Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter.
Key: "talking" Japanese (or emphasis, I hope you're smart enough to tell which)
Pairings/Friendships: Nejiten, SasuSaku, NaruHina, ShikaTema
CH. 1 - Amassing the Forces
A NarutoHP Crossover
- in the Hokage's office
It was a notably warm day with clear blue skies as far as the eye could see. Your typical summer day in Konoha, which was renowned for its favorable weather. On the packed dirt streets of the village you could hear the rising voices of academy students as they made their way to the first day of school. Yep, it was the beginning of another year.. another very long year, unfortunately, for the eight ANBU that were gathered in Tsunade's office.
The two squads stood woodenly and at attention, with ramrod straight backs as they were briefed on their new long term mission. They were all wearing the standard issue ANBU (short for Assassination Squad, which was in turn short for something else) uniform; bone white sleeveless armor with black arm guards, black pants, and black combat shoes. The only thing that set each one apart, besides their physiques and hair styles, was the differentiating design and pattern of their special masks. Each one was different, representing a different animal; their codenames.
The first one had messy, spiky blond hair with a fox shaped mask. It was obviously Uzumaki Naruto, but no Naruto anyone has seen before. This one was a proud 17 years old, and a captain class ANBU. He had grown out his hair so that it no longer stood stock straight, but drooped to the right. The color was also different; after years in the sun it had faded to a paler yellow. Naruto had grown up considerably these past few years.. he wasn't so stupid or nearly so obnoxious, but he remained the ever glowing ball of energy that light up the darkest rooms. That's why everyone was so fond of him.. his special, people gift.
The second one had jet black hair, spiked in the back to resemble, oddly, the butt of a duck. His mask was distinctly snake-like. Of course, his name was Uchiha Sasuke. He had returned to Konoha after oh so subtly killing off those old bat advisers that had doomed his brother. He was now a captain class ANBU. He had grown and was almost the same height as Naruto, though still shorter than his offensive prodigy rival Neji. Sasuke had grown out his hair a little too, and he had accumulated enough length to put it up in a thin, short ponytail at the base of his neck.
The third had hair colored like dark chocolate, or black coffee. It was long and put in a low ponytail near the ends. Some of it had slipped from the rubber hairtie and hung near his cheeks. He had on a hawk or falcon shaped mask; no one really could tell.. I mean, his codename was Hawk, but those who knew Neji knew he was more like a regal falcon. Uh huh, this was that Hyuuga Neji. Naruto had straightened him up at the Chuunin Exams, so he wasn't as pompous.. but hey, old habits die hard. Neji didn't look very different besides wearing a pearly bird shaped necklace wrapped around his wrist. Courtesy of Tenten via his 18th birthday. Well moving on, he was also a captain class ANBU.
The fourth and last captain class ANBU had black hair that was smoothed back into a spiky high ponytail. His posture was more relaxed than most, but not as casual as Naruto's. He wore a deer shaped mask, as a tribute to his Nara heritage. This man was Nara Shikamaru. He had risen the ranks of ANBU and had been nominated as ANBU commander at least twice for his genius and strategic reasoning. He had turned both times down, because he wasn't sure he was up to such a troublesome position.
The fifth in line was a certain pink haired medic. She was wearing a different kind of uniform.. the white cloak that was the ANBU medic outfit. She had, certainly, personalized it with a red sash and pink flower patterns, but it was for the most part plain. Haruno Sakura wore a plain white mask with an indistinguishable animal shape, for there weren't any slug shaped masks. Thank the gods. She had also grown out her pink hair, now it had to be held up at all times in a short pink ponytail.
The sixth was by far, the leanest of the female ANBUs. She had her milk chocolate colored hair up in two low, messy buns. While she looked vaguely panda-ish with such a hairstyle, she was wearing a bird shaped mask. Her codename was Sparrow, for her plain brown coloring and also because she was a counterpart to Neji. The hawk and the sparrow. It was quite fitting. Tenten was absently twirling a dangerously sharp kunai, pondering all of the impossibilities on this current assignment. She herself had grown considerably strong, and had no rival in weapon mastery or accuracy.. in fact, she was the fastest female ANBU there was. I suppose you could put the blame on the illustrious Professor Gai and his mini-me Lee. Team Gai was still the undisputed strongest taijutsu team in Konoha history.
The seventh one had long, dark azure hair. It was straight and shiny, probably thanks to the highly guarded secret Hyuuga shampoo recipe. She stood straight and proud, a complete turn around from three years ago. Hyuuga Hinata had long since grown out of her clumsy, shy, stuttering stage. Sure, whenever she was around Naruto, she started stammering again and turning bright red... but really, you'd think she'd have stopped that already since they were dating. Hinata was now officially next in line to be the Hyuuga head, and Neji was so close to having his freedom. Not that he cared as much; he had Tenten. She was his freedom now. But anyway, the ever cute Hinata had just recently joined the ranks of ANBU, so she was dubbed the ANBU rookie and wore an owl mask.
The eighth one in line wasn't from Konoha, she was just there on diplomatic business.. but she had made a point of going with Shikamaru on this mission. No one dared refuse the fierce dirty blond from Suna. Sabaku no Temari had changed over the years, being 19 years old now, and had grown out her stiff hair. She managed to wrestle it into a short braid down the middle, and had several strands of rebellious dirty blond that framed her face. She wasn't one to be messed with easily, and she stared out determinedly behind the Raccoon mask.. in tribute to her brother the Kazekage Gaara.
Tsunade surveyed the eight ANBU in front of her with hard edged approval. "We've already went over the specifics of this mission yesterday, correct?" All of them nodded the affirmative.
"Good. I appoint ANBU Fox as the captain of this mission–" Naruto gave a childish whoop. "–and Viper and Hawk as the co-captains. Deer, you will be the adviser." Shikamaru gave a soft groan, even though he had been anticipating this.
"Troublesome." The trademark word left his lips.
Tsunade glared at him before continuing. "Alright, here are your specifics again. You eight are to monitor and guard the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry against any threats, especially one student named Potter Harry. You are to keep the fact that you are ninjas to yourselves, and reveal little to no secrets or information on Konoha. Do not take off your masks unless it is an emergency. Also, Naruto... please do try to be discreet." Naruto had the gall to act offended at that point, and Tsunade grumbled for more rice wine.
"When do we leave?" asked Neji, looking a bit peeved at the thought of being sent off to guard a bunch of little stick waving sissies. Tenten sniggered, but then stopped as Neji shot her a look beneath his mask, whistling a bit too innocently.
"Oh," Tsunade said, reaching into her desk and bringing out a very tattered old boot. "I was told this would bring you there. All you have to do is touch it in.." She glanced out the window at the sky. "About one minute. You brats, I have two last things to say. One, this mission is unranked so be careful. Two, don't die on me!"
All eight ANBU stiffened and saluted before reaching disgusted hands out to touch the boot. In that moment their worlds shifted and spun, whirling into a smudge of color as they felt a gut wrenching tug. After a few moments, they all landed on a soft grass hill.. surprisingly, on their feet. None of them were looking that green around the edges, after all it wasn't that much worse than the Transportation Jutsu... but nevertheless the feeling was something they didn't want to experience again. It was nighttime, and the European breeze drifted lazily over them, cool to the touch. All of a sudden, a wizened, jolly old voice broke the silence.
"Ah, right on time.. Let me say the code phrase. A name we whisper to the dark, in the place of abandoned lives."
The eight ANBU stared at the old man, taking in his ridiculous appearance. Sure they had seen examples of these wizard robes in the briefing but.. seeing them up close made the ninjas even more incredulous. How could anyone fight in those heavy, useless dresses? They took a moment to shake such unneeded opinions out of their heads and focused more on the old man's appearance. He was shriveled and wrinkled like a prune; very old and with a long fluffy white beard that trailed against the grassy floor. He gave the distinct impression of a hearty, fun loving leader but they all felt his power and cunning like a crisp winter morning. Beneath the beneath or underneath the underneath, as Kakashi always said.
Finally, Naruto gathered himself enough to step forward and nod slightly. "Dumbledore, I take it? I will reply with our half of the code. From our twisted boughs does death lie, and in our fiery earth our spirits sleep."
"Wow, Tsunade was feeling particularly poetic wasn't she?"
"Nah, she just wanted to seem mysterious." Sakura rolled her eyes exasperatingly. "Said something about leaving a good impression." The rest of the ANBU coughed, slightly embarrassed.
Dumbledore gave a loud hoot, his eyes twinkling with merry lights. "I see you already feel comfortable here. Well let's not dawdle, the sorting is about to start.. I assume you all know English?"
"Yes, Professor Dumbledore," they all chorused.
"Good. One of you hold my hand, and the rest hold each other's hands so that everyone's connected."
"In line," drawled Shikamaru, and the eight ninja immediately situated themselves in descending rank order. Naruto first, then Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru, then Sakura, Temari, Tenten, and Hinata. All of them linked hands, and wondered what good this would do.. before experiencing another gut wrenching, tight squeezing, and highly uncomfortable "transportation jutsu".