Chapter One
Timeline- When Naruto fucked off with Jiraiya.
Un-beta'd
Sakura used to love fairy tales. Stories of princesses, warriors, magic- just like any other child. Of course, people grow out of it as they become older; they come to realise that real life isn't as romantic or as amazing as the stories make it out to be. Children who were training to be shinobi, or were raised by them, understood this clearly as they learn early on just how cruel and bloody life as a ninja can get.
Also, they figured that using chakra to perform techniques was actually very similar to the 'magic' described in fairy tales and therefore they're basically magical beings.
With that said, it does not mean that if they were told their mission involved witches and wizards, it would be easier to comprehend.
"What."
The Fifth Hokage rolled her eyes at her apprentice.
"Yes." Tsunade assured, leaning back into her chair, eyes full of mirth. "Your next mission was requested by a wizard."
The two others in the room seemed to be taking in the information pretty well; one was slouched, looking tired as per, while the other stood tall with an unreadable expression on their face. Sakura, on the other hand, looked at her mentor in disbelief with her pink eyebrows drawn in, her jaw slack, fists clenching her beige medic skirt.
"That's, that's…" Sakura struggled for what to say for a moment, before taking a deep breath, corrected her posture, and cooled her features in attempt to compose herself. "Okay. Cool cool cool. Wizards. Of course. Please continue."
Tsunade raised a brow before leaning in, elbows propped up on the desk and her fingers entwined in front of her. The classic Tsunade Pose™.
"This is a long-term mission, lasting ten months. I know how odd this sounds, however the mission will be located in a world in which people with 'magical powers' exist. Now, we have never been requested a mission like this before, and normally we would not accept it. In fact, the logical decision would be to eliminate the person who contacted us so that we keep our world safe; however, this person, or wizard should I say, have proved to us that he could be trusted, and that he would not reveal to others how he managed to find us."
"Don't ask how." Tsunade shot as one of them opened their mouths to speak. "That's classified, and that is all you need to know."
Sakura frowned. That couldn't be the only reason for accepting such a mission.
"They offered a lot of money too, didn't they?"
"Yup." The Hokage smirked. "You know how it is."
She grabbed a mission scroll and an object wrapped in a brown paper from her desk and tossed them to the assumed leader of the mission, who caught it without missing a beat.
"You three will be working at a school, aiding the teachers and protecting its students." She continued, eyes flickering to each of them to ensure they were listening. "It seems that the school is holding some sort of tournament, so you will be helping them with that. More information on your roles are specified in the mission scroll, as are your departure and arrival information."
Tsunade stood up and walked around her desk and stopped to face them, her arms crossed, and lips set in a thin line.
"Sakura. Shikamaru. Neji."
She eyed them each with hard eyes.
"You leave in two days. Good luck."
XXX
Sakura stood waiting by the village gates twenty minutes early, deciding to take cover under a tree from the blazing sun. It was a sunny day in Konoha; the sun was bright, the birds were chirping happily, and there was a slight breeze which ensured that the heat wasn't too unbearable.
The medic was ready for the mission. She wore her usual red attire, with a rucksack slung over her shoulders, carrying storage scrolls full of medical supplies and other necessities which would last a whole year. She also ensured she had packed some books to keep her entertained, as well as some personal items, such as a photo album full of photos of her friends and family.
Sakura sighed as she recalled how hard it was to tell her parents that she would be gone for almost a year, how annoyingly loud Ino was as she complained how Sakura got a 'cool-ass mission', and how sombre they felt as they hugged each other goodbye. She also visited the hospital to let the staff know how she would be absent for a while and wished them the best, in return receiving a few heartfelt goodbyes from those whom she had worked with.
Bidding Shizune and her mentor farewell was a short, yet sweet affair, with Shizune wishing her good luck, and to bring back any useful plants back to Konoha, giving her a cheeky wink, and with Tsunade ruffling her hair roughly and reminding her not to slack off with training.
She will miss them.
Neji arrives fifteen minutes before the designated meeting time, not surprised to see Sakura already there. He too had a rucksack on his shoulders, and in his hands was the wrapped object which was apparently supposed to help them arrive at their location. The Hyuuga was the only jounin in their team and was the leader of the mission.
The two got on quite well. They became more familiar with each other when Sakura started to take part in some of Team Gai's taijutsu training sessions, after TenTen had asked her to join them one day. Sakura was a bit wary of him at first since she only knew him as the proud, prodigious cousin of Hyuuga Hinata who spoke highly of fate. She soon realised that they shared some similar interests, and that the Neji she first met during the chunin exams had changed.
Sakura gave him a small smile as he made his way towards her, and received a nod in return. They stood side by side as they waited for their last teammate to arrive, discussing quietly of their mission.
The Nara heir arrived shortly after, looking like he just woke up, covering his mouth as he yawned his way over to the waiting pair.
"It's too damn early." Shikamaru stated monotonously as he stopped in front of his teammates.
"It's past noon."
"Time is a social concept."
"Then you just contradicted yourself."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes at Sakura.
"Smart ass."
A small cough made their eyes snap up towards the Hyuuga, who had raised a brow at them.
"I think," he started, "we have a mission to complete."
The three formed a small circle, and Neji held out the wrapped object.
"The instruction in the scroll states that we must all hold onto the object at a specific time, which is in- "
"Five minutes, twenty three seconds." Sakura chirped, looking at her watch.
"-at which we would then be transported to our location." Neji finished, peering at each of his teammates. "Have you all got everything you need to last a year?"
Sakura and Shikamaru responded with a nod.
"Even if we need anything, we can use my summons to contact shishou and request for more supplies." Sakura added, giving them an assuring smile, knowing they don't have summons.
"Yes, now the mission details." Neji whipped out the mission scroll from seemingly out of thin air, and unraveled it to reveal its contents. "Our top priority is to keep the students safe, and to do so, we must cooperate with the school staff. This also means that we must attempt to not cause stress on the students. Too much attention on us would also be undesirable.
"We are expected to do rounds in the school, as well as the school grounds. Sakura will assist the medics of the school if they call for aid, but will primarily be with us to guard the school. They provided us with a map which we should familiarise. We must report to our contractor if anything is amiss, in this case, it will be to the headmaster of the school, a person named 'Albus Dumbledore'."
"Albus Dumbledore." Shikamaru snorted. "Get's me every time."
Neji shot him a look before continuing.
"An issue is that they speak a different language to us, however they claim to be able to make us communicate with them via a 'language spell', whether this is applied to written language as well is unknown until we get there. Food and accommodation is provided for us, as well as household services, such as laundry and cleaning." Neji paused. "Sakura, how long left?"
Sakura glanced at her watch.
"Two minutes, forty eight seconds." she replied. Neji gave a small nod.
"I think we should open this up." Neji said, putting away the mission scroll and held out the covered, elongated object. "See what we're dealing with."
Neji ripped the brown paper off, scrunching the paper up in one hand, and lifted the exposed object up.
"..."
"... A wooden bat?" Sakura questioned, looking at the object in confusion.
Neji activated his Byakugan, eyes narrowing slightly as he gave the bat a quick scan.
"It's emitting something. Magic, I assume." He said, and turned his Byakugan off, eyes flickered to his teammates. "It's very similar to chakra, I would even say it's a form of chakra."
"That would explain how you are able to see it." Shikamaru replied, looking down at the object in interest.
"I'm assuming this is like a transportation scroll then, " Sakura pondered aloud tapping her chin lightly in thought, "but all we have to do is hold it?"
Neji hummed, then his eyes snapped to look at Sakura. "Time?"
"One minute, fifty two seconds."
"We should go and check out then." Neji said.
The three of them quickly made their way over to the check in/out desk to sign themselves out, giving Kotetsu and Izumo a quick greeting and farewell, before they made their way just outside the village gates. They formed a circle, or rather, a triangle.
"Remember, they warned us we may feel 'overwhelmed', so be prepared." Neji told the team firmly, and held out the wooden baton.
Shikamaru held the other end of the bat, and Sakura followed by gripping the mid-section of the baton, whilst simultaneously lifting her wrist to peer at her watch.
"Five. Four. Three. Two. One."
Everything happened all at once. There was a spike of energy from the object, then Sakura felt like she was being pushed forward, her feet left the ground and all she could hear is the howling of wind. She closed her eyes tightly as the wind pressure increased and made her eyes water. She could feel Neji and Shikamaru next to her, the latter cursing, their clothing whipping into her. Her hand felt glued to the baton, as if it was pulling her in and then-
She felt her feet slam to the ground, hard, her eyes snapped open and she stumbled slightly before adjusting her feet to steady herself. Neji and Shikamaru did the same, both looking a little windswept. She let go of the baton, sweeping her pink bangs out of her eyes, running her fingers through her hair to neaten it, and saw Neji re-tie his hair, leaving the Nara to hold the bat.
They did all this as they looked around their surroundings, and realised that they were stood amongst many tall trees. The sky was bright, however the towering trees blocked the sunlight from reaching the ground. No one said anything as they cautiously took in the dull, shadowy woods, more alert than ever.
The three of them all looked in one direction. They sensed someone coming.
Neji moved forward, with Shikamaru and Sakura flanking him as the person making their way towards them came closer and closer. Sakura saw from the corner of her eyes that Neji was using his Byakugan, eyes fixated ahead. The trees were quite dense, however Sakura could start to make out some of the features of the advancing figure; a tall, elderly man, with a long grey, almost silver, hair and beard, wearing muted blue robes.
They did not move as the elderly man stopped in front of them. Sakura analysed him; his face was old and wrinkled, wore half-mooned spectacles over bright blue eyes and there seemed to be a small twinkle in them as he looked at the three of them with a smile on his lips. He stood tall, however his posture was not rigid, in fact it was as if he was almost at ease, though it was difficult to tell due to his choice of clothing. Sakura could see that he was a wise man, just from looking at his face, and he gave off a gentle, but also authoritative, vibe.
Sakura glanced up at Neji, and noticed that he was no longer using his Byakugan. Her green eyes flickered back to the old man, furrowed her eyebrows in thought, then realisation hit her.
It was their contractor.
The man, whom Sakura deduced to be Albus Dumbledore, gave them a small bow, much to her surprise. She was aware that the people in this land had different customs, spoke a different language, and therefore was not expecting the familiar sign of respect.
She saw Neji next to her make a move to bow in return, and quickly followed so that the three of them bowed in unison. As they stood straight, Sakura wondered how they were going to continue due to the language barrier, but was surprised yet again.
"Good afternoon," Dumbledore greeted, "I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I am the one who requested your services."
Sakura looked at the old wizard in shock, which apparently showed as his eyes twinkled more in amusement. However, all Sakura could think about was that the old man could speak their language.
"Pleased to meet you." Neji replied with a small incline of his head, his eyes never leaving the old wizard. "I am Hyuuga Neji."
"I am Nara Shikamaru." Shikamaru drawled from next to Neji, giving the wizard a nod.
"And I am Haruno Sakura," said the last member of the small team, throwing him a small smile.
Dumbledore acknowledged them, his eyes briefly flickered to Sakura's pink hair.
"If you will follow me, we will discuss our matter in a safer place." Dumbledore told them, then turned to Shikamaru. "And I shall be taking that baton."
Dumbledore held out an old, though steady, hand out to Shikamaru, who handed him the wooden object. The wizard then turned his body and made a movement towards the direction where he came from.
The three shinobi shared a look before following the old man. They were all alert and were ready to fight if need be.
The trees and the atmosphere was similar to the Forest of Death, Sakura thought as she followed the old wizard. The trees were varying in width and length, however most were incredibly tall. The forest floor was dimly lit, and gave off an eerie vibe. She could sense the many creatures which were residing in the forest, however she did not feel afraid, perhaps due to her experience in the Forest of Death.
Three silent footsteps followed a pair which made a small crunch of leaves with every step, their blue robes brushing against the fallen leaves resting on the ground. They went on for another ten minutes before they could see light ahead of them, indicating the end of the forest.
As they got closer to the edge of the forest, Sakura could start to see the form of a large, historical-looking castle, though styled much differently to the ones she had seen at home.
When they finally stepped out of the forest, Sakura couldn't help but marvel at the view before her. The castle was incredibly big, stood tall and proud in all its glory. The hilly grounds were large and stretched far, to her right there was a small, shabby hut, and further ahead of her was a a large willow tree which stood alone. The sky was a bluish grey and the air was a bit cool, however the temperature did not bother her.
"I'm apologise that you had to arrive in the forest," Dumbledore said, stopping to turn to give them a small apologetic smile. "however, that was the closest you could arrive to the school, since I have placed a spell over the school grounds which prevents anyone from transporting themselves into the school for protection."
"It was no trouble, Dumbledore-san." Neji assured him.
Dumbledore nodded at him before turning and continued up to the castle. As they walked up, the wizard explained some of the buildings and other features they walked by.
"The tree to your left is the Whomping Willow, it has a personality of its own, and is quite aggressive, so I suggest you stay away from it." Dumbledore told them, almost cheerfully, which made Sakura raise a brow. "The hut we walked past, on the right, down the hill, is our caretakers home."
The castle towered over them as they got closer and closer. They walked up the stone steps which led them to a large, metal framed wooden door. Dumbledore brandished a wooden stick- a wand, Sakura corrected herself- and gave it a small flick. The door made a clicking sound, then the door slowly, and creakily, opened.
Sakura watched in silent wonder as the door, which she assumed was locked before, was opened wide, and revealed the extravagant interior of the castle.
The ceiling was high, ridiculously so, and it seemed that everywhere was lit up by fire torches which hung onto the stone walls. Every aspect was intricately designed, and must've taken a long time to build, Sakura thought.
Further ahead was another large, wooden door, the main hall, Dumbledore had told them.
They did not enter the main hall though, they went down a hallway to the left instead. They made a few more turns, the three teens alert and curious, before they arrived at an open area. Well, sort of open area.
In front of them was a staircase, not an ordinary one though. The stairs were leading to different floors with seemingly no structure; some went diagonally across, some were along the walls, and one was even moving. The castle seemed to use the underground as part of the school as there were stairs leading to lower levels, and along the walls were rows upon rows of paintings, and when Sakura looked at one next to her, a portrait of an old man with a long beard and bald head, he winked at her.
Magic, man.
"How are people meant to go anywhere if the stairs are moving?" Sakura asked, turning away from the moving portrait feeling a tad disturbed, and stared at the back of Dumbledore's head, waiting for him to reply. Ninja would not have a problem with these stairs, since they can shunshin or just jump their way around, however she was pretty sure that witches and wizards weren't as physically adept as they were.
The headmaster turned his head slightly to give her a mysterious smile.
"We manage."
Sakura frowned at this. That was not an answer she was expecting.
He guided them up one of the stairs going diagonally across and going up by two floors, warning them that some steps like to 'trick' people, and so to be careful when walking. When they reached the other side, he led them up another set of stairs, though this time it was alongside the wall.
During all this, Sakura tried to ignore all the peering eyes from the paintings.
Dumbledore led them down a hallway, then turned right at the end of the hall, and led them further down until they stopped in front of an archway with a gargoyle inside. They stood in a row, and Sakura looked at the gargoyle curiously; she had a gut feeling that the statue held some importance.
"Acid Pops." Dumbledore said clearly. Nothing happened at first, but then the gargoyle started to move, producing a rumble as the rock statue started to rotate while simultaneously moving up, revealing a circular staircase.
Everything seemed to be made of stone here, Sakura thought idly as she followed the wizard and her teammates up the stairs. They reached another archway which revealed to them a small, dimly lit hallway. Opposite them was a rustic, wooden door which Dumbledore opened with a click and swiftly stepped inside.
The room was grand, Sakura thought. The first 'room' they entered had large paintings hanging from the walls and had large, glass cupboards displaying odd objects. There were three large archways separating the first and second section of the room which led to a large desk placed in the centre, and upon further inspection, the walls within the office had shelves full of books covering it. There was two staircases, one along the left wall and one on the right, leading up to some form of platform behind the desk.
There was a woman already in the room, supposedly waiting for them, who turned to face them when they entered. She was quite tall, wearing some sort of black dress/robe with a pointed hat on top of her head. Her skin was fair, and her face was lined with wrinkles. Her greying hair was up in a tight bun and she had a pair of small spectacles resting on her nose. She looked like a stereotypical librarian.
Her piercing green eyes roamed over the three shinobi, not unkindly, gave them a small nod and turned to Dumbledore to say something in a language Sakura was not familiar with. Dumbledore replied to the woman in his native language before turning to them once again.
"I will perform a spell on the three of you which will ensure that you can communicate in our language, English. I can guarantee that the spell is safe and will cause you no harm." he told them reassuringly. He lifting his right hand, holding his wand. "Of course, I would like your consent."
Sakura shared a look with Neji and Shikamaru, she felt slightly wary, however they all gave an affirmative nod to the old wizard. Dumbledore gave a small flick of his wand; there was a tiny burst of magic from the tip of the wand and immediately Sakura felt a small tingle on her tongue, throat, and ears, but it was brief and the feeling was gone.
Eyes flickering to her teammates once again, Sakura decided to see if the spell worked first.
"Hello." Sakura said slowly. The word felt and sounded foreign, however she seemed to understand it, and from the looks Shikamaru and Neji were giving her, they did too.
Huh, Sakura thought, the spell worked. But she was more intrigued on how it worked. Sakura was no psychologist and had only done some light reading on language, however she was sure that the Social Learning Theory and memory played a role, or are at least significant explanations in language learning, and of course there was the neurobiology of language. For someone to know how to understand and to speak in a language they have not heard of was impossible; it's as if knowledge of the language was simply placed inside their brain without having to go through the process of learning-
"Miss Haruno."
Emerald snapped up to aquamarine, and it was then that Sakura realised she had been so deep into her own thoughts that she lost track of time. Before Sakura could apologise, Dumbledore spoke up again.
"You are quite the scientist, aren't you?" he smiled at her in amusement, and she was aware that he was speaking to her in English. "The science behind magic is something not many look into; if you are interested, I am sure I have something within my collections which you may find appealing."
So apparently wizards could read minds.
"Thank you for your generosity." Sakura said with genuine gratitude, and gave him a small bow.
When she straightened up again, the elder woman introduced herself as Minerva McGonagall, deputy headmistress of the school, and they then proceeded to discuss the terms of the mission and any other information they needed to know. Apparently, they were hired because the school was holding a special event, and schools from other countries would be coming to participate. Due to the number of people they would be accommodating, they needed to increase security, and when Dumbledore 'stumbled' upon their world, he decided that their skills would be appropriate.
When he released the information of the whole dimension thing, Sakura glanced at the woman. Can she be trusted with this information?
"Minerva is a dependable personnel and second in charge of the school," Dumbledore assured her, as if he read her mind (again). McGonagall cocked an eyebrow at the insinuation her loyalty and trustworthiness was even questioned. "therefore it is important for her to know every detail. If anything were to happen to me, she would also be the one you should go to."
With that established, they continued, and once all the business details were done, Dumbledore told them little bits of extra information which they may find useful.
"We are in the United Kingdom, one of many countries in this world. The date here should be the same as yours back home, the 30th of August, and the time now is-" he paused briefly to look at a clock on the wall, "- just about nine in the morn. So there should be an eight hour difference."
Sakura lifted her hand to change the time on her watch.
"I think I have gone through everything." Dumbledore declared lightly. "Minerva here will show you to your bedchambers. Feel free to roam, and food will be delivered to your rooms at noon."
Neji, Shikamaru and Sakura followed McGonagall out of the office to their rooms. After a few turns here and there, and up three flights of stairs, the witch led them to where Sakura assumed was a more deserted area of the castle. McGonagall stopped them at a dead end, the hallway lit only by the natural sunlight shining through the large, glass windows. She stepped towards a torch which hung on the wall, opposite the window, and tapped the metal three times with her wand.
Nothing seemed to happen at first, until slowly and gradually, a wooden door started to fade into existence. Sakura looked on in fascination as the door became solid, and waited for McGonagall to take the lead.
"The door locks from the outside every time it shuts," she told them, giving them a brief look, "however all you have to do is tickle the knob."
Sakura almost snorted. Almost.
The old witch brushed her fingers against the underside of the metal sphere for a few moments until the door made a small click and swung open slightly. Pushing the door open more widely, a short and narrow hallway was revealed which seemed to lead to a well lit room. She escorted the three of them inside; the hallway was dark, the only source of light coming from the other room, though Sakura can still see the faded, geometric black and blue fabric wallpaper plastered on the walls. The flooring, instead of the typical stone seen all other the castle, was wooden.
Upon stepping into the next room, Sakura was not surprised to see how comfortable looking the living area was, judging from the (somewhat) homey entrance way. The ceiling wasn't as high as the other rooms, and on the left was a fireplace with a stone mantelpiece, with a metal tool set placed nearby. The living area was spacious; in the centre, facing the fireplace, sat a maroon sofa, a matching armchair, and an aged coffee table. All was placed on a broad, patterned rug. To the right was a dining area with a sturdy table and chairs. A lone window stood behind the dining area.
"Here will be your living quarters for the next ten months, and you will find your rooms if you follow that staircase." McGonagall told them, pointing towards an archway near the dining table. "If you need anything, you can come find me."
"Thank you for your hospitality." Neji said as they gave her a small bow.
She nodded in response and made her way out, however she paused when she reached the hallway and turned towards them with a strange look.
"You three... are quite young." She said, as if it's been on her mind for a while. Though vague, the three knew what she really wanted to say.
"Rest assured, McGonagall-san, we are good at what we do." Shikamaru told her, digging his hands into his pockets. "Our age does not affect our performance."
His answer did not seem to ease her concern, however she did not comment, only giving them each a look, her lips set in a thin line. They watched her turn away and swing the door open, watched her step out and shut the door behind her with a click, her robes fluttering behind her.
It was silent for a long moment, until Shikamaru gave a deep sigh.
"Magic. What a drag."
Yo this took looong to write, least the boring part is over tho
my bad for grammar errors
see yall later maybe