *shudders* ;D
"
...Am I enjoying this a bit too much?" I don't know... are you? ;D
"..But Itachi can still rip his spine out." Do you want to see Itachi ripping someone's spine THAT BAD? xD (you pointed it TWICE ;D) You know it can be arranged :P
As for the request... we discussed it already so yeah :P Will see what I can do with it ;D
Oh and to be precise, your review has 1559 words- checked it in Ms Office ;D
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Yokura: Oh something IS going to happen and soon too! But I'm not sure if you're all ready for it ;D
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I'm sorry for not replying to more reviews but I have a bus that leaves in an 1h 30 min and I need to get to the bus station that's on the other side of the city xD (Go me! ;D)
So, without further ado, enjoy the chapter ;)
Previously on Black Guardian:
"Ah, so you do fuckin' know who he is. Well then, you should know one thing; he's way out of your league."
"That's what you say."
"I'm serious. That 'guy' you're talking about doesn't like you, and he's fuckin' dangerous. Steer clear of Itachi, if you want to stay in one piece, dude. He really, really doesn't like you. And it's best to stay away from a man when his blood is up." Hidan advised.
"His blood's always up."
"Then you should stay fuckin' away from him altogether. And that means keeping away from Naruto."
"We'll see about that."
~~Birthday part five~~
Itachi stormed over to his stool, sat down, banged his fists on the bar, and then dropped his head onto the wood. It hurt, and the raven grumbled quite angrily and rather loudly for grumbling. He didn't look back at the arguing men, because he wanted the whole situation out of his mind. He hated that guy! Why were people all around Uchiha making his life miserable? There were the guys trying to abduct Naruto, and now this waiter. The bodyguard was going to lose it.
"Damn it!" He cursed into the wood. "There are so many people to deal with! I'll have to start carrying around the list to keep track of them all!"
He sat there, like that, forehead against the wood that smelled of cigarette and alcohol. Itachi managed to not bang his head against it again and again, as tempting as it was. He was pulled from his self-pity by a familiar voice.
"Hey there, 'Tachi." Hidan's voice, which was strangely soft, came. He approached the crestfallen man with his head on the bar and put a hand on his shoulder. Uchiha looked up to see his sympathetic smile, though he didn't know why he wore it.
"What do you want?" He snapped, but the 'whitey' ignored it.
"Naru-chan's way out of his league, dude. Don't worry about that prick." The man frowned at him, angry that he might be suggesting something.
"Why should I care?"
"I'm just saying." Hidan knew how it felt, the worst feeling of all. There were several types, and the most terrible was unrequited. Itachi may not be completely there yet, but he was heading that way. It's not like Naruto didn't care about him, but if it were to happen, it would take time. This man was almost there, now. He had seen it just a little while ago.
"And Naru-chan's a smart boy; he wouldn't do anything stupid with him."
"Like I said, why–"
"I'm just fuckin' saying..."
"Right. You can go now." The raven tried to dismiss him with a wave of his hand. "Go make sure he's not doing anything too provocative; his father will fire me if he goes off with that ass. That boy is acting much too carelessly, flinging himself all over the place and letting that bastard touch him and–"
"I'm sure he has a fuckin' perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this."
"Good. Can't wait to hear it." Hidan sighed, though he almost laughed. He nearly forgot how hard it was to deal with the fallen man before him.
"Well then, I'll fuckin' leave you to yourself. Gotta go 'cause tomorrow I had to be in the church earlier." Itachi all but looked at his friend in pure bewilderment.
"You're going to church?" He asked shocked out of his socks.
"You've got a fuckin' problem with that?" The raven didn't answer, trying to process the new discovery with his already worn out brain. Hidan took this opportunity to push some sense into the man's skull.
"Look dude, Naru-chan won't be with any other man tonight except you; I'll make sure of it! Oh, and 'Tachi, don't waste too much money to dip your shit in the bourbon, got that?"
"Go away!" That was it; Itachi was through with this man!
"I will. Just make sure you fuckin' keep watching him. I know it's not hard, I mean he is a sexy beast–"
"Hidan… " The raven growled. "… I am going to shoot you–"
"Later!" He skipped off. Uchiha grumbled more, and forced himself not to order three more glasses of alcohol.
"Dear God, why is my job so hard?"
--
Itachi wallowed in his misery for nearly an hour after that before the group decided to call it a night. They took a while to exit the club, and bid each other their farewells. Lee literally ran in the direction of his house, screaming 'youth and sweat' while doing so. The raven and Naruto had just begun to walk to his bike when he sniffed him and made a face.
"Geez, how much did you drink? You're not drunk, are you?"
"I wasn't lying when I said I'm not much of a drinker. I used to be; not that I was a drunkard or anything, please don't get me wrong." It was during the years when he had a different job that the man had turned to alcohol so much. To forget about everything in his life, and everything that was no longer in it.
"That's why my alcohol tolerance is so high. I'm a man, and big, and have further built up how well I can hold my liquor. So don't worry, I'm perfectly fine. I'd be more concerned about your friend over there, if I were you."
"Wha- Chouji!" The teen had wandered away from Shikamaru; or was it the other way around? As far as the blonde remember, the genius, black haired teen suddenly was nowhere in sight. Naruto watched with concern as Akimichi skipped over to them with more energy than usual.
"Naruto, hey~~!" Chouji sang, before beginning to speak very quickly. "You know, that brown-haired guy wants to jump your pants. And did you know that Itachi is really hot? He is. Also, Neji and Tenten are lovers! Did you know?"
"Chouji, where's Shikamaru?" The blonde asked firmly, but his friend only continued to ramble on.
"And I have a girlfriend, too! Ino would be sooooo~~ shocked if she found out. We've been dating for almost two months now! Oh man, can you believe that Neji and Tenten are–"
"CHOUJI! Be quiet! Dear God, how did this happen to him?" Itachi took the moment to contribute to the conversation.
"I think he may have been drinking for the first time and became intoxicated." Cerulean eyes rolled.
"Shut it, Itachi, I know that. But I don't know how, because Shika was with him, and he is responsible. Ugh, if his father finds out I let him get like this, shit will go down. He'll probably find a way to blame it on you, so help me out here."
"Wait, did he just say that Neji a–" Kiba cut in but was cut off by the blonde screaming at his bodyguard.
"Itachi, focus!" The man shook his head at the immaturity surrounding him.
"Alright…" He drawled. "… here's the idea. Call Shikamaru and tell him to take Chouji home." Naruto stared and blinked for a moment, wheels turning in his head.
"...Not bad." The teen said, completely oblivious to the fact, that this was the first thing he would normally do. A little (lot?) doze of alcohol can do that to anyone.
"What can I say? I'm a genius." The blonde rolled his eyes.
"Oh, hush. Just make sure he doesn't wander off while I call him, okay?"
"Whatever you say."
--
After half an hour of confusion over the phone as to where everyone was, Naruto finally got in touch with Shikamaru. Eventually, the latter met up with them with 'I was with Kakuzu' as an apology, which the teen just nodded in response to; too tired to start another argument. It was a common knowledge that his friend and the owner of the club were on good terms; mostly because both of them were geniuses. The blonde really just wanted to go home. He handed over the drunkest in the group to his supposedly responsible friend before he went with the raven to the parking lot across the street, where his bike was parked.
"Wow that was crazy." The teen remarked, breathing deeply to relax himself. "I feel like a mess, all sweaty and messy and gross! I don't look too terrible, do I?"
Maybe I should say something nice; it is a good opportunity. Uchiha didn't know why, but he had the urge to get his principle to really like him. And so, he spoke.
"You look sloppy."
Open mouth, insert foot.
"Itachi… " The boy grumbled, "… you're horrible." Cursing himself mentally, the bodyguard remained silent as they approached his bike. The entire evening had been one wretched experience, and he wanted it to end as soon as possible. The man truly thought his night couldn't get worse.
It did.
They had just reached the machine when the man sensed that something was wrong. Terribly wrong. A deep frown of anger and anxiety crossed his face as he grabbed Naruto by his upper arm and yanked him around to the other side of the motorcycle. He cried out in protest, but Itachi didn't have the time to apologize as the source of his nervousness came into sight.
"Get down." He ordered gruffly, much to the teen's confusion. In an instant his weapon was ready and it was only seconds until he pulled the trigger.
"Wha–"
"Get down!"
Naruto ducked behind the motorcycle, as he heard Itachi fire a single shot out of his gun. He heard a female voice cry out in pain, and made to stand and look in the direction it came from. His bodyguard roughly pushed him back down, and the blond would've yelled at him had he not seen the danger in the charcoal eyes and the gun still aimed to fire. People nearby screamed; panic spread throughout the surrounding crowd across the street outside of the club. The man shooting was visible to them, and all the citizens frantically tried to get in the club for protection or otherwise scatter.
Then something caught Naruto's eye. There was a person with a gun, but Itachi couldn't see him because his back was turned. And he knew who it was; it was the second man who was supposed to 'take over' during the abduction, when he was with Kiba at the carnival. Back then he didn't mention it, because he thought it was irrelevant. It would appear he was wrong. The blonde opened his mouth to warn the raven, but no sound came out. Apparently, the man was more alert than he thought. Without any indication that someone was behind him, the bodyguard sensed that something was amiss and glanced over his shoulder.
"Fuck!"
With lightning reflexes, Itachi whirled around and opened fire. But the man took cover behind a large tree trunk, and Uchiha couldn't leave his principle to go after him. While the young man on the other side of the motorcycle was down, he wasn't dead. There wasn't time for the raven to wipe him out for certain and put Naruto on the fallen woman's side of the vehicle to protect him from the new offender. And so, he used his own body as a shield, crouching on one knee in front of the teen. That way if the woman fired, they were both protected by the bike; as long as it didn't blow up or anything, but they didn't have much of a choice at the moment. She was too injured to get up and approach them, so they were safe from her. This one, however, posed as a deadly threat.
Not as deadly, however, as the second man who entered the scene.
Itachi was occupied with the white-haired man behind the tree, who periodically shot blindly at the pair. An expert shot, Uchiha managed to put two bullets into the man's arm as it reached around the trunk again. He cried out and staggered from his hiding place, and in an instant was on the ground, with a bullet in his head.
It was then that the new presence became apparent to the bodyguard. There was just an instant for him to act, being alerted by Naruto's panicked warning two seconds before the enemy pulled his trigger. No time to tell the blonde to lie flat on the ground, no time to dodge the impending harm. Only time to put himself between the boy and the speeding bullet and fire a shot that might reach its intended target.
With as much speed as he could muster, Itachi swung his arms to the left and fired as many shots as he possibly could before the inevitable collision. The bodyguard managed to get out four bullets before one hit him square in the chest. Naruto screamed, as did the man Uchiha had released his fury upon as he crumpled to the ground. The bodyguard felt the sudden, sharp pain erupt in the center of his torso as the tiny piece of metal struck, cutting off his fifth shot. The raven had kept firing until the enemy bullet had struck him, at which point his body was jerked back by the force. The bodyguard's gun almost left his hand as he fell backwards, groaning loudly when his back slammed against the hard cement.
"ITACHI!"
"Call... the police." He ordered; his voice quiet but firm. "Do it now." The blonde could only panic, and his bodyguard was not happy with it.
Didn't he notice the absence of blood?
"Don't talk, Itachi!"
"I'm... fine, just... just out of breath. Oh, fuck..."
"Oh my God!"
"Call!" Uchiha yelled, and it took a lot out of him. Naruto nodded, and searched through his jeans with shaky hands. Itachi wanted nothing more than to lay down on the asphalt, but he was pretty sure two of the attackers were still alive. He had to catch his breath fast, compose himself, and try to take them out.
No. Uchiha was a man, he didn't need to rest; there was no time. Gritting his teeth, he sat up somewhat and looked around the motorcycle. The woman was unconscious, but not dead. Not yet, at least. Itachi hoped the paramedics would arrive too late to save her. The first man, however, was. As for the second, he was the one who he aimed his gun at. Unable to stand just yet, the bodyguard breathed heavy breaths as he rolled onto his side, laying on the pavement facing the fallen man with four bullets in him. Due to the situation, Itachi's rapid fire hadn't hit the largest man in any fatal places; but the bodyguard had not expected them to. He was surprised any hit him at all; not to mention all four. The fallen stranger had two in his right shoulder, one in his left, and another on his left upper-arm. The raven painfully drew himself up, barely managing to kneel while keeping his gun ready.
Before Itachi could decide whether he should just kill them or wait and let someone else deal with it, the familiar sirens and flashing lights made the decision for him. They had come too fast for Naruto to make a call.
Then who? He thought and grinned lightly when realization, as well as a certain white haired man flashed before his eyes; waving his hand at them. The first vehicles to arrive were those of the police, who were upon the three attackers as soon as they exited the cars. When the ambulances arrived, Itachi hoped they would find more than just the one man he had shot in the head to be dead. He hoped they were all gone.
Once it seemed that all threats were eliminated, Uchiha allowed himself to recognize and deal with his own pain. His gun clattered on the ground as he doubled over, clutching his chest with a groan. The material may have served its purpose in saving his life, but the expensive body armor didn't stop the bullet from slamming into his torso. While the soft bulletproof vest had spread out the shock of the bullet and absorbed the impact all over his chest, instead of right where he was struck, the pain promised an impressive bruise. To think that the man consider leaving it behind. He'd never been shot in the heart before, naturally, or anywhere relatively close to it. Yes, he had been shot before. But he knew how to turn and move his body so that vital organs were saved if avoiding the bullet was impossible. This had been the first time that he had gotten hit in such a place. Regardless, he was still alive.
Naruto was not aware of the fact that he was wearing said protective gear, and was thus freaking out beside him. While Itachi didn't want him to worry so much, he wasn't quite ready to tell the boy otherwise. His breathing was labored now that he had realized his new injury, and the pain had come. It wasn't excruciating, but he would rather not try to speak at the moment. The blonde's nerves could wait; he was not feeling good.
Naruto was promptly removed from his side by a paramedic, the man noticed in the corner of his eye, as they rushed to the pair on the ground. Uchiha could hear his complaints and protests about being taken away from him, and had the bodyguard been feeling better, he would've appreciated it. At the moment, all he could do was glare from lingering anger at the whole situation; especially the people crowding around him; and force out a few words.
"I'm fine." He grunted and looked down at his shirt, which had a hole in it. The man began to unbutton it, eventually revealing a mushroomed bullet on top of his soft body armor. Though they calmed somewhat, the medics still ushered him into their vehicle to check for internal injuries at the hospital. He grumbled various complaints as they helped him to his feet, about how he didn't need any help, how he was fine, etc.
Idiotic people. They should know by now that Uchiha Itachi is invincible. He thought.
Regardless, the man couldn't help but cough a little and wince as he walked, his chest twigging still from the pain. He barely noticed the blonde's presence beside him when he spoke, at which the raven turned his head a little to listen to him. He was rambling on and on about all sorts of things, like his well-being, and wondering how he wasn't bleeding to death, and he really couldn't understand most of it. Itachi noticed that in Naruto's hand, dangling at his side was his gun. Relief washed over the man when he realized he could've just lost it, having forgotten completely about the weapon he had dropped. He would thank him later. For now, he'd just sit and wait until they let him out of this vehicle that Naruto had some trouble climbing into.
During the time it took them to get to the hospital, Uchiha had recovered enough to take out his anger on all of the paramedics, snapping at them when they asked him questions. He'd already said he was fine, what more did they want from him?
Right before he was about to snap, the vehicle stopped and the doors opened. Itachi and his principle were taken into the hospital, and after some time, were thoroughly looked over by doctors. The blonde was finished first, and had gone straight to the room the raven was in afterwards. The man was just putting on his shirt as he entered the room, and when the blonde saw his exposed chest, concern took over his face and he rushed to his side.
"Shit, are you okay? That looks horrible!" And indeed, it did. As Itachi had expected, an impressive bruise was already beginning to form, and the place where the bullet had struck was especially bad. It was red and irritated as well as purple, and would only get worse before healing.
"I'm fine." He assured the teen. "They did x-rays and probed me and said that nothing's wrong." Naruto nodded, but he still looked worried.
"Does it hurt?"
"A little." He sighed, and took a seat on the table-bench thing in the room, whatever it was called. Itachi hadn't really wondered about it before, but now that the boy was examining his bare self closely, he could definitely think about anything else.
A crinkle-paper pad, maybe? Or the new Glock model they're supposed to release next year or... anything! Why did Naruto have to do this to him?
"Are you sure you're okay? It was really scary back there. You did get shot."
"Like I said… " The raven grumbled while buttoning up his shirt as quickly as possible. "I'm fine." The blonde backed off from his place so close to him, and bit his lip.
"You really had me worried there, you know."
"I apologize… I guess." Naruto smiled, and leaned against the thing he was on.
"It's okay. I feel like I should be the one apologizing, though." Uchiha only shrugged in response.
"Do not concern yourself with it."
--
"I managed to grab Karin in all the confusion and drove her back here. She should be okay, she's downstairs with others. But Jugo was taken away, and he was in bad shape."
"What about Suigetsu?"
"...He didn't make it. Bullet in the head."
"You disappoint me, Sasuke-kun. I do not care how you do it, just KILL THAT MAN! At this rate they'll have all of us either dead or in prison! Take him out, or I'll do it myself!"
--
"So… " Naruto began curiously. "… you were wearing a bulletproof vest?"
"Usually do."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Oh." He obviously didn't wear one all the time, but Itachi hadn't said 'always,' he'd said 'usually.' The blonde knew this because of the time when they were on the motorcycle and he had paid attention to his body under his fingers, he assumed the reason it hadn't occurred to him again was because he didn't feel his body there; he felt the vest. And Naruto had thought that he had been able to focus of his own free will! He supposed it could be true, because he never watched him change or get his clothes to change. He always woke up first and went to bed last.
"It's very thin, to remain unnoticeable; I don't usually wear white shirts, to conceal it. I only have one, and it's black. Because it costs so much I can't get more than one. I don't put it on all the time, but most days, yes. It's designed for easy concealment under normal clothing. Very expensive."
"That's... interesting. You know, you always seem to have some trick up your sleeve."
"Yes. That and knives." Uchiha mentally berated himself. Since when was he an awkward teenager showing off for a boy? Since never! This was only further proof that something horrid was wrong with him, and Itachi didn't like it. But that didn't stop him from showing off.
"You have knives up your sleeves?" Naruto asked, effectively impressed.
"Just one." He said, pretending to be aloof. "Left arm. But I have an extra gun and knife at my ankles."
"Holy shit, Itachi! You're like an army in one human!"
"I have all sorts of gadgets." He boasted. "It seems cool, but I only get them because my life is in danger every day. Lots of money is spent on all the stuff I have, so it's not every day that they were passed out by my boss. Still, it pays to have money and a job that requires such tools." The blonde's curiosity was ignited, and his inner-child took over.
"Oh man, that's so sweet! Can you show me some of them? What can they do?"
"Well–"
"BRO!" A loud voice from the open doorway came. "Are you okay? What happened? I saw it on the news! I WAS SO SCARED! It said that–"
"Whoa, Kiba! Calm down!" The teen held up his hands in defense when his friend rushed over to him, eyes wide and breathing heavy from running. "I'm okay, can't you see? Everything's fine."
"Fine? FINE? You could've died!" The brunette friend latched onto Naruto in a tight embrace. "People tried to SHOOT you!"
"But I'm not dead, Kiba. Itachi protected me, and everything was all right."
"Grouchy! My hero!" Kiba promptly released his best friend and gave the unsuspecting man a death-hug.
"Kiba…" the said man wheezed. "… kindly remove yourself from me."
"Ah, sorry." A light bulb seemed to go on in the brunette's head. "Wait a minute, what about you? Are you okay?" Itachi rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I am. Thank you for asking, as I was the one who actually got shot."
"Sarcasm, Itachi." Naruto reprimanded. "Come on; try to get rid of it a little."
"Maybe."
"So, when can you guys leave?" Kiba asked.
"Oh, we can go." The blonde replied. "We were just talking for a bit."
"Talking, eh?" Inuzuka said, moving his eyebrows in a 'wave' manner.
"What are you doi–KIBA!"
"What?"
"You–you... just get out, 'tebayo!" The brunette scurried away, holding back an evil cackle, and Naruto sighed. "Sorry, Itachi. He's just weird." The blonde hopped up onto the thing the raven was on and sat next to him, a little too close for comfort.
"'Tebayo?" Uchiha asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"He does that when he's overly excited or embarrassed!" Came the brunette's voice, seconds later followed by the head that popped out from behind the doors.
"KIBA!" Naruto screamed, completely forgetting for a moment that they were in the hospital. His friend sent them his toothy grin before disappearing once more. Naruto sighed, trying not to blush too much, when he remembered something.
"Oh, I never really thanked you. You pushed me out of the way of a moving car and took a bullet to the chest for me. So... thanks. Forgive me for being so troublesome?"
"Yes." Uchiha murmured, noticing how his position so near to him had the blonde's arm brushing up against his, and he seemed to have no clue as to this close proximity being... inappropriate.
Then, the worst happened.
No! Now was not a good time for the thoughts! And surely the boy would notice, with his heart suddenly beating so fast. It wasn't normal, for attraction to make the organ hammer in his chest like this. Maybe he was sick or something?
Definitely sick. He concluded, finding himself drawn to the young man more than usual. Not that it had become usual, of course.
"Itachi, are you okay? You look kind of off, or something."
"No, I'm..." Not. He was not off. Put off, maybe. Also sick, because he shouldn't have the urge to reach out and touch the tanned face, which was much too close to his. And his mouth was suddenly very alluring; dangerously so. Naruto was a stupid, stupid boy! He had no idea how he was tormenting him! His head dipped down a little of its own accord, and Itachi barely caught himself before anything became too noticeable.
Too late. The blonde had noticed that yes, he was acting a little off. His face wasn't one to look soft, neither were his eyes. Embarrassed, but hiding it well, Uchiha hoped that he wouldn't draw any conclusions. Not that there were any to draw. Still, the teen looked flustered by the awkward encounter and removed himself from his side. Something in the raven lurched after him as he moved, but he remained where he sat.
"Ready to go?" Naruto said with a smile, half-forced. It was still an uncomfortable moment, and he tried his best to remedy the situation.
"Yes." The blonde nodded at response and walked out of the room. The bodyguard stared at the place where he had been standing for a moment, just thinking. So deep in thoughts, he almost missed a familiar female voice echoing from a main hall.
"Prepare operation rooms immediately! Call for all the doctors that are available! What are you doing? Move it!" The blonde woman screamed at her subordinates and every other person that stumble upon her.
"Baa-chan, why are you so angry?" Naruto asked from behind. The woman turned to him, her eyes wide in shock.
"Gaki! You're okay? You're in one piece?" Tsunade asked back, kneeling in front of her godson and looking him over.
"Like I said, Itachi protected me so of course I'm fine." He said flashing a grin. The doctor relaxed a little.
"That's good to hear." She said and sighed in relieve.
"So…" Naruto started looking around. "… what's all that ruckus about?" Honey eyes blinked.
"You… don't know?" The blonde shook his head, confusion clearly showed on his face.
"But I thought that since you're here…"
"Hehehe… that's a funny story, you know? I kinda… run away from the hotel…" The woman's eyes widened. Itachi took notice of this suspicious reaction.
"Tsunade-san, could you please tell us what's going on?" The raven asked professionally.
"Ten minutes ago we received a phone call from Four Seasons Hotel."
"So?" Naruto asked, not really seeing the point in it.
"There was a shooting. Your father is in critical condition."
And with this chapter we're closing the Birthday Arc. So... do you guys hate me already? ;D Leaving the fic in such a cliffy situation ;D That's so like me, huh? :P
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Anyway! Here's a summary for next chapters: (I'm not so bad as to leave you with nothing to ponder on about xD)
While waiting for Minato to recover, Naruto and Itachi are getting even closer to each other. But with a shocking discovery followed by the raven's unstable emotions can those two really be more than just a bodyguard and a principle? Or even that? When things get serious, Naruto finds a friend in an unlike person. What will become of those two? And what about those who plan their demise? Stay tuned for more! ;D
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I hope you guys will find it in you to miss me at least a little ;) You know you can PM me if you want to talk or anything, right? ;D I will surely reply ;)
So, without anything else to say, see you in 2 to 4 weeks ;)