So… that sixth Harry Potter movie: I haven't watched it, but my friend had. And the first thing she told me was, "Wow, I totally got where some people came up with the Harry/Draco pairing. I mean, what would you think if someone stalked you to the bathrooms?" So school's starting up- this will be my last work in a long time. Anyways, this chapter has Draco-bashing, not specifically written just so I can bash Draco, but to prove a point in the later chapters. I actually like Draco… maybe I'll make it up to him.
I stole some lines from the actual book because I'm lazy. I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto or the quote.
"Speech"- English. 'Thoughts'- English
"Speech"- Japanese. 'Hand signals or thoughts'- Japanese
And of course-
I give you…
Chakra and Magic
Three: A Supreme Capacity
((Stupid is forever.))
Chapter Sixteen: In the Hog's Head
"Potter-san." Harry turned around at the unmistakable Japanese accent of the cold tone. He saw a boy, probably his age, with long dark hair that reached his lower back, dressed in an Oriental long, white, hollow sleeves shirt, plain dark pants, and sandals. The new boy had the same headband with the weird design carved into the metal- shinobi. Behind the boy, Naruto was sitting at the table looking at his mug of butterbeer in astonishment.
Harry blinked and turned to his tablemates, who also had shocked looks on their faces, though some of the girls began to adopt a sort of dreamy, love-struck look. The meeting at Hog's Head was almost over, and the group had just recently finalized the details of their new club. But that wasn't the point; the Boy-Who-Lived hadn't even heard the boy coming up behind him, and judging the faces of his fellow students, neither had they. He kept up a brave front, giving the ninja a challenging look, and demanded, "Who are you? What do you want?" Some of the students gasped softly, including Cho, but he was determined not to look away from the ninja's… Merlin's beard, he had no pupils, just pure white, maybe a hint of lavender in the middle of the eyes. "How long have you been here?"
The other boy stiffened and glared at the hostile tone, but Harry inwardly shrugged, it was ok to be suspicious, especially in these times. "Hyuuga Neji, one of the castle… guardians," his lips curled in a most disturbing mimicry of Snape at the last word. "I've heard enough of your little rebellion, and am here to tell you that your security is atrocious."
Ron exaggeratedly mouthed out the words 'Marauder's Map.'
"Oh yeah? Then what would you suggest we do, oh wise visitor of the Ninja Continent?" Zacharias Smith rudely asked, crossing his arms defensively when Neji's unearthly gaze snapped to him. Across the table, Ernie Macmillan let his face drop into his hands and Susan Bones turned pasty.
Although the air temperature dropped significantly around the newly formed D.A., the rest of Hog's Head maintained its usual lack of cheer. "I'd watch what I'd speak if I were you, wizard," the last word Neji spat out with obvious disgust. "Apparently you are too good to accept a warning. We'll see to it that I won't have anything to do with your incompetence." His right hand started twitching and emitting a soft blue glow.
Seeing this as an act against one of their own, the rest of the Hufflepuffs stood up in defense for their housemate, "Hey now," Ernie stammered with his hands in the air, "Let's not get too hasty, eh chap? We can talk about this like normal human beings."
The ninja stepped forward, Ernie stepped back, and Harry stood up, along with Hermione and Ron with their wands out. "Ano sa! Ano sa!" Naruto popped up from behind the dark haired ninja and swung a friendly arm around his shoulder. "Why every body sad?" he cheerfully asked as he scanned the table of, once again, shocked faces.
"Bloody Hell, they just keep popping out of nowhere do they?" Anthony Goldstein muttered out of the corner of his mouth. Michael Corner nodded in agreement.
Naruto pouted and leaned even more into his ninja companion, nearly toppling the duo over before hissing, "We're supposed to be on their good side. Baka." He sighed dramatically to his audience before going into a whisper, "Neji's on nightguard, so he's angry that I dragged him to meet Potter-san. He harmless, just no good sleep." Neji glared a warning.
Harry looked once more at the Hyuuga, 'Why are there veins throbbing between his eyes?' and replied coolly, "I'm charmed." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cho look appreciated at him and felt a warm feeling in his stomach. The asian girl ignored Neji and focused on him.
Naruto's blue eyes landed on a blonde girl with a dreamy expression. He waltzed over to her side and hugged her, "Luna-chan! You also friend with Potter-san?"
"You know her?" Cho's friend asked disdainfully.
"Hai, we talk lots, dattebayo!" Luna scooted over to allow her blond companion some room. Naruto eased in beside her, "About Ministry keeping weapons and private army and ca-"
"Heliopaths. It's such a horrible conspiracy, Naruto. I told you that there will be an ambush on Hogwarts once Fudge gets enough fighters," Luna interrupted in her dreamy tone. Naruto blinked twice but didn't look puzzled, though Harry caught the Neji's eye darting toward his companion's for a split second.
Puzzled, Neville asked dubiously, "Heliopaths?"
"Spirits of fire," she continued, protuberant eyes widening so that she looked madder than ever, "Great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of-"
"They don't exist, Neville," said Hermione tartly.
"Oh yes they do!" said Luna angrily. Though everyone else was interested in the rising tension between the witches, Harry still had his attention focused on the two ninjas and their slight body language. It seemed that they were communicating by hand signals. Neji grew more and more irritated as his slight gestures with his shoulders kept pointing to the other occupants of the restaurant and the windows while Naruto looked a tad sheepish but relatively unperturbed and seemed to wave off any of his friend's concerns.
"I'm sorry, but where's the proof of that?" snapped Hermione.
"There are plenty of eyewitness accounts, just because you're so narrow-minded you need to have everything shoved under your nose before you—"
"Like the Thestral Theory!" Naruto, having ended his silent conversation with the Hyuuga, chirped.
"Thestral Theory?" Ron parroted.
"Hai! Talked it with Luna-chan and looked it in Library," the other boy vigorously nodded. "It doesn't have to be there to exist." Seeing the crowd growing ever more confused, he waved his arms around for emphasis, "Like those bone-horses, Thestrals: Granger-san can't see them right?" Thoughtful silence, "But they're there. Dakara, things you never see can be real!"
"That's because thestrals affect their environment! People have to explain for their proof of existence; one has to reason out why they can feel an invisible skeleton-horse." Hermione sputtered out. Luna drifted back into her own world, "Things like Crumple-Horned Snokacks and Heliopaths have been stated as non-existential for centuries."
"Well what about Ninja Continent? Can't see, can't touch, can't go, doesn't exist?" Naruto challenged.
"Dumbledore went," the witch replied in a beat.
Neji added his two cents in a blunt manner, crossing his arms and glaring, "On special privilege, and what if he hadn't? Within a few centuries, if we don't come into contact again, which I highly doubt we would, would we become mere myths or fancies in your imagination? If we didn't appear just to confirm your curiosity, would you doubt that we live?" No answer.
Naruto flicked his limp wrist as an uncaring gesture, "Magic explain everything. Magic is awesome, correct Potter-san?" Blue eyes met green eyes, "Chakra is all known, past and future and stuff but magic," he shook his head ruefully, "magic is still not known. All magical roots are in numbers, rune wiggly kanji…" While Hermione flinched at the bad grammar, Neji coaxed out English words out of the corner of his mouth for Naruto to say, "And theory. All not known. Magic is awesome. Dattebayo!"
Dean Thomas looked very confused, "But if you're praising our magic… But aren't your chakra powers better than ours? I mean, I heard that you can trump us all pretty badly without breaking a sweat." The younger students cast the wizard awed and terrified looks for his question.
The blond ninja didn't answer but grinned, showing teeth. Harry was suddenly reminded of a fox in his element.
OoO
"Well, I think that went quite well," said Hermione happily, as she, Harry, and Ron walked out of the Hog's Head into the bright sunlight a few moments later, Harry and Ron still clutching their bottles of butterbeer.
"That Neji bloke's a wart," grumbled Ron.
"A lot of the girls sure don't think so," Hermione replied mildly. "Ninjas, shinobis are a secretive bunch." She mused as she nursed her own cup. "They're all rather beautiful aren't they?"
Ron, who had been draining the last few drops from his butterbeer bottle, gagged and sprayed butterbeer down his front. "What?"
A disdainful look, "Don't tell me that you haven't noticed before. While wizards and witches are on average more attractive than muggles, Ninjas, I think, though it's not a solid confirmation because we've only seen three, blow the competition right out of the water. I guess it's their magical core being much bigger than ours. Let's face it, they're gorgeous. I even heard from the students who went to the hospital wing that there was a girl ninja with white eyes that was also very pretty. Some are speculating whether they have Veela blood in them. What do you think Harry?"
Well she did make a bit of sense. Naruto had been attracting a lot of fuss and looks once Harry got him to open himself to the public. Neji had all the girls' attention on him when he first made his appearance, so had Shikamaru, the shadow-boy. Hinata no doubt held herself very well. The four of them reminded the young wizard of animals; Naruto as a fox, Neji as a leopard, Shikamaru as a deer, and Hinata as perhaps a kitten. "I think that they all have deliberate movements," he said slowly, carefully choosing his words. "Like they have control of every muscle." Graceful in their movements, fluid. And that even if they look relaxed or unguarded, the slightest provocation could result in something… more.
OoO
Tsunade frowned at the papers on her desk, notably, four specific parchments, thick and antique-looking that held the reports from her four tokubetsu jounins. This mission to the outside world, a magical one at that, seemed to be too strange to her. Some people speculated that a ninja's lifespan was relative to his or her paranoia, and the Godaime's paranoia knew no bounds. Frankly, she couldn't trust wizards.
She saw the glint in the old wizard's, Albus Dumbledore, eyes when he came asking her for help, idly fingering that stick of his. She wondered if there are any magical jutsus that can erase memories… Sure the wizard looked harmless, acted harmless, benevolent even, and felt almost harmless. But that was the thing, almost didn't cut it, he wasn't suppressing his power enough, and that fact unnerved her sense of self-preservation. One does not want to tick off a man like Dumbedore.
Her headaches were getting worse ever since the wizard had walked through her door. Skewering the diamond on her forehead between two fingers, she wondered how in the world she was talked into this mission. Why didn't the client go to another country? Kumo and Kiri both held reputable ninjas. And yet, Dumbledore claimed that he was calling in a personal favor, promised and vowed by the Sandaime's own chakra, which was no laughing matter. Her mentor's own power, however dead he was, became a binding contract that she had no idea existed. "Damn you two old men…" Dumbledore probably thought that with the contract, he would have more control over her ninjas.
Her ninjas.
Which would probably be true if one thought about it; she couldn't afford to have a chakra-binding promise messed up. The burden would be placed back onto her shoulders, double the weight, if she failed to meet the terms.
She cleared some papers and stacked them into a small pile. On top was a scroll handwritten by the Godaime Kazekage- Gaara who, having received the news as to where his friends went, asked if he could lend some assistance and maybe offer up his brother. Tsunade decided to turn down his help politely.
She picked up the first of the four reports from the outside world- from Hyuuga Neji, and scanned the contents. 'Spying at night… secret rendezvous with the minister or an inside worker… Hyuuga branch member detained by the magic people…'
'Oh hell.' Her hand instinctively crept toward the 'secret' space underneath her desk, only to grasp air.
No sake. Damn.
"Shizune!"
Chapter Seventeen: Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four
Having designated a bunshin to watch Harry, Naruto was lazing around with the Thestrals who had taking a liking to his presence, probably because he always came bearing gifts, big meaty, fleshy gifts. "Sorry that I had to be away for so long. Here's some more food, Moo-chan." He handed the rotten cow leg over to one of the horses and watched contently as she greedily tore into it.
Sighing, he leaned against one of the larger pumpkins and propped his head up with his arms. The meeting last night with the rest of the group had been enlightening, especially when Neji and Shikamaru reported their findings. The Ministry of Magic seemed to be a corrupt government and the primary ruling body of magical England. Voldemort-san lead a faction that's views favored the old magic families and used violence to get whatever they desired. Dumbledore-sama also lead his own small band of followers against the other two, the latter in particular, and Potter-san was an honorary member of this group. Each of the outer world's political factions was mirrored within this school.
"Dumbledore-sama has been keeping this information from us, and it's troublesome for us to find it all out on our own." Shikamaru had grumbled. "He's treading on the line between tolerance and the breach of shinobi-client etiquette."
Neji's had been perusing through recent mail between the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, "They have a Hyuuga in their custody in a Mystery Department. From what I read, it looks like they were experimenting on him." Hinata gasped and Neji hurried to comfort her, "It was only a branch-member." Hinata was not consoled. "Also, Dumbledore's correspondence showed an unusual amount of curiosity about our kind of people."
"W-What information did he ask for?"
"Our manipulation of chakra, which we know that no wizard can do because their reserves are pitifully small and they need a stick to help them." The older Hyuuga sneered in disgust, " Other than our power levels, we are capable of… creating," a glance toward Naruto, "demon-containers."
Said jinchuuriki paled, "No way, how did he find out?"
"I don't think he did. But I think Dumbledore-sama sees that as a way of obtaining greater chakra or magical reserves." Neji dropped his written report onto the desk by Hinata's report, which detailed injuries and potion ingredients.
"He's manipulative, that's for sure, even if it's for the greater good, he is very manipulative," Shikamaru muttered, delicately rubbing his temples. "What a drag. I say that we still lay low; our information network still leaves a lot to be desired. As long as he doesn't know much about us, we can keep searching for their secrets. But," a small pause, "weren't there any security measures or recorders around Dumbledore-sama's desk?"
"A phoenix spotted me a couple weeks back, but so far nothing had come from it. Dumbledore may or may not know, I don't know if he can communicate with the creature, but he has no motives to let me continue. I think that, had known that I was spying on him, he would've caught me and used me as blackmail against the rest of you," the Hyuuga prodigy concluded.
"Please be careful, Neji-kun," Hinata whispered softly. "We are in a d-delicate situation between the Ministry and Dumbledore, any small shift can radically tip the scales in either one's favor. I'm s-scared to think what will happen once Voldemort enters into our life." Neji nodded curtly, giving a gentle smile.
"We'll deal with it once we get there," Shikamaru said and stood up, dropping his report also onto the desk. "Dumbledore-sama has established himself as an ally, in that he will not directly attack us, so we can be assured that he will not hurt us… at least physically. Now we need to wait. After Naruto sends these off to Hokage-sama, we're going down into the Requirement Room to train. I want to keep our routines up: Neji will be gathering information and patrolling the outside grounds at night, Hinata will be at the Hospital Wing, and Naruto will continue to befriend those magic people, namely the Boy-Who-Lived. Nothing's to change. Clear?"
"Hai." Everyone affirmed.
"Naruto!" A frantic voice snapped the ninja out of his daydream. Harry came barreling down the field with something white and feathery cradled in his arms. It was a cute, pretty snowy owl with a broken wing. "Hedwig's injured. Do you know where Professor Grubbly-Plank is?" He asked urgently.
"Ano," his face scrunched up, "I think I saw her in McGonagall's room."
"Great. Thanks."
The young wizard turned to leave "Matte! Potter-san!" and stopped. He slowly turned around. Naruto was holding up a familiar looking sign with the words, "Neji-kun gave me a small message to pass onto you." The sign was Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four. "He says to you, 'I told you your security was weak. Next time, I would like my words to be trusted with more weight.'" A shrug, "Gomen."
OoO
Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he settled in the shadows of the dungeons where Professor Snape began to teach. Umbridge had decided to inspect the class for today. Lucky me,' he thought. After his last stunt of trapping Umbridge with his kagemane, he really did not want to have a repeat performance or even to meet with her. Kami, the woman was like poison; the sweet-tangy-slow death type of poison. He watched as the woman asked the teacher some questions regarding his previous failures of getting a specific teaching post.
"You applied first for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?" Professor Umbridge asked Snape.
"Yes," said Snape quietly.
"But you were unsuccessful?"
Snape's lip curled, "Obviously."
Professor Umbridge scribbled on her clipboard.
"And you have applied regularly for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post since you first joined the school, I believe?"
"Yes," said Snape quietly, barely moving his lips. He looked very angry.
"Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has consistently refused to appoint you?" asked Umbridge.
"I suggest you ask him," said Sanpe jerkily.
"Oh I shall," said Professor Umbridge with a sweet smile.
Shikamaru broke off his concentration to muse in his own thoughts. Was this another piece of information that was vital but yet not told to him? Snape seemed pretty determined to get the post for the Defense class, but Dumbledore seemed just as determined to keep him the Potions Master. There was probably some magic surrounding the post, maybe it was that curse that the students were whispering about in the halls, how no DADA professor could stay for more than one year. But if Snape knew about the curse, then why did he keep applying for the job, year after year?
Unless, Severus Snape was showing a passive desire to leave the school. The Headmaster wanted to keep Snape within the castle walls; Snape wants out. How interesting. Shikamaru stored the information into his mind to reanalyze later.
OoO
Hyuuga Hinata had, in fact, been getting more strange looks everyday. She speculated it was because she was healing broken bones without the use of a magic stick. She also speculated that magic folks in general were a very nosy bunch. Apparently, since she was in 'their territory,' their expectation was for her to answer their every single question. "Why are your eyes white?" "Can you see?" "Is healing people all you do?" "How is it living in perfect harmony with muggles?" "What powers do you have?" "How are the other ninjas?" "Where do you live?" "What's your name?" and lately, "Are you related to that Neji guy?" and "Have you ever killed?"
The questions were grating, and so far she had only offered a few safe answers. After all, the academy made sure to teach wannabe-genins how to run circles around more direct questions, a way to deal with overly inquisitive clients. So she had just smiled benevolently as she healed their bruises, broken bones, sore muscles, bites, and burns while saying that yes, her name is Hyuuga Hinata and yes, Hyuuga is her surname and yes, she is Neji's cousin. She then would become very descriptive about Konohakagure and each individual's personality quirks and would then give little anecdotes of her childhood and the more common D and C rank missions. And by the time she was finished healing them, she would give the students a pat on the head or on the shoulder, depending on their age, and shoo them off while Madam Pomfrey watched amusedly.
A boy her age would often visit her and she was unsure whether he wanted to be friends or wanted to woo her into some odd Britain dating schematics. Father had never instructed her in the lessons of wizard-courtship. She was wary, and, if someone made her admit it, a tad paranoid, but Draco Malfoy seemed nice enough, even if Shikamaru-kun had warned her about him and people like him, so she'd let him stick around for the time being.
Because, ah, what was the saying that these wizards said? "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer."
And so, she nodded and laughed at the appropriate times when Malfoy told an interesting story of Umbridge-san inspecting the staff. Today, Snape-san was the victim and it was unfortunate because Snape-san was, under the rough exterior, a really nice man, and reminded her of Neji actually. The Slytherin was very amiable and it felt nice to have someone conversing with her as a normal friend, even if his eyes spoke of a something more sinister. "-at's the thing Hinata." Malfoy said earnestly, "You have to integrate yourself with the right crowd before you get hurt."
She continued to grind her herbs into a paste as the wizard switched from Umbridge inspecting the students to Umbridge inspecting the school's fireplaces and catching a Sirius Black.
Chapter Eighteen: Dumbledore's Army
Harry's scar began to tingle again, as it had since Voldemort's rise last June. 'Voldemort… Umbridge… ' It was imperative for him to prepare the world for the incoming danger, no matter how unsecretive his efforts had been, according to Sirius last night. 'Secretive… Neji…' He gritted his teeth to push down the dislike bubbling for that ninja, 'What an arsehole.' He double-checked the Marauder's Map to make sure that the important people, Umbridge, Filch, and his cat, were still in their respective locations and away from the seventh floor. "Okay," said Harry quietly, while a moth-eaten troll paused in his relentless clubbing of the would-be ballet teacher to watch. "Dobby said to walk past this bit of wall three times, concentrating hard on what we need."
They did so, turning sharply at the window just beyond the blank stretch of wall, then at the man-size vase on its other side. Ron had screwed up his eyes in concentration. Hermione was whispering something underneath her breath; Harry's fists were clenched as he stared ahead of him. 'We need somewhere to learn to fight…' he thought, 'Just give us a place to practice… somewhere they can't find us.'
"Harry," said Hermione sharply, as they wheeled around after their third walk past. A highly polished door had appeared in the wall. Ron was staring at it, looking slightly wary. Harry reached out, seized the brass handle, pulled open the door, and immediately ducked as a knife flew over his head in a straight line trajectory.
Naruto appeared right in front of the trio apologizing profusely, "Gomen! Gomen nasai! Why you didn't knock! You could have been… Gomen nasai!" He fretted, running this way and that, making sure that the wizards didn't have any injuries, "Err, it would've only sliced your cheek. Gomen! Go-"
"Naruto-kun," Another girl with white eyes and long black hair placed a hand on her companion's shoulder, effectively silencing him, "What is done is done. I think we should let them in." She turned towards them and bowing deeply said, "I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name is Hinata Hyuuga."
Hermione was the first one to recover, "Oh right. I'm Hermione Granger. This is Ron Weasley and that is Harry Potter." Hinata nodded to each of them in turn, maintaining eye contact with the last one, before stepping aside and allowing them to pass into a spacious room with flickering torches like those that illuminated the dungeons eight floors below.
Cautiously, Naruto walked up to Harry, rubbing the back of his head, "Forgive me? It was an accident. Heh." And did a squinty-eyed smile. The wizard smiled back to show that the incident was long passed and the ninja, relieved, bounded over to Hermione who was running a finger along the spines of the large leather-bound tomes on the shelves.
"Blimey," Ron muttered in awe as he came up behind Harry and elbowed him sharply, "Did you see what they were doing right after you opened the door? The girl was doing some sort of attack with glowing hands and then Naruto back flipped and threw that knife." His thumb jerked toward the wall behind them where the weapon was firmly embedded.
"It's called a kunai," Naruto irritably yelled from the other side of the room. Ron froze, unaware that he could be overheard and flushed as red as his hair. The two boys walked cautiously over to their bushy-haired friend who was chatting animatedly with Hinata.
A closer inspection of the room revealed that the walls were lined with wooden bookcases, and instead of chairs there were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors, and a large, cracked Foe-Glass that Harry was sure had hung, the previous year, in the fake Moody's office.
"-contents in the room sometimes change when you're here?" The brunette was deep in her conversation with the female ninja, "Oh wow, I have no clue how that happens. Maybe some people walk past this room with a need but they don't pass three times and so the room only semi-forms the needed equipment and then disappears on its own. I guess that explains the fact that you and Naruto ignored the room when it started forming," she gestured at the bookshelves, "these."
"Yes." Hinata replied softly, "It happens rarely though and I don't think you have to worry about your own stuff disappearing until the other person's needs are wholly formed. Still, it's a nice place, very convenient." The other girl nodded and without further ado, she slid Jinxes for the Jinxed from the shelf, sank onto the nearest cushion, and began to read.
There was a gentle knock on the door. Harry looked around; Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati and Dean had arrived. The Boy-Who-Lived grinned happily in greeting and turned around to introduce the two ninjas to the newcomers ... the newcomers to the ninjas who had ... disappeared.
OoO
"And this is how wizards train: pointing wands and saying gibberish? It's," a dramatic pause for breath, "disappointing. Right, Hinata-chan?"
The Hyuuga heiress sighed and readjusted the genjutsu surrounding them, adding another fake layer over the illusion. "It's how they o-operate, N-naruto-kun," she explained, dropping her diplomatic façade and reverting back to her mild stuttering. "I don't think they're used to any other way."
"It's just really sad," Naruto winced as he saw Harry half-heartedly congratulated Longbottom for disarming him, though it was one of the weakest spells he saw casted in the room. "They're in it for their own way, their wizarding-way, similar to ninja-way. But they're so easy to kill." The last three words were set in a whining sort of tone.
"You're g-going to have to get used t-to it."
The boy hummed his displeasure, tapping his foot on the stone floor, waiting for this magical training to be done with so his own training could resume.
Chapter Nineteen: The Lion and the Serpent
But through it all, Naruto couldn't help but sympathize with Potter. In many ways they were similar- determination, drive, courage, and he could see himself reflected in those green eyes, especially when shit started happening, like that broom flying game that everyone in the castle had reverently called 'Quidditch' drew nearer. Potter, that other dark-skinned girl that looked like she could pass for Kirabi's sister, and the rest of the broom team were doing almost daily practices. The rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor was so intense that he was surprised at the lack of bloodshed and dead bodies. Although there had been a couple squabbles in the halls, like that girl who got hit by that hex that made her eyebrows super thick. The tension was so thick that he trailed Harry at a very respectable distance, careful not to get tangled up in these mini-fights.
And when Potter's team did practice, the green team would come onto the field and start mocking the red team about their hair, family, money, looking stupid, etc. Strangely enough, the only person who was affected by the insults was Potter's best friend, who would turn either a delicate shade of green or red up to his ears. Weasley didn't have much talent or experience, but he didn't lack in potential that was just bubbling underneath. Too bad he was letting the intimidation and jeering get to him.
'In fact,' he thought as he observed the game days later through the cracks of his fingers, standing on the top row of the bleachers, 'it hurts to watch. And to hear.' He added as an afterthought as the song that the Slytherins were singing gradually made its way up to his ears.
Weasley cannot save a thing. He cannot block a single ring.
That's why the Slytherins all sing. Weasley is our King.
"This is too troublesome," Shikamaru muttered though the earpiece as said Weasley allowed the red ball to pass him once again.
Weasley was born in a bin. He always lets the Quaffle in.
Weasley will make sure we win. Weasley is our King.
"Fox to Shadow, I hear you loud and clear." He replied, irritated at the fearful looks some of the younger Hufflepuffs were shooting at him. Leaning back on the wall behind him, he crossed his arms and relaxed his body.
Weasley is our King. Weasley is our King.
He always lets the Quaffle in. Weasley is our King.
"Yes, be careful. With the whole school so agitated, something's going to happen. I know it." The group leader warned before breaking the connection. Naruto sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets, waiting for the end of the match, hoping that someone would just catch that little flying gold ball already. How hard could it be? The Slytherins' singing was so loud that the ninja couldn't even hear the announcer over the mic.
Weasley is our King. Weasley cannot save a thing.
That's why the Slytherins all sing. Weasley is our King.
He got to give the Slytherins credit for this ploy, as it was super cunning and all. And the funny thing was, once you hear the tune over and over, it got kind of catchy. It was the sort of tune he would hum while skipping merrily to class.
Suddenly, the Gryffindor side of the stands started cheering hysterically. Squinting his eyes, he saw Harry pulling up from a dive, holding the struggling ball in his hand. The Gryffindor spectators screamed their approval, while the Slytherins looked like they had been forced to swallow lemons.
Wham! A bludger hit Harry squarely in the small of the back and he flew forward off his broom; Naruto made a move forward before realizing that Harry was only five or six feet above the ground, having dived so low to catch that small, golden ball, but he appeared winded all the same as he landed flat on his back on the frozen pitch. Naruto contemplated whether he should offer some assistance, but it looked like the boy was taken care of enough by his own classmates. The Gryffindors booed and hissed.
'Gryffindors,' he thought as he watched passively, like he was reading the newspaper, 'are an interesting bunch, more hot-headed. I think that if I ever was 'sorted' in this school, I would belong to them.' He watched Potter's rival, that pale blond boy who Shikamaru had identified as Draco Malfoy come up and start spitting out more insults. Pity that he didn't learn how to read lips like Hinata-chan, it would've come in handy about now. But the reactions from the Gryffindors were unmistakable as Potter and a red head, one of the Weasleys, threw themselves at Malfoy, only to be frozen by that hawk-like broom teacher.
The teacher sent Potter and his friend away. The Gryffindors' boos were louder and more obnoxious. The Slytherins started throwing insults across the stadium. Malfoy got up and brushed away imaginary dust from his shoulders.
A crack in his ear signified connection, "Shadow to all. I want to keep a close watch on both of the houses this evening, until the hostilities die down. Everyone's to report in the Great Hall or trailing either the green house or the red house."
"Spiral to Shadow," Neji's groggily voice came through. Poor guy, he probably just woke up. "If there are such hostilities, what specific actions do we take to maintain the peace?"
Shikamaru thoughtfully said, "If a full riot escalates, we help the staff. If the staff cannot assist, we use standard procedure. If there is a specific fight between Potter and the Slytherins, I highly doubt that the staff will be quick enough to stop any damage. We'll just come in with a threatening stance, take no action, and stall for the teachers to come over themselves. Try not to show any powers that we haven't already displayed. We already have enough attention."
"Stupid, I tell you," Neji grumbled uncharacteristically. "Why do I… where the hell are my clothes?"
"In the bottom d-drawers, Neji-kun." Hinata helpfully advised. "But all of your shirts are in the dirty-laundry hamper. You c-can just take one of the c-cleaner ones."
There was some shuffling in the earpiece before a low shout of triumph from the elder Hyuuga.
Awkward silence. "… Okay." Naruto drawled out, "Fox to all, I'm cutting off."
OoO
Harry angrily stabbed at his vegetables, imagining they were Umbridge's ugly visage, fuming. 'Banned from Quidditch. Bloody hell.' The rest of the Gryffindors were in solemn mood, like Death was knocking on the portrait of the Fat Lady. There were some sympathetic looks from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff but the Slytherins were ecstatic and kept snickering, whispering, and pointing in Harry's direction, the twins having excused themselves earlier to give the bad news to their captain, who hadn't been told yet.
'Angelina's going to blow a casket once she hears this.' Ron patted his best friends back and tried to offer consolation, "It could have been worse, mate."
"How?" Harry deadpanned.
"She could have expelled you."
Frustrated, Harry didn't reply and concentrated on his turkey. 'Bloody. Evil. Mad.' Hermione looked like she was going to berate him for his table manners but thought better of it. A hoard of scenarios formed in his mind, how to get revenge on Umbridge, 'Evil. Evil. Toad.' Fire burned in his stomach. A ripple of worry washed over the table and over the entire Great Hall, someone walked over.
"Hello, Potter." Recognizing the voice, Harry fought back the urge to groan, to spit an insult, or to launch an attack; no doubt that Umbridge was watching like a hawk. Instead, he slowly placed his knife and fork and forced his face to assume a blank stare and shoved his emotions down, similar to what he did at his detention where he was writing lines.
"Malfoy," he gritted out.
The blond boy, flanked, as always, by Crabbe and Goyle, smirked, "Such a shame Potty, eh? How does it feel to be kicked off the team?"
Harry sighed tiredly, running a hand through his hair, and went back to his peas. "Go away, Malfoy," he muttered darkly. But the other was enjoying the scene way too much. The Slytherins were watching with rapt attention. Harry stole a glance at the staff's table, why weren't they doing anything? All of them, save Umbridge and Snape, who were monitoring the conversation, were pretending to be engrossed at their own conversations. Dumbledore and McGonagall both had unreadable expressions and refused to look him in the eye. A stab of betrayal, is this how they were going to treat him in the future? Is he, Harry Potter, going to be thrown out to the wolves?
"I don't even know why you and Weasel were angry. After all, I did speak the truth didn't I?" Crabbe and Goyle started snickering. His hands were gripping the table hard in an effort to control himself.
Ron glared at Malfoy with such intense hatred that the blond, for the first time, didn't goad him into the conversation, and settled for only harassing Harry. The only thing keeping Ron from attacking was the warning glances from the rest of the Quidditch team. Hermione looked torn and settled for whispering, "Don't do anything, she's watching and you might really get expelled this time." Getting expelled was starting to sound like a very good idea, if only it would give him one good chance to hex Malfoy and Umbridge to oblivion. The Slytherin, thankfully, didn't hear.
"It's true, Gryffindors are too reckless. They crash headfirst into any disaster, which must mean you have a very low level of intelligence." More mocking laughter. "Talk to me Potty, I'm wondering what you're thinking right now. That is, if you can."
The raging fire in Harry's chest finally made itself known when he stood up and spat out, "I reckon that Slytherins are even more bloody stupid than Gryffindors."
Pale blue eyes fired up, "And what do you mean by that?"
Harry fingered his wand in his back pocket, Moody's voice suddenly coming to the forefront of his mind, "Better wizards have lost buttocks, you know!" and wondered how fast he could draw out his wand in defense. The Great Hall was silent and he didn't take his eyes off of his opponent.
'To the D.A. members: lesson of the day- Constant Vigilance.' He thought and loudly said, "Think about it, the general population of the Slytherins ally themselves to Voldemort," ignored the flinch at the word, "in the name of blood purity. But Voldemort himself is a half-blood. Muggle father, witch mother- I'm more pure than he is. If that isn't the most bloody stupidest thing ever…" He lowered his voice, "And to think that your father kisses the robe hems of a-"
"You're lying!" In a flash, the Malfoy scion whipped out his wand and pointed, his mouth opened to scream a curse. Harry's wand was halfway out, too slow. People around him were too stunned to help; he was going to get hit at point blank.
Then, a small gust of wind blew, screams of surprise, and he was forced down onto the bench in an ungainly sprawl. "Kagemane no Jutsu: success," a lazy voice stated. Draco's eyes widened as he felt a forceful tug at his hair, yanking his head back, and two cold, metal blades at his neck from two different directions; he realized that he couldn't move and couldn't scream. Harry blinked… and blinked again, in shock and hands limp, he didn't notice his wand missing from his grip. 'That could not have been apparation,' he thought dazedly, as struggled to sit up and looked out from behind Hinata. 'She pushed me down? That felt more like Hagrid than a girl.' She stood with her body blocking Harry, blades drawn. Neji stood at the Slytherin's right, hand clutching a fistful of short, yellow strands, while Naruto was behind with his arm angled, kunai also at the throat, poised to slash. Shikamaru stood a few feet away at a crouch, his shadow stretching from him to his victim, hands in the same position when he trapped Umbridge during that fateful Defense class. All four of them were wearing the same none descript cloaks that were the same color as the castle walls.
Naruto laughed outright, leaning forward, breath ghosting along the victim's cheek. "Malfoy-san right? Drop wand… now," he ordered cheerfully, leaving the last word with lots of connotations of an unsaid 'or else.' Hand slackened, the wand fell to the ground, clattering echoed through the silent Great Hall. The terrified boy's legs were shaking; a small whimper escaped from his throat. The only one of the four who showed any emotions, was Naruto, and he looked like he was thoroughly enjoying what he was doing.
Snape stood up with his own wand drawn, eyes blazing with a sort of heat. Harry wondered whether he was furious or frightened. Hinata's eyes began to throb, there was no other word to describe it, and she whispered something to the other ninjas. Naruto turned his head, narrowed his eyes, single hand moving in different poses. Another Naruto popped into existence from thin air. The nearest students shrieked in surprise and some fell back. The other Naruto pulled out some sharp looking metal stars, pulled his arm back, and was about to flick them at the Potion teacher when-
Dumbledore stood up, projecting an air of calm and benevolence around him, students and staff alike began to relax. The old man held up a single hand. "Release him. I'm sure Mr. Malfoy meant no harm. This is a school; I don't want any violence here." And another wave of power rippled through, students shivered, and teachers looked pale, three of the ninjas didn't flinch, the Naruto, who was still holding onto Malfoy's hair, twitched once but he didn't look impressed.
"The mission state we had prerogatives to-" He retorted hotly, looking annoyed. Harry looked over, Naruto's eyes were turning from a sky blue to bleeding purple.
"I'm well aware of the task I gave you." The Headmaster smoothly interrupted, "and I would be very disappointed if any blood was spilt tonight." The fair haired ninja gave a squinty-eyed frown towards the staff table and cocked his head to the right. The aged wizard sighed wearily, "Severus, stand down." Professor Snape shot one last glare and immediately sat down. The Naruto-clone, who hadn't moved since Dumbledore stood, stuck his tongue out and popped in a cloud of smoke.
Neji, whose eyes were also throbbing, sighed and muttered something to his companions in Japanese. Shikamaru slowly stood up, his shadow retreating back under his feet. Hinata spoke to Neji in more Japanese and their eyes simultaneously returned to normal. Harry was shocked when Hinata turned to him and handed his wand back with a small bow, never having realized it was missing. All three of them disappeared in a small whirlwind of leaves. The remaining ninja didn't look bothered that he was alone, and flipped the kunai in the air and tucked it into his cloak.
Immediately, Draco grabbed his wand and retreated quickly back to his own table. Naruto looked a bit puzzled by Malfoy's quick escape, eyes fading from purple to blue. Then he shrugged, seemly immune to all the stares that he was getting, moved his hands in a pattern, muttered something, and he too disappeared in a small gust of leaves.
The Great Hall exploded into a flurry of action and sound, mostly along the lines of, 'What just happened?' Some students were scared, some were curious, and more than a handful were suspicious. Some of the younger students were whispering that the Naruto-clone was physical, that they had touched it.
"I felt it! I took a handful of its cloak!"
"The bottom of the cloak brushed against my knee, no joke!"
It seemed too unbelievable, but all the students that had been near the duplicate told the same story. There had been two Naruto's in the Great Hall at the same time. What did this mean? Could one ninja make an entire army of itself? Such power was at these ninjas' fingertips, what else can they do? Can these powers be used by wizards and witches? After all, both have magic.
The Headmaster once again was in a deep conversation with his colleagues, speaking quickly as if giving out orders. The Gryffindor head's lips were drawn into a thin line. The Slytherin head's skin took on an ashy white. Umbridge finally collected herself enough to pull out a familiar looking notepad, writing down her observations. -Can't control the ninjas- highly dangerous- take action- and resolved to send a letter to the Minister.
The Golden Trio exchanged looks and unanimously agreed that they would talk about this later at night in the privacy of their common room.
OoO
"Well this is fucked up. We're fucked up right now."
"Naruto, shut up, I'm trying to think."
"They probably are going to kick us out or something real bad. If they haven't already decided to capture us and take us for study, do you think they'll do that? I mean-"
"Naruto. Shut up."
"… Neji said that Dumbledore's looking for a way to increase magical cores. That means that Dumbledore is going to use us to experiment, like that branch Hyuuga-"
"I never said that."
"They know what w-we can do now; just a small b-bit and they're really scared."
"I could smell their fear."
"It had been fine before. Before, deep down, they thought that they could contain us but Naruto here-"
"Hey!"
"-decided to use something like Kagebunshin. Great job, why don't you just smash a Rasengan into the floor while you're at it? Or shoot off a Suiryuudan to the ceiling? We'll be getting recruitment papers shortly. It's the middle of a war, dumbass! Just count yourself lucky that the protections around the Ninja Continent are updated so that no outsiders can get in again or else other ninjas would be forced into this mess."
Pause.
"Naruto, stop walking in circles, you're making me dizzy."
Pause.
"So the cat is out of the bag."
"We need to know people's opinion of us. We already memorized the basic stats of the students, but now this has turned into something more personal. See who's in power in the government, see what the government thinks of us- not counting Umbridge- see what the staff thinks of us, not counting Dumbledore, see what that Voldemort man thinks of us. We need more information."
Pause.
"Tsunade's g-going to be mad at us. R-Remember that update she gave us yesterday? We weren't s-supposed to show any more powers."
"…Yeah. But we needed to!"
"Why kagebunshin, Naruto? It could've been a bunshin for intimidation, people would've realized later that it was an illusion. Why kagebunshin? Why? You know that Dumbledore can't afford to have us on the defensive against his own people."
"Stop shaking me so hard! I used kagebunshin because Snape was going to attack us! Didn't you see? And it's too bad because I actually kind of like that guy. Hinata told me. Mr. Snape was going to… oh"
"He wouldn't dare to hurt us. He knows about our reputation, it was a mere-"
"Ok, ok, I get it. I messed up badly didn't I?"
"…Tsunade's going to b-be really m-mad."
