Title:A Choice Mission
Author: Bluehawaii
Summary: Kakashi is hired by Dumbledore to protect Harry Potter but he doesn't want Harry to know, so it's an undercover mission that Kakashi has no choice over accepting. Set during their 3rd year at Hogwarts. Harry Potter/Naruto crossover.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter.
A/N: This might develop into Kakashi/Harry slash but I'm not sure yet. Please read, review, and tell me if you would like it to or not.
I know this has been done a lot, but I just wanted to take a crack at it. I tried to get right into the story to make it less boring. Hope you enjoy it.
A Choice Mission – Chapter 1
The cold air, the walls seemed to disperse, was unsettling. Not only was he in an unfamiliar surrounding, that had many new scents that were overwhelming, but also he was walking around a place that didn't seem to want him there. His boots clunked noisily against the stone floor with each step he took, and with each step he took, the cold grew worse. All the smells mixed together to make it impossible to decipher single scents and that only made this building more uncomfortable to be in.
A stone gargoyle stood at the end of the hallway he was trying to navigate through. Its eyes followed him as he stepped forward. To his left and to his right were more, dark, empty hallways.
"Lemon drops." The English words felt strange coming out of his mouth, but the thought quickly left his mind when the, a moment ago stationary, gargoyle suddenly started to move. He was told a password would be needed but they neglected to warn him about the moving inanimate objects.
Unsurely, he made his way up the stairs the gargoyle had just revealed, until he came to a large wooden door at the top. Without hesitation, he raised his fist and knocked loudly.
"Come in." He raised his hand again and rested his palm on the wood, but before he could push it, it creaked open slowly on its own. An old man with white hair and a long beard sat behind a desk opposite the door, half-moon spectacles perched on the end of his nose.
"Ah, you must be Mr.Hatake." Smiled the old man, while looking at the boy that had just walked into his office. A white porcelain mask, that resembled a wolf, covered the boy's face, spiky silver hair shot up from behind it. He was wearing a skintight black sleeveless vest with a grey, light armour vest over the top. His black trousers were tucked into bandages wrapped around his calves, and big boots and fingerless gloves finished off the ANBU uniform. The old man laced his fingers together before he spoke.
"I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and I have hired you to protect one of my students for the year, maybe longer if needed. I hope you have been told all about your duties?"
"Hai Dumbledore-san. I am here to protect Harry Potter, without him knowing, from any dangers that might befall him, though, mainly, from escaped convict Sirius Black." Said the boy with a slight nod.
"Great," cried Dumbledore with another smile, "You will be enrolling at Hogwarts in order to be undercover while still observing for any dangers. With that said, I think its time for you to finally get some sleep. Today has been very eventful." The boy bowed then turned to leave, he was half way out the door when Dumbledore's voice stopped him.
"Oh, and Kakashi? Try to make some friends. A year is a very long time and it will only seem longer if you spend it alone.
Kakashi was lying on his new bed in his new room. The room he would be spending a year, maybe more in. It was just as cold as the rest of the castle though marginally brighter due to the fire blazing in the fire place. Which didn't make much sense, surely the fire would bring a bit of warmth, but nonetheless here he was, shivering.
His school books were neatly piled on top of the trunk at the foot of his bed; his wand also lay discarded next to them. Looking at them, he remembered what a day it had been and why he should have passed out from fatigue by now.
An owl had startled him up at six thirty by dropping a old, mouldy boot onto his head then landing on his desk without a care. The boot had a note attached to it, simply reading;
This is a port-key. Make sure you are holding it at six thirty-three.
By the time he had shooed away the owl, washed the new cuts on his hands and read the note, six thirty-three was seconds away. He scrambled to grab it and the moment his fingertips grazed the leather he felt an unpleasant tug around his stomach, his head felt as though it was being crushed and he was sure his ears were going to pop.
His feet soon hit solid ground and he, somehow, managed to stay standing. His head was still spinning and a sudden hand on his shoulder almost caused him to topple over.
"Kakashi Hatake?" The smell of smoke, alcohol and something unwashed attacked him before his other senses adjusted to the sudden change.
"It takes a bit of getting use to." The friendly voice chuckled over his shoulder. His unsteady feet turned him around to face the other man. His face looked weathered, with kind brown eyes and brown, streaked with grey, hair. His clothes were just as tattered looking though he gave off an aura of danger at the same time, even though it was very little.
"I'm Remus Lupin and this is the Leaky Cauldron." After he had finished his introduction there was silence, just the boy, standing in a very intimidating get up and mask, staring back at him.
"I am supposed to help you get your supplies before taking you to Hogwarts." The boy only tilted his head in acknowledgement before standing completely still again.
'This was going to be a long day.'
Dumbledore had, for some reason, agreed to let the boy wear his own uniform during his time at the school, which didn't seem like a good idea to Lupin, but it really wasn't his place to say so they walked straight past Madam Malkin's shop and went to collect his books instead.
Lupin had eventually pulled Kakashi away from the pile of books he was scanning through, to lead him towards Ollivanders. The early start finally seemed like a good idea to both of them after Kakashi had blown up his fifty-sixth wand. By the fifty-seventh he wasn't really listening to what they were anymore. He only heard 'white wolf hair' before lazily flicking his wrist. His whole arm shook when red sparks shot out of the wand. His wand.
Not surprisingly, it was late afternoon when they trekked back into the Leaky Cauldron. Arms weighed down by their shopping. The smells assaulted them yet again but this time Kakashi was too tired to let it bother him.
"The port-key is for four-fifteen and it's four-ten now so don't get too comfy." Lupin smiled when he saw Kakashi go tense, sitting straight backed in the chair he had just collapsed in.
"Port-keys are the quickest, safest way to get you to Hogwarts, and they are not that bad." The glare that was sent his way shut him up. Even through the mask, it was chilling.
Kakashi sat and took in the ambiance of the place. It was very lively with several tables full of friends drinking, laughing and smoking, while other tables had abandoned their tankards to stare at him. Every stare sent a shiver down his spine. He wasn't use to attracting this much attention; in Konoha lots of people wore these clothes. He wasn't the strange one; he wasn't the one wearing strange coloured robes was he? He tore his gaze away from their staring eyes when Lupin told him to stand up and take a hold of a dusty book. He braced himself for the horrible feeling he knew was coming, but when it came it wasn't as bad as he was anticipating. Either, Lupin was right, and he was just getting use to it or maybe he was just expecting too much and it came up short.
They arrived in a field and the journey to the castle took a few hours. At six-thirty Kakashi and Lupin stood in front of the castle gates. Without stopping, Lupin carried on through the door, down a few corridors until he reached a portrait on the wall. Kakashi had tried his best to keep up while trying to memorise the path they were taking just in case. This portrait, unlike all the rest, was empty. Not just empty, meaning the thing that lived in it had gone for a walk, but plain. It was black with nothing else on it.
"You will need to set a password before the year starts, but for now it's unlocked." With that he pulled the bottom corner on the frame and swung it open to reveal a basic looking room. A bed, a desk, a settee, a fire place and a door probably leading to a bathroom were the only things in there. Lupin stepped over the threshold and placed the books, he was carrying, onto a trunk at the end of the bed. Kakashi, followed suit and placed the wand he'd been clutching ever since he bought it next to the neatly stacked books.
"I'll leave you to get settled in. Professor Dumbledore would like to see you tonight to discus your contract. Go left out of the portrait and you'll reach a gargoyle. The password is Lemon drops." Kakashi was beginning to find the smile Lupin kept giving him patronising so he stiffly nodded then waited for him to leave before reaching up to take the mask off his face and throwing it down onto the bed. The lower half of his face was still covered by a secondary mask, a thin black cotton one, and only one dark, almost black eye was left to be seen. The other eye was covered by a tilted bandana. Even without the wolf mask he was sure to attract some attention and questions.
His deductions turned out to be right when he opened the door and found a bathroom. It was quite small, with only the basic things in it. Turning back to his room, he became aware of the fire place and how it had a fire burning in it. When did that start? And why hadn't he notice it? He shook his head, retrieved his mask off the bed, placed it back over his face and left through the portrait hole.
'Now to find this Dumbledore.'
Now that he was back in his room he felt oddly safe. Walking around the castle made him uneasy. Maybe it would be better when the other students arrived tomorrow. Or maybe it would be worse.
