Summary: In their fourth year something monumental apart from the Triwizard tournament approaches the witches and wizards of Hogwarts. The war-torn countries of the shinobi are opening their borders for the first time in over a hundred years, due to the persistent efforts of Albus Dumbledore. As a trial two young shinobi and a veteran are sent to Hogwarts during a time of cultural exchange.
Pairings: None at the moment – Sasuhina maybe later.
Author's Note:
I use British English and don't have a beta, so any mistakes you see, please tell me. I will be using Japanese words very sparingly, and they're mostly the ones all Naruto fans will know. There will be no long sentences with silly translations at the bottom.
The entire story has been edited as of February 2018. Old hats may want to reread the earlier chapters as some exta bits have been added. If anyone would like to read chapters as they were originally written I have them archived, just PM me. The name has been changed again (third time's the charm). Main reason being that there is another ff called Kaleidoscope (which predates mine). I had read it a long time ago before I ever wrote this fic and kind of forgot it existed when I renamed this one the first one. As much as I like the current title I do actually respect the writer of that fic and have changed it to reflect that. I also like the new title and have checked and it's not currently in use on ffnet. So, without further ado, please be welcomed to The Prism Effect.
Disclaimer: The characters and settings of Harry Potter and Naruto belong to J.K. Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto respectively, and I am not making any profit whatsoever out of this piece of fiction.
Normal writing-English, with the exception of honorifics
Italics-Letters or shinobi speaking in Japanese in England
In a valley created by an ancient conflict one boy looked at the prone form of another. The boy on the floor was unconscious and in a bad way - although it didn't seem that he would be dying anytime soon.
The other boy was tired.
A sharp burst of agony ran through his body and he coughed up blood and fell to his knees. His torso bent over as he clutched at his chest until his face was inches above the face of his unconscious best friend.
He felt icy drops hitting his skin. They continued to fall around the boys until there was a steady patter that drowned out the noise of the river and of any thoughts swirling around.
When no further bursts of pain were forthcoming he slowly got back to his feet to begin his walk into darkness.
Then everything went black.
And so it came to be that Hatake Kakashi was on time for once in his life. He knocked out his still conscious student, hoisted him over his back, created a Shadow clone to carry the other one and started the long trek home.
Several months later...
Cornelius Fudge, current Minister for Magic for wizarding Britain looked down at the letter he had just received per owl with a growing sense of trepidation. Words like "How", and "Preposterous", echoed through his mind.
Dear Cornelius
I write this letter to hereby inform you that my persistent efforts in convincing the shinobi nations to open their borders have borne fruit, as a trial, Fire Country, with which I have the most contact, has agreed to send two school-age students and their teacher to Hogwarts to study our culture, and we in return can study them to gain more insight into theirs. The students will be enrolled into Hogwarts as fourth years, and will follow the set syllabus and complete the exams at the end of the year to mark their progress, and their teacher will teach a voluntary class about the theoretical side of shinobi life, as I have been informed that, without the proper physical and mental training shinobi undetake, wizards do not have the capability of learning actual shinobi techniques, or even their physical kind of fighting. On the other hand we should be able to observe these during their training times, and will be allowed to ask questions about the techniques.
Here is a translation of the script I was sent by their the leader of their village (who bears the title Hokage – roughly translated as Fire Shadow) concerning the shinobi chosen (please note that the words Jounin and Genin do not have direct translations – they are military ranks within their system).
Kakashi Hatake,
Twenty-six years old, of the rank Jounin, currently teacher of a group of students, was involved in last great shinobi war, son of legendary Sakumo Hatake, unorthodox teaching methods, values teamwork very highly
Sasuke Uchiha
Thirteen years old, will be fourteen by the time term starts, Genin, currently under the tutelage of Mr Hatake, member of Uchiha clan (an elite family of warriors that suffered an extreme loss a few years ago leaving this boy as one of the few remaining members), top graduate of his class, excels in almost everything he is taught,
Hinata Hyuga
Thirteen years old, will turn fourteen in term time, Genin, currently under the tutelage of a Miss Kurenai, member of Hyuga clan (an elite and prosperous warrior family), part of a tracker team, excels at physical combat and reconaissance, quick learner, knows a little English
I hope that, with your permission and a Ministry escort, they might also be able to witness the Quidditch World Cup Final as an introduction into our culture, and an opportunity to meet some of their fellow students at Hogwarts.
Also, if this trial should be a success, the shinobi might stay on at school for a number of years, maybe even until their NEWTs.
I have their village leader's and country's leader's assurance that the shinobi chosen will be able to handle their assignment with complete confidence.
Signed
Albus Dumbledore
To have organised this visit, especially by the bloodcurdling shinobi or ninja as muggles termed them, in light of the approaching Triwizard Tournament beggared belief, although once he had finished reading the letter through twice, Fudge's fears began to lessen as he understood that the chosen shinobi apparently came from their equivalent of pure-blood families. In fact they might even understand, and cooperate with the wishes of the Ministry instead of Albus's. It was a worry though, that he could organise something like this without going through the ministry in the first place, going above their heads like he was in charge.
Well Fudge wouldn't let Albus have his way on this – he couldn't really afford to either- in a sense it was a good thing that the World Cup had been suggested as a first meeting point for shinobi and wizardkind as that was sure to make an impression on them – and would provide an opportunity for Fudge to introduce himself to them.
Fudge set about dictating letters to his quill – one to Barty Crouch – he would need to be heavily involved in this affair, and not just because of his department but also because of the matter of the Tournament. He imagined old Barty might also be quite put out at not having been informed of these events. Another one to Ludo for the same reason, and then one to Albus to confirm the receipt of the letter.
Then he went about writing more to some of his correspondents and advisors, among them Lucius, who would undoubtedly have some good advice on this, having been a member of the board of governors previously, in similarly difficult circumstances.
Listening to the sound of his own voice, and his quill scribbling away, Cornelius Fudge sat back and wondered how exactly Albus had convinced the Hidden countries to respond to his request.
In fact "bribed" was the better word to describe how Dumbledore had managed to win both Tsunade and the Daimyo over. With a touch of flattery and political bullshit and a humungous amount of Galleons, Tsunade had agreed to send three of her shinobi over to "learn" and "teach" (not that Kakashi would be teaching those brats anything useful). Now with two of the aforementioned three standing in front of her, Tsunade was beginning to regret her decision to allow this mission to go ahead. Unsurprisingly the only one missing was Kakashi, and the fact that he would probably only turn up in a couple of hours, making this entire meeting a waste of her valuable time, was making her hangover-induced headache just that much worse. She debated on just cancelling the whole business – except the daimyo already knew about this mission. Damn it.
Ten minutes later, with no Kakashi in sight Tsunade decided to cut her losses and brief the two standing in front of her on the mission, Kakashi could figure most of the details out by himself via the mission scroll.
However just as she opened her mouth to begin Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke, his nose stuck in his usual "literature". He paused there for a moment, before lowering his book, his mask crinkling in a smile, saying, "Sorry I'm late, I was having a dango-eating contest with Gai."
Tsunade glared at Kakashi.
"Isn't Gai-sensei on a mission with his team?", Hinata asked, looking at Kakashi doubtfully. He grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
"Ahahahaha..."
Tsunade cleared her throat and sent a glare that would have had lesser men's weapons pouches ringing from their shivers to continue her interrupted briefing, and they turned their attention towards her.
"I'm sure you are aware that the borders of our countries were sealed off over a thousand years ago by the sage of the six paths, and since then have only rarely been opened, and never in the history of the shinobi villages."
They all nodded – well Sasuke grunted, but that was a nod, coming from him.
Tsunade continued, "Well, after much thought and deliberation, the daimyo and I have decided to open our borders to answer to the request of a man called Albus Dumbledore, who wants to try a sort of experiment. In short, you three will be sent over to his school of magic, which is located in a country called…" Tsunade scanned a piece of paper in front of her,"…Great Britain to learn as much as you can about their culture, and in return they will be able to learn about ours."
Ignoring their stupefied expressions she ploughed on, her expression turning deadly serious," At least those are the terms we agreed on, but that is only on the surface of things." Kakashi's mask crinkled, as if he were smiling at that, which made Tsunade want to punch him really, really hard. "These wizards will be watching, no, examining you in order to find out whether we are a threat to them, finding out our weaknesses, while we will be doing the same, and both sides will be trying to conceal as much as they can."
"We should have the advantage as the wizards will not be able to observe as many jutsu as they could if they were stationed in the village, and Kakashi will be teaching mostly useless or negligible information. I would still like you all to be on your guard. They have many strange ways and creatures from what little information I have been given, and Dumbledore-san has informed me that in the wizarding world it is not uncommon for people to expect the unexpected."
"There are also their politics and to consider which is where you two come in."
Tsunade looked directly at the two genin.
"Both of you come from clans with powerful bloodlines and important connections. The wizards like to keep their 'magic' within sets of 'pure-blood' families, meaning families in which all or most the members are wizards, similar to our clans. It means it will make it far easier for you two to forge ties within the magical community, and to make a good impression on them and their children, as you will be attending school with them."
"As for you ," Tsunade glared at Kakashi," your reputation hopefully should be enough to keep you out of trouble, and in the reply I sent to this Dumbledore I also mentioned your 'unorthodox teaching methods' which you will be using on his students."
Sasuke snorted and Kakashi's single visible eye shut as he gave yet another sheepish smile.
"Finally there is another level to all this, part of which is not known to the majority of their community. Apparently just over a decade or so ago, the wizards lived in terror of a dark wizard named Voldemort . There was a whole war that went on and many families lost members and some were wiped out. He was somehow stripped of his powers, and although Dumbledore did not make clear exactly how this happened, he maintains that Voldemort is still alive, waiting to make a comeback. This would mean another war in the wizarding community and Dumbledore is worried that Voldemort might seek allies in the shinobi world, so he is taking early steps to prevent this."
"Is there any chance of the villages fighting in this war?", asked Hinata nervously.
Tsunade looked at the girl with a grim expression on her face.
"According to our client both they and Voldemort tried recruiting during their last war, however at the time we had just finished the third shinobi war and shortly afterwards the Kyuubi attack. All of the larger villages were still recovering from this and the smaller ones weren't in much better shape either. The big villages might not take the risk this time around, and many of the smaller villages probably wouldn't either, except if the amount of money offered were extremely high, but there is no accounting for missing-nin, and therein lies the problem."
"What exactly do you mean by that Tsunade-sama?", Kakashi asked.
"Well there is the unfortunate circumstance that their 'Voldemort' is eerily similar to Orochimaru."
Sasuke stiffened at hearing this, his hand twitching as if it wanted to touch the cursed seal hidden underneath his shirt, and asked," What sort of similarities?"
"They both have an unfortunate liking for snakes, in fact this Voldemort supposedly has the ability to talk to them, a lust for immortality, and the desire to become the most powerful wizard or shinobi, respectively. They have also stretched their limits far beyond those of humanity and have little to no regard for human life, or compassion."
"And if they were to form an alliance…" stated Kakashi, leaving the disastrous consequences unsaid. Everyone in the room could imagine them after all.
"Yes well I think you've got the gist of the mission, there are more details in the scroll." Three copies of said scroll were promptly tossed over her desk at them.
"Let's see… am I forgetting anything?", Tsunade turned her face away, trying to remember.
"Ah yes. Hinata!" Said girl squeaked and looked at Tsunade nervously. "I believe that you were taught a little English." Hinata nodded. "Right well then you will be teaching those two..." Tsunade waved her hand at Sasuke and Kakashi "Basic grammar and pronunciation, whilst they will be memorising these." Two big fat heavy books were thrust into the hands of the two men. "And improving your vocabulary. That way all three of you can learn enough English to cope with most situations until you gain more experience. Any questions?"
Dead silence.
Tsunade looked satisfied. "Good, now Hatake just wait a moment, I have one further detail to tell you about your role as a teacher. You go two learn as much as you can, you have about a month until you will be leaving. Oh, I almost forgot, you'll all be attending a sort of sporting event called Kwiddeetch when you arrive, apparently the wizards make a very big deal out of it. Dismissed."
Once the genin had left Kakashi looked at Tsunade and said, "Is this about Sasuke."
She grimaced. "Yes. You might be wondering why I sent him and you rather than Team 8 and Kurenai as a teacher. The truth of it is that I do not trust leaving Uchiha here with just you and Sakura to keep him here. Sakura is busy being trained by myself and I cannot keep a powerful asset such as yourself in the village permanently just to babysit one brat. With your third brat off with that pervert it would be incredibly difficult to drag Uchiha back if he ran again. So-
Kakashi filled in the rest for her "-we send him off somewhere where it is difficult for him to come back by himself. And you send me along as a precaution in case Orochimaru decides to come for him again.
Tsunade nodded, "You are one of the few apart from Jiraiya and myself who would be able to stand up to Orochimaru, as well as other threats. Also that stuff about the pure-bloods also plays a role- I wasn't joking when I say they take this stuff seriously. Their last war centred around the differences between those who were and were not pure and those who had no magic at all. The casualties seem to have been as bad as in our own wars- with the added threat of some of this Voldemort's supporters hunting down innocent civilians who have no magic to defend themselves at all. For sport." The last two words were almost hissed with the fury behind them – murder of fellow fighters in a war was one thing, but civilian killing for sport of all things was reviled in a society in which honour was taken so seriously.
"There is also some prejudice within these communities about people with qualities that don't quite match those of humans. There are people who can turn themselves into wolves and are cursed or something – sound damn useful to me – who are hated, feared and driven into hiding. They also have things like half fish, half people, half horses, half people – again not well thought of."
"So you are not risking sending Aburame and Inuzuka."
"No.", she sighed again, "Hatake I need this to go well. There is an enormous amount at stake here, not just the money, but the information and intelligence. The last time I can find any details of anyone becoming involved with the wizards, and the world on the other side of the barrier, was over 100 years ago – specifically the Hyuga clan, which is why they know a little of the language, but not much else. We have so little information on wizards and this school they are inviting us to is one of the best there is according to the client."
Kakashi smiled at her, "Well we'll just have to do our best then, won't we?"
A/N: Alternate final words "Gambatte, ne?".
Next time: First impressions
Soccus