A.N. I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter. Wish I did, but you can't have everything you want in the real world. The only thing I own is my own character and the new twists I make, though they are all also inspired by the series, yada, yada, yada. Let's start the story.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

In the land of the Mists, Monotachi Tenrai never had been a normal child. For one, she was a child born in a shinobi-clan, and second, she had a Kekki Genkei, a bloodline that had made her family feared and hated in their country. They were the Monotachi, and they could control liquids. It reflected in their clan-symbol, a six armed snowflake. Their clan was not large, but their name was well-known for several things. Of course because of the bloodline, but also because they were all trained from a very young age. They were excellent shinobi, serious, good, bloodthirsty in battle and lax outside battle. And Tenrai was their best, at least, she was one of the few motivated enough to actually advance quickly through the ranks. She ended up as a ANBU at ten years old, then stayed in that department, building up her reputation as the lethal Kamome, seagull, named after her ANBU-mask and her summons. Then, in one devastating action, at the age of fourteen, she defected from Kirigakure, becoming a nukenin, and stealing the entire scroll-collection from the village at the same time. She killed every oinin that was send after her, and earned the rank of S-class that way.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Kisame sighed as he trudged with his partner through the swamps. Sure, he liked water, but he couldn't understand for the life of him why someone would like to live in a swamp. But here he was, trudging through a swamp in search of their quarry with his partner. His new partner in the Akatsuki was a newbie named Uchiha Itachi. Yep, the clan-killer. And he was about as expressive as an ice cube. Kisame hefted Samehade a bit higher on his shoulder, then froze in his tracks as a person stood in front of them. It was a girl, of the same age as Itachi, dressed in dark clothes, with long black hair pulled in a low ponytail and very dark blue, almost black eyes. She smirked as she stuck her hands in her pockets, and Kisame grinned. "Hello Tenrai-chan."

The girl, Tenrai, grinned back. "Hiya Kisame-oji. Whatcha doing here in my corner of the swamps?" She threw a glance at Itachi. "And with a nice ice cube as well, my, my. You have to tell me the story."

Kisame laughed, then nodded. "Will do, Tenrai. See you in a bit."

"Sure. Watch out for the traps." The clone fell apart and flowed back in the water as soon as she stopped speaking. Kisame threw a glance at his partner as he cleared his throat. "That is Kamome?"

Kisame nodded. "Yep. Monotachi Tenrai. Left the village a while after I left, took the entire scroll-collection with her. She served under me for a while, back in ANBU, and I was something of a family-friend. Most of the Seven Swordsmen were." He shrugged. "She's a good kunoichi, became S-class shortly after she defected. Already was, just hadn't been in the spotlight enough to get the rank."

"Hn." Itachi shrugged lightly and Kisame rolled his eyes. Couldn't he have gotten someone who would give more than mono-syllable answers?

They walked on, not hurrying because they didn't know what kind of traps Tenrai had placed around her home. It took a few hours, many swamps, traps and a dense forest before they reached a lake, with a small island and a cottage in the middle. Kisame grinned as Itachi raised an eyebrow. "A lake?"

Kisame's grin widened. "You have heard of the Monotachi-clan, haven't you?" As Itachi nodded he went on. "Tenrai was a genius with that bloodline. Water is her element, once you're in her clutches there, you won't get out. She's rather possessive of her prey." His grin was feral, and he started walking over the lake, Itachi following him. Before they reached half way, water rose from the lake and surrounded them in icy mirrors. In each mirror appeared the same girl as they met earlier. She smirked widely. "Hiya Kisame-oji. Like I asked before, what are ya doing here in my corner of the swamps? Something good I hope?"

Kisame grinned widely back, removing a scroll from inside his cloak. "Yah, we have a business proposition for you, and I've brought you a present." Then he frowned. "And don't call me that."

"A business proposition?" The mirrors dissolved slowly back in the water, leaving only one in front of them. "What kind of proposition? Hopefully not to join the Akatsuki again, you know I'll decline."

Kisame shrugged. "You'll hear it in a moment."

The girl sighed, ran a hand through her hair, then grinned brightly. "Alright-y, old man. You can enter. I'll see you in the backyard. Welcome to Gulls Island." The mirror dissolved like the others, and Kisame sighed with relief. Itachi raised an eyebrow. "You were nervous?"

"Hell yeah." Kisame ran a hand through his hair. "You don't know Tenrai as I do, Itachi. If she found our reason for being here not good enough, we would be fish food right now. She's fast, and she was ready to kill us slowly and painfully."

"Hn."

Kisame resisted the urge to throttle his monosyllabic partner as they crossed the lake towards the island.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Tenrai waited for them in the garden behind the cottage. She was sitting in a lounge chair, with a bottle of sake and three cups on a table next to her. She grinned viciously as Kisame threw the scroll with her present at her. "What is it, Kisame-oji? Is it something nice?"

"I brought you some hunter-nin." Kisame grinned. "We ran in to them while we were on our way here, and I thought it would be nice to save them for you."

Tenrai squealed while jumping up, then hugged the stuffing out of Kisame. "Thanks, old man! You always bring the best presents." Then she turned to Itachi. "So that is your ice cubicle partner for now? A newbie?"

Itachi stiffened and Kisame laughed. "Yeah, this is Uchiha Itachi. Itachi, this is Monotachi Tenrai."

Itachi glared and Tenrai grinned widely, then suddenly without warning pounced on him, bowling him over. "Hi, 'Tachi-chan!"

With a poof of smoke, a log appeared in Itachi's place. The Tenrai that jumped him melted away in a puddle of water. Both appeared in their original places, and Tenrai gave Itachi a lopsided grin. "Sorry 'bout that. Wanted to test something." She shrugged. "Had heard a lot about you, so I tried some things. But I have to say, you are even more impassive than the stories say. So boring."

Itachi glared, then sniffed haughtily. "Hn."

Kisame made a strangling motion as Tenrai burst in laughter. Itachi could only shake his head at that, and wonder about the sanity of Kiri-shinobi. After a while Tenrai stopped laughing madly, and pointed at the chairs in the backyard. "Come, let us sit down, and tell me of that proposition you had for me."

Kisame fell down heavily in a chair and set Samehade at his side. "Well, you know how Akatsuki is very widespread, don't you, Tenrai?" At her nod, he continued. "Not too long ago, one of our members, Orochimaru, got a message form one of his… how can I call it… well, friends. He needed someone for some assassinations. Seeing how all the members were and are too busy to accept, I brought you up, since you are good at assassinations, and like to take on some jobs."

Tenrai nodded thoughtfully. "I see. What are the targets, where is it and how much will I get paid? And am I allowed to switch to another employer if the opportunity presents itself?"

Itachi coughed lightly to get her attention. "The targets are some of his enemies, he lives on the Outside, you will get forty percent of the mission payment, which is paid before you go. You are allowed to switch, but only if they pay more and we get a percentage of your payment."

"The Outside?!" Tenrai looked excited. "I've never been to the Outside before. Heard and read about it, of course, studied it in detail and all that, but never actually have been there. Sounds like fun. I wonder if they still remember the massacres that were created by my ancestors..." She grinned. "How do I accept?"

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The Outside was a bit of a myth in the Elemental Countries. It wasn't actually an 'outside', but something of a different dimension attached to the one with the Elemental Countries. They were connected by a single portal. Not many knew of the portal, and even fewer knew where it was. Akatsuki was one of those few. The Outside was a different world, also with normal people, and chakra-users. Only they didn't call it chakra in the Outside, they called it magic. The people who could use it had separated themselves from the people who couldn't, until their magic had mutated to such a point that it was only a weak representation of what it could have been. However, they thought themselves superior to all others, and acted in that way. When shinobi had first made contact with them, the wizards had tried to make them their servants. You can imagine that that didn't work. A short war, if you can call it that, broke out, and many wizards and witches were slaughtered by enraged shinobi. Kirigakure played a large role in that, and in particular the Monotachi-clan. Wizards left shinobi alone, and slowly the knowledge of shinobi and the portal became buried in the ancient knowledge. Sometimes a wizard stumbled by it, and sometimes shinobi would be hired. Aurors, their police, knew of shinobi, but didn't study them in depth. All that was left in general knowledge about them was that they were dangerous, dark, and best avoided. All other knowledge was held by the Keeper, the Sekimori, the head of one Wizarding family who were protected by shinobi and worked for them, and who regulated most requests for shinobi and send new information to the Elemental Countries. That was the Outside, that was where the mission would be.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Kisame was laughing at Tenrai's reply. "I knew you wouldn't say no to this. Too much opportunity to create havoc and chaos. Well, we'll have to contact Leader-sama, and then go to the Headquarters, where you will get more information on the mission." He frowned as he pulled a scroll out and looked around. Tenrai smirked at the look. "You forgot the messenger pigeon again, didn't you?"

Itachi whipped his head around to stare incredulously at Kisame. "You forgot the messenger bird?! How did you manage that?!" Then he frowned at Tenrai. "And what do you mean with 'again'?"

"So you can say more than monosyllabic words?" Tenrai grinned widely as Itachi glared. "Right, right, sorry. Well, Kisame probably told you I was in his team in ANBU for a while. We were on a mission once, well, it happened more often, but I digress. We were on a mission, and he had to sent back a reply to the Mizukage about our process. And it was only after he had eaten the bird that had brought the message that he realized that he had forgotten the bird to send a message back with. I had to lend him one of my summons for it." She frowned at Kisame. "I probably have to do that again, won't I?"

Kisame gave her puppy-eyes, and Tenrai rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath about giant brats who just wouldn't grow up. She bit her thumb, then swiftly dragged the bleeding finger over a tattoo on her wrist of a seagull with a sealing circle around it. Itachi watched with interest as a small sized seagull appeared on the table in a poof of smoke. He always was fascinated by summoning contracts.

"Yo!" The seagull somehow managed to salute Tenrai with a wing as he looked around, and spotted Kisame. "You need me for a message-run again, Rai-rai?"

Kisame snickered at the nickname, until Tenrai smacked him on the back of his head. She turned to the bird. "Yeah. Kisame-oji forgot his messenger bird again. We need you to bring this scroll to the Leader of the Akatsuki. His name is Pein, and he has orange hair and several piercings in his nose. He also possesses the Rinnegan, and the base is probably somewhere in Rain Country. Can you find him?"

The gull saluted again. "Sure!"

"Don't mouth him off too badly." Tenrai warned the bird as she put the scroll in a case on it's back. "I don't want you getting injured. Dismiss yourself after you see to it that he reads the message."

The bird saluted again, then took off in a gust of wind. In no time he had disappeared in the sky. Kisame grumbled. "I forgot how cheeky that damned bird was."

Tenrai snorted. "Just be glad he didn't try to eat you again."

As Itachi raised a questioning eyebrow, she elaborated. "First time I summoned Gyochou, that's the seagulls name, with Kisame near, he attacked Kisame, thinking he was a huge walking fish, and thus a huge walking treat. He can be quite vicious."

Itachi snorted in amusement and shook his head. Kisame grumbled some more as Tenrai downed another cup of sake, before packing up the bottle and disappearing in the cottage. Being curious, Itachi followed her inside. He appeared in a small kitchen. The bottle of sake and the cups stood on the counter, but Tenrai was nowhere to be seen. Seeing an open door, he walked through it. It came out in a small, cozy living room with a dinner table off to the side. There were a few painting on the walls, and one family picture. As he studied it closer, he saw that it was a clan picture, as he spotted several people that looked like Tenrai. A flicker of chakra drew his attention behind him, and he saw Tenrai standing at the bottom of a stairwell. She stared at him. "That is the Monotachi-clan, or at least all the members that were home at that time." She made a vague motion to the picture. "We aren't with many. Bloodlines aren't revered in Kirigakure like they are in Konoha. You were lucky."

Her voice was flat, but with some undercurrent that raised the hair on the back of his neck. Without another word she motioned for him to proceed her back to the backyard. Outside she sealed the house off, using her blood and chakra as a key. Kisame looked at her silently, then nodded. "Can you take us to the base? That will cut down on the traveling time."

Tenrai and Itachi raised their eyebrows in unison, although for different reasons. Tenrai waved her hand. "And where would the base be? I need a clear picture to know where to go."

Pulling out a map, Kisame pointed out the base. Tenrai nodded thoughtfully. "I can do that. Near a river, so that makes it easier. Just wait for a few moments."

Itachi's eyebrow rose even higher, then disappeared in his hairline as he watched Tenrai work. She sat down in the lotus position, her hands on her knees with the palms up. An icy mirror formed in the air before her and she closed her eyes as the mirror suddenly became see-through, and the view began to move rapidly. Images flickered by with astonishing speed, sometimes nothing more than a blur, other times so clear it was as if he was standing right in front of it. Then suddenly it stopped, and one image appeared in the mirror. Kisame made a small noise in the back of his throat. "That's it, Tenrai." He sighed. "I'm never going to get used to that."

Tenrai opened her eyes, smirked, stood up and stretched. She held out her hand to Kisame. "Are you coming, Kisame-jiji? Or are you scared?" Her smirk widened as Kisame scowled. Itachi looked from one to the other. "How exactly will we go through that?"

Tenrai looked at him, then nodded. "My clans bloodline enables me to control water. Traveling through water, or ice in this case, is just one of those aspects. Kisame just dislikes the experience." She now held her hand out to him and grinned. "You up for it, 'Tachi-kun?"

Itachi smirked, then took her hand as she stepped into the mirror, melting through the ice. He shuddered as he passed through after her. The ice was like a cold curtain, leaving him dry but shivering. Just before he disappeared completely through the mirror he felt a hand latch onto his shoulder. Kisame managed to get through with them by keeping skin contact as Tenrai pulled them through the ice. As they crossed the mirror, they came in a place that looked like a large room, with a doorway at the other end. Tenrai frowned as she felt Itachi loosen his grip. Her voice came softly and very serious. "Don't let go. You will get lost if you do."

Itachi swallowed heavily and unconsciously tightened his grip on Tenrai. He had no intention of getting lost in that strange place, and no intention at all to die, which he probably would do if he couldn't get out. They quickly moved forward to the doorway, and as they came closer, Itachi could see trees and a river beyond. Then they stepped out again, and were back in open air. Without even turning her head, Tenrai let the mirror dissolve back into water as they all walked to dry ground. Itachi had to stop himself from gaping. They were about five minutes walking distance away from the Headquarters. Normally it would have taken them several days to get there, now they were there in several minutes. Tenrai smirked. "And here we are. Where to now, Kisame?"

Kisame grunted, shivered, then pulled himself back together. He hefted Samehade higher up his shoulder before walking off. "Just follow me. And if someone mouths off against you, please don't kill then."

A vicious grin stretched over Tenrai's face. "Can't promise anything, jiji." Her smirk revealed too many teeth to be called friendly. "I'm feeling itchy already, and you know me, one wrong word… and poof! Mass murder!"

They burst into cackling laughter, and Itachi fell even more behind, shaking his head and mumbling under his breath about crazy Kiri-shinobi. This continued on until they reached the entrance to the Headquarters, where two men were waiting at the entrance. Itachi sighed in relief as Tenrai and Kisame stopped bickering about who had the evilest laugh of the two of them and fell silent. Kisame grinned. "Yo Sasori, Deidara. Any particular reason why you're waiting out here?"

Deidara smirked. "Leader-sama wanted someone out here to welcome you, and I wanted to see the infamous Kamome, yeah. You bragged so much about her, so I wanted to test if you were right, un." He leered at Tenrai. "Looks like just a weak little girl to me, hm."

Tenrai smirked dangerously. "Oh, do you like what you see then?" She stalked forward, as Deidara nodded with a smug grin on his face. That grin disappeared immediately as he was hit with an enormous blast of killing intent from the 'little girl' that was stalking to him with a seriously disturbed grin on her face, while licking a kunai. "Let me cut out your eyes then."

Kisame sighed and grabbed Tenrai at her shoulders, stopping her from advancing. "Tenrai, what did we agree?"

"I only said no killing. I said nothing about not maiming, Kisame." Her fingers were twitching, her face lost the demented grin and became emotionless. "Filthy trash like that don't deserve to walk through life whole. Pathetic excuse for a shinobi." She spat at the feet of Deidara, who could only stare. Sasori cleared his throat, or what passed as a throat with him, pointedly to get their attention back. "Good, if you're quite finished with scaring my partner, I would appreciate it if you would follow me to Leader-sama."

Tenrai cocked her head, studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Sure. Lead the way."

Sasori turned and led them through a maze of tunnels, until they finally arrived at an office. He knocked once on the door, before opening it and motioning to Tenrai to step inside. Once she did the door closed behind her. Kisame heaved a sigh and glared at Deidara. "You have no idea how close you were to dying, you stupid fool. Next time I will let her kill you." With a last annoyed snarl he stalked off, Itachi following him after giving a blank annoyed look to Deidara. He had not enjoyed being subjected to the killer intent of Tenrai.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Tenrai looked around as she stepped into the office. It was bare, only the necessary furniture was in place. Many books lined the walls, and many scrolls were littered around the room. The Akatsuki Leader stood up from behind his desk. "Welcome, Monotachi-san."

"Pein-san." Tenrai nodded respectfully to the man. He was powerful and cunning, a combination she respected. "You wanted me for a mission?"

The man simply nodded and handed her a scroll. "Your payment will be ready by the Sekimori. He handled the request. Any complaints will be handled by him too. You can leave any moment."

Tenrai unrolled the scroll, letting her eyes flit over it for a moment. "I am allowed to switch?"

A short nod was her only answer.

"Very well." She rolled the scroll up with a snap, putting it away in a holster. "Where is the portal?"

"Zetsu will lead you there." Pein motioned to the plant-like man that melted from the wall to her left. The shinobi nodded shortly, receiving a nod in return. Pein tapped his desk to get her attention back. "I would like monthly reports of your missions, you can give them through Kisame. Is that possible?"

"Sure." Tenrai shrugged. "I'll use mirrors. Is that all?"

"Yes. You can go."

Tenrai gave a mocking salute, then turned and followed Zetsu from the office. She grinned wildly. A mission to the Outside was something she had been looking forward to for a long time, and now she could finally go. And she would even be going there for one of her favorite sort of mission. It probably couldn't get better.

Oh, if only she knew…