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Okay, so as some people have reminded me, George's ear has been severed off. I would like to lie and say that I was planning on bringing that up in this chapter, but sadly I can't. I'm going to blame my custodial job—the chemical fumes were getting to me. XD Anyways, please accept my humblest apologies and let's move on shall we? It shall be addressed here in this chapter.
But before we do that, how about those lucky people who caught the special reviews? I honestly must have been pretty out of it, so I apologize for the delay. Ice Vixen X snagged the 100th review and wants something that shall be addressed later (don't wanna spoil it for you now), silverwind-39 got the 150th and wants Gaara to cheer up Naruto in a brotherly way (shall be addressed below), and xStarlifShadows got the 300th review and will get a Kakashi plushie! Azalie-Kauriu and kailinne arami still need to tell me what they want!
Okay, so I really want to apologize for taking so long to update. :( I know I said that I wanted to have the next chapter out by the end of October but too many things got in the way and I'm incredibly busy, so I'M SORRY! To make up for it I made this chapter super awesome and long! (In order to get it out quickly this is unbeta-ed, so please forgive any mistakes and if you notice anything I won't be offended if you point it out) That being said though . . . I'm probably not going to update anything until after my finals are over in December. I feel horrible, but I need to put my studies first in my life or there will be serious consequences. Thanks for being so patient!
The shinobi woke up earlier than most of the wizards and quickly set about helping a flustered Mrs. Weasley prepare breakfast. Harry and Ron were the last to come down. The shinobi waited patiently as everyone handed out their presents to Harry, who seemed rather touched by what he received as well as uncomfortable.
"Here are the necklaces," Kakashi said as he handed the three of them back to their respective owner.
"Thanks." As Harry put his around his neck he felt relieved at the familiarity of the energy resting against his skin. He had become rather accustomed to it over the past two years, it being strangely comforting. Not to mention the fact that the stored energy was a great asset during the incident in the Department of Mysteries. The necklaces had kept them going when their strength faltered and Ron's may have possibly saved his life.
For reasons unknown to them, it prevented the brain from doing whatever it would have done to him. As the tendrils lashed out and melded with Ron's skin the necklace vibrated and glowed before shooting a blue beam at the brain, eventually causing it to explode. Ron's necklace lost all the excess energy after that incident, but it was a fair trade since none of them knew what that brain could have done.
"This is from me," Naruto said sheepishly, handing over some kunai and shuriken. "If I had known I would have been able to get you something better."
Harry smiled. "That's fine—I really appreciate it."
Gaara quickly deposited something into Harry's hands, as if he were embarrassed by it. Harry brought the object up to his face and gasped. "Snuffles," Gaara mumbled. It was a beautifully made, black dog figurine that closely resembled Sirius in his Animagus form.
"H-how did you make it?"
A shrug. "I just used some strong minerals in the earth." He had used the past two years to perfect the skill. It was all part of one of Temari's ploys to get him to be accepted by the villagers. A few handmade toys to certain children now and then easily made him very popular amongst the youngest generation.
"It's beautiful," Harry said softly. "Thank you."
Sakura then stepped forward. "Well, I don't really know you all that well, but I figured you could use this on your trip." She held out a small, circular container. "It's an herbal salve that can help soothe the pain of injuries."
Harry beamed. "Yeah, this could really help. Thanks!"
Now it was Kankuro's turn. It was obvious he was quite excited to give his present. "This is some of my best poison, man! I made it myself, so there's little chance any of those Death Eater guys being able to cure it. You just gotta put the tip of a kunai in it and that's all you'll need to kill someone in less than three minutes. Oh, and you should have this," he said quickly, not noticing the blanched expression on Harry and Ron's faces, "some antidote in case you accidently get it on yourself!"
He laughed at the thought while Harry and Ron turned green. Mrs. Weasley looked like she was itching to say something but with great willpower held her tongue. It was all she could do to remind herself that the shinobi were brought up differently and that Kankuro's intentions were for their own good and survival. Hermione looked at Kankuro with the same, sad expression she had given the three shinobi during their fourth year. No matter how much she tried to convince herself there was nothing she could do, it still hurt her to know that there were children growing up in that kind of environment.
"Well, I'll uh . . . I'll pack these for you, Harry," Hermione said quickly. "I'm nearly done, just waiting for the rest of your underpants to come out of the wash, Ron—"
The redhead sputtered as Naruto and Kankuro howled with laughter. It was quickly interrupted by Ginny calling out for Harry to present her gift. As he followed the girl up the stairs, Kakashi turned to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
"While we have faith in these protection charms that have been placed around your property," he began, "I think it would be in your best interest to let us set some traps to make sure."
Mrs. Weasley looked horrified at the suggestion. "B-but . . . what if an innocent person is caught—"
"We'll make sure these traps aren't fatal," Kakashi said quickly. "The intent is to capture or at least send warnings that someone is nearby."
"Sounds like an excellent idea," Mr. Weasley said. "Thank you very much." He then turned to his wife and argued the decision with her in silent whispers. The shinobi left quickly.
"Naruto and Gaara, you cover the west perimeter, Sakura the south, Kankuro the east, and I'll take care of the north," Kakashi instructed once they were outside. "Now remember, we run the risk of someone we'd rather not injure being caught so adjust your traps accordingly." The four nodded their assent and body-flickered to their respectable positions.
As they were setting traps, Gaara noticed that Naruto had his mind elsewhere. He kept looking up at the sky and sighing instead of tying the shinobi string to the appropriate places.
"What's wrong, Naruto?"
"Huh? Oh—nothing, nothing at all!" He grinned and focused his attention to the traps.
"I'm not stupid, Naruto. You can't lie to me." Gaara pulled the string out of Naruto's hands with his sand and folded his arms, waiting for the blonde to tell the truth.
Naruto chuckled. "Guess I wasn't able to fool you . . . I miss Jiraiya." His voice broke and a few tears flowed down his face. Naruto hastily wiped them away and stared at his hands. "I've been able to come to terms with his death and I'm going to avenge him once I met Pein . . . but it still hurts."
Gaara nodded and put a hand over his chest. "It hurts here, right? Because you loved him."
"Yeah. But I'm a shinobi and should put him out of my mind," Naruto said angrily. "I'm going to be protecting Harry, Ron, and Hermione so I need to be completely focused on this task. I don't want anything to happen to anyone that I am in charge of."
"That doesn't mean you can't still care for him though." Gaara locked eyes with Naruto. "I . . . may not know as much as you do about these kinds of things," (Gaara averted his eyes sheepishly before looking back up at Naruto) "but what I do know is that you are the most caring person I've met . . . and if you tried to ignore your feelings for Jiraiya . . . then you just wouldn't be Naruto. Not the one that I know."
Naruto was astonished. Of all the people he would have thought to help set him right—he never would have thought it would be Gaara! The genin felt an unusual amount of pride at seeing how much Gaara had grown. "Thanks, Gaara—you're right! I feel a lot better now!"
A small, relieved smile graced Gaara's lips. He hadn't known if his words would mean anything to the blonde, but after all that Naruto had done for him he wanted to try and return the favor. He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and put his arms around Naruto before letting go quickly as if the action burned him. The redhead still wasn't good with hugs and he would have rather not done so, but Naruto was a "touchy-feely" sort of guy and Gaara knew he needed it.
It appeared that Naruto was as surprised by his actions as Gaara was. "Thanks, Gaara," he chuckled. They resumed making the traps.
As night rolled around it was time for Harry's party. With so many people coming, they had decided to move it out to the backyard. Everyone who said they would come did.
"By the way, George," Naruto said as he watched the twins bewitch purple lanterns to levitate around the table, "what happened to your ear? I didn't want to be rude, but . . . "
The one-eared twin laughed and clapped Naruto on the back. "No need to be worried, m'boy! This hole 'tis a mark of bravery! I was lucky to escape with my life after facing the notorious King of Slime himself—Snape!" Naruto's eyes darkened.
"Snape did that to you?" Gaara asked. "How?"
"It happened when we were bringing Harry from his muggle house to a safe place to confuse the Death Eaters," Fred cut in. As he and his brother eagerly explained what happened, Kakashi couldn't help but notice Fred's slightly stiff behavior.
Rather difficult to decipher, but Kakashi could tell by the taut smile and minor narrowing of the eyes that George's injury hurt Fred deeply. It wasn't like the jounin could blame him though; being a twin established a very special and unique bond. He had seen firsthand of the horror and pain that losing one's twin did to a person. The mission in question had been a dangerous one and the surviving brother was never the same since. Ibiki tried his best with the young boy but the grief was so powerful he was later declared mentally unfit to be a shinobi anymore.
"Out of the way, out of the way!" sang Mrs. Weasley, interrupting his thoughts. Everyone marveled at the size of the round, golden cake that she levitated across the lawn.
As everyone happily conversed with one another, Sakura and Kankuro unconsciously moved closer together. All the wizards seemed very kind and were more than willing to accept the two of them without question, but it still left them with an uncomfortable feeling. It was rather alarming to be suddenly thrust into a large crowd of people they didn't know, as well as being in a type of culture they never would have imagined existed.
All the levitating and transforming objects without warning left Sakura feeling skittish. She found it difficult to get used to people waving sticks around and having unnatural things occur. Kankuro simply found the entire concept disconcerting. It just wasn't right that these things could happen. It went against everything he knew for a broken glass bowl to just . . . just put itself back together! Did these people not understand just how wrong it was for these things to be possible?
The brown-haired girl made her way over to them. "How are you doing?" she asked.
Kankuro just shrugged while Sakura laughed nervously. "This really is a lovely party," Sakura said. "I guess this all takes some getting used to though."
Hermione nodded. "I suppose it must be quite a shock to what you're used to. I've heard a lot about your world from Naruto and Gaara."
"What was that thing everyone was mentionin' earlier," Kankuro asked. "Something 'bout a Stinch?"
"A Snitch," Hermione corrected, though not unkindly. "It's from a wizard game called Quidditch."
"What kind of game?" the Suna boy asked.
"Oh, I'm sure you would enjoy it," Hermione said, sighing in spite of herself. "All the boys do. You should probably talk to Harry or Ron about it, they know more than I do."
"What sort of things do you like to do, Hermione?" Sakura asked.
"Mainly study; I feel a well-educated mind is a quality endeavor." Hermione nudged her head in Harry and Ron's direction. "Though over the years I've learned my other hobby is to keep those two out of trouble."
Sakura laughed. "Sounds like what I do."
"I think we'd better start without Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said loudly. For the past ten minutes she had been repeatedly glancing at the gate. "He must have been held up at—oh!" A streak of light came flying across the yard and onto the table. It then transformed into a bright, silvery weasel that stood on its hind legs and spoke with Mr. Weasley's voice.
"Minister of Magic coming with me."
Everyone gasped with astonishment at when had occurred and they stared at the dissolving form in fascination.
"We shouldn't be here," Lupin said quickly. "Harry—I'm sorry—I'll explain another time—" As he grabbed Tonk's hand and ran towards the fence Kakashi turned to the other shinobi.
"It probably would be best if we were out of sight," he said. With a single nod all the shinobi body-flickered out of the way, startling all those who had never seen them do so before.
"How is zat possible?" Mr. Delacour wondered aloud.
The shinobi watched from a distance as the Minister made small talk before walking into the Weasley home with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were all concealed within the trees.
"What do you suppose he wants?" Naruto asked.
"It can't be good, whatever it is," Sakura said. She had no idea what a Minister was, but the man gave off a bad feeling she couldn't shake.
"He can't be any worse than Fudge," Naruto said darkly. Gaara nodded his assent.
Kankuro grinned. "Should we find out?"
Kakashi spent a few seconds thinking. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. Naruto—you're with me. The rest of you stay here and make sure nothing happens to everyone else."
The two shinobi silently stood hidden near the windows of the living room, observing the discussion between the three young wizards and the Minister. It was mildly intriguing, since it appeared that Dumbledore had left the three of them items in his will. Only when Scrimgeour got to the fourth item did the shinobi find anything worthy in the conversation.
" . . . he killed Mad-Eye Moody, but there's been no word about any of that from the Ministry, has there? And you still expect us to cooperate with you!"
"You go too far!" shouted Scrimgeour, standing up as his hand moved towards his wand. Harry, Hermione, and Ron stood up too, mimicking his moments. Seeing them act so defensively seemed to remind Scrimgeour of his place. He coughed and quickly pocketed his wand. "Now there is one final item," he said, returning to the parchment.
"To Naruto Uzumaki," (Kakashi and Naruto turned to each other in disbelief) "I leave my watch, in the hope that he uses it to stay on time and know where he stands." The Minister then pulled out a large, golden watch. "It is then mentioned that this should be given to Mr. Potter because he knows how to contact Mr. Uzumaki." Harry held out a hand but the Minister didn't move.
"I am curious as to why Dumbledore is giving away such a rare and valuable artifact that he himself made to a boy who was never properly enrolled in Hogwarts and was only seen for a mere nine months out of a year—and hasn't been seen since." There was a pause as Scrimgeour scrutinized each of the wizard's faces. "Why is he giving away something to someone that the Ministry has been unable to track?"
"Maybe he keeps getting lost and needs the watch?" Harry said bitterly, still holding out his hand. "That's what it says so I would appreciate it if you would do what is laid out in the will."
The Minister looked like he had enough. "You may wear that scar like a crown, Potter, but it is not up to a seventeen-year-old boy to tell me how to do my job! It's time you learned some respect!"
"It's time you earned it," said Harry.
Kakashi and Naruto watched as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sprinted to the house, eventually arriving in the living room where Scrimgeour appeared embarrassed once again. As he argued one last time with the wizards, the two shinobi mulled over the new predicament.
"Why would Dumbledore include me in his will?" Naruto asked, scratching his head in puzzlement. "How could he tell that I would be here anyway?" Kakashi was at a loss.
"It seems the only explanation is that he somehow—in some way—knew that circumstances would be as they were and that the others would request our help."
"But why me? Why did he give me a watch?"
"That I do not know. It's—" Both fell silent as Scrimgeour rushed out of the house to where he could Disapparate safely and disappeared. Seconds later those who were in the house returned to the party while Kakashi and Naruto followed suit.
"Of all the things to give us, yours is the strangest," Ron said as he examined the watch. "What would you need with a watch anyway?"
"I don't know, but I can't even tell the time with this thing!" Naruto said in frustration. "It has twelve hands and no numbers!"
"The planets are very beautiful, though," Sakura observed as the tiny orbs reflected in her eyes.
"Well, whatever they are, Dumbledore gave them to us, so they must have some purpose," Harry said.
"What I can't get over is how Dumbledore knew to put you in his will, Naruto," Fred said as he lightly tapped the watch.
"Just when you think you understand the man, he goes and pulls something like this." A wry smile tugged at the corners of Mrs. Weasley's mouth.
"Don' think we're meant ter ever know tha', Molly," Hagrid chortled.
By now everyone had spent ten minutes examining the strange objects and Mrs. Weasley was starting to become apprehensive. She announced it was getting late and they quickly sang Happy Birthday and ate some cake before departing their separate ways.
Kakashi watched as Harry tried to discreetly tell Ron and Hermione that they needed to talk. He knew it had something to do with whatever Dumbledore wanted. They still were not privileged to that information, and it was rather bothersome. As much as he prided himself on being a patient shinobi, he rather hated not knowing something.
He had half a mind to eavesdrop on their conversation but he knew that he would only become more confused at this point. In order to fully understand it he would have to hear it from the beginning.
"Naruto." The blonde looked up from his millionth inspection of the watch. "Tomorrow, after the wedding, you need to find out about what Harry and his friends are up to."
"They know I'm just going to report back to you." Naruto put the watch away and lay against his pillow. "They won't tell me until we're gone, you know that."
"Find some way to convince them then, because there's a chance we can help while we're on our respective missions."
"It wouldn't hurt to try," Sakura said.
"Yeah, and if all else fails, you could bug 'em to death until they tell ya!" Kankuro suggested. "Oh wait, you do that naturally." Naruto glared at Kankuro but the effect was lost on him.
Gaara sighed in annoyance. "Shut up and go to sleep."
"Oooo!" Kankuro propped himself on his elbow to stare at his brother better. "Is Gaara tryin' to sleep? Willingly? Man, I gotta see this!" Gaara narrowed his eyes and before Kankuro could say anything more he was lifted by his ankles into the air and tossed a few feet from where the shinobi were sleeping. The brown-haired shinobi was able to land on his feet, but as he walked back over to his sleeping bag he was muttering curses and suggestions as to what Gaara should learn to do with his sand.
"I think Gaara's right," Kakashi said, not even bothering to hide his amusement. "We need our rest for the wedding tomorrow. We'll talk tactics in the morning."
By three o'clock the next afternoon everything and everyone was ready. All the shinobi plus Harry had taken measures to change their appearance. Harry's reason was a given, and the shinobi did not want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves. There was a chance that one of the guests could be reporting to Voldemort and they wanted their arrival in the Wizarding world to remain a secret as long as possible.
Kakashi was the one who had changed the most. His hair was a dead giveaway, and rather than deal with questions about his scar he opted to do a complete henge. Today he was Obito, having chosen to revert back to the henge he used when hanging out with Sirius in Hogsmeade. Kankuro simply laid off the face paint while Sakura changed her pink hair to an auburn color. Apparently more and more people were changing their natural hair color to vibrant colors nowadays, but Kakashi figured it was best that they make it harder for an onlooker to pick her out from a crowd.
Naruto had no need for a henge because Ginny and Hermione covered up his whisker marks with make-up and Mrs. Weasley used some special kind of hair gel to tame his hair. The two witches also covered up Gaara's tattoo and tried their best to make the dark circles around his eyes less pronounced. While his hair was redder than any of the Weasley's, they figured that no one would question it among the throngs of other Weasleys that would be there.
As a final warning, Kakashi instructed the shinobi that they could not—under any circumstances—undo their henge when the guests were around. No matter what happened, they had to keep their appearance a secret.
"Oh, please," Naruto had complained. "This is a wedding. What could go wrong?"
Soon enough guests began arriving, and the shinobi felt rather intimidated by their odd choice in apparel. There were birds fluttering around some of the witches hats! The three who already experienced a taste of wizard fashion were rather immune, but Kankuro and Sakura weren't.
"How long do we have to be here, exactly?" Kankuro whispered. He could handle dangers and murderous enemies, but all he had seen of these wizards so far was not his kind of thing. They used their "magic" for rather unnecessary tasks and he regarded them as weak and lazy. He wanted to see some action!
Despite the rather odd choice in fashion, Sakura was enjoying herself. She had never been to a wedding before (kunoichi lifestyle kind of did that to you) and there weren't many excuses to dress up. Hermione happened to have a spare red dress, having opted to wear the lilac one. It was form-fitting and had a low back with crisscrossing straps. Her hair was too short to do much with it, but she tucked back some of her hair with a red rose.
Naruto's face went beet red when he saw her for the first time and mumbled a compliment about how beautiful she was. Even Kankuro was unable to completely dismiss her, and chose instead to look out the window. Gaara simply nodded at her dress and said it looked nice.
For the males, the dress robes would have been hard to come by but Fred and George came to the rescue with four black extras. Some of them had to be hemmed, but Mrs. Weasley fixed that with a flick of her wand. They seemed to work very well, because there were quite a few girls glancing their way and giggling. Gaara looked rather confused while Kankuro and Naruto took it with pride, though the blonde calmed down after Sakura punched his shoulder.
"How are you, Remus and Tonks?" Kakashi said, bowing to each of them.
They each stared at Kakashi curiously, trying to distinguish him. "I'm sorry, do we . . . know you?"
"Today my name is Obito, though you know me by another undisclosed name." Remus looked confused for a few seconds until he understood.
"The shinobi," he whispered to Tonks.
"Oh! It's nice to see you again, Obito." The three of them walked towards the chairs.
"So, not on speaking terms with the Minister?" Kakashi asked quietly, pretending to be showing Remus the seating plans.
"They're being rather anti-werewolf at the moment, so we figured it wouldn't be good for us to be hanging around."
"I'm sorry about that," Kakashi said. It always distressed him to see prejudice, having been subjected to it growing up. Sadly though, it was one of those constants in life; no matter what dimension you were in.
Gaara had just finished escorting a young Weasley family to their seats with Kankuro when someone called out his name. He turned around and was unable to stop his jaw from dropping in surprise.
"L-Luna?" The young witch was wearing bright yellow robes along with a large sunflower in her hair. Gaara's throat closed up at the sight of her and he quickly swallowed, wondering if he was getting sick or something. But that was impossible! He never got sick.
"I had no idea you were going to be here!" she said happily. Her cheeks were flushed though she didn't appear to be out of breath. "Oh, is this your brother?" she asked, turning her attention to Kankuro. The two shinobi stared at her dumbfounded. No one had ever identified them as brothers at first glance before!
"How could you tell?" Gaara asked.
Luna shrugged. "You look like brothers." Kankuro felt a rush of gratitude and pride at the girl's words. He had no idea who she was, but her observation made him feel oddly proud. It appeared like they had come a long way in the past few years.
"My name is Kankuro," the older shinobi said, bowing at the waist.
"Luna Lovegood. Does this mean Naruto and Kakashi are here as well?" Luna asked.
Gaara nodded. "And a girl named Sakura."
"What brings you here this time?" The two shinobi shared a look, silently trying to figure out how much they could tell her.
"Well, my brother and I as well as Sakura are going to come to Hogwarts, but you need to keep this a secret until term starts, okay?" Gaara said.
"Oh, I can keep a secret," Luna said. She held out a finger. "I got bit by a gnome a few minutes ago, and I've been blessed with some Gernumbli magic." She said this so seriously Kankuro had no idea whether or not to believe her. It all sounded like gibberish to him, but this was another dimension so things were bound to be strange. His younger brother just smiled and nodded.
"Well, it looks like the wedding is about to start, so I'll see you afterwards," Luna said happily, bouncing away.
As Gaara followed her with his eyes, Kankuro observed his brother with a smirk. He had never thought he'd see the day, but there was no denying it. He poked his younger brother playfully. "I saw that."
Gaara blinked in confusion. "Saw what?"
"Awww, come on—you can't hide it from me!"
The Kazekage continued to stare at him bewildered. "Hide what from you?"
"Never mind, forget it." It was no fun teasing a person unless they reacted to it. His poor brother was oblivious to social matters as usual.
"Oi! You might want to sit down, you two!" George called, gesturing to the seats nearby. "Unless you want to be run over by the bride." The Suna brothers quickly took their seats and waited for the procession. They were in the second row behind the twins along with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Naruto, and Sakura. Kakashi was standing off to the side, appearing to admire the beauty of the decorations but those who knew him could tell he was scanning the crowd for potential threats. He made a mental check of all the kunai and shuriken hidden about his person, ready to use them at a moment's notice.
The marriage was a beautiful one, even the shinobi couldn't deny that. Fleur emitted a beautiful glow that encompassed all those near her, Bill's haggard scars seemed to disappear, and the golden bridesmaid dresses made the two girls look like angels. As the wizard up front spoke of their union, a few tears fell down Sakura's face. Naruto was rather alarmed at this but she assured him she was fine. After a quick survey of the crowd, Naruto figured that crying was what woman did at weddings. Only thing he wondered was, why?
" . . . then I declare you bonded for life."
The shinobi gasped in shock as many different things happened at once. Silver stars appeared out of nowhere and fell all over Bill and Fleur; golden balloons burst as exotic birds with tiny, golden bells flew out; their seats rose into the air after they stood up; the marquee transformed into a canopy supported by golden poles; a gleaming dance floor suddenly appeared beneath their feet; and white-clothed tables floated towards the ground along with their chairs as a band began to warm up.
None of the shinobi had seen anything so extravagant before. They merely stood in shock for a few seconds until Fred and George snapped them out of it.
"How 'bout a butterbeer to warm you up?" they chuckled in unison, gesturing to a nearby waiter. Naruto and Gaara eagerly snatched one off the tray while Sakura and Kankuro did so timidly.
"What's a butterbeer?" Sakura asked as she cautiously sniffed the liquid.
"Only the best thing ever!" Naruto proclaimed loudly. He gulped a sizeable amount and sighed in content. "You might want to watch your brother though," Naruto whispered, leaning towards Kankuro. "I think he likes it a little too much." Gaara merely grunted and drank his as well. Kankuro and Sakura glanced at each other and shrugged before sampling it.
"Wow, this is amazing!" Sakura said.
Kankuro smacked his lips. "Tastes a little like sake."
Gaara looked at him in surprise. "Temari would have a fit if she knew you tried sake."
"Oh please—it was just one night after an exhausting A-rank mission. I think I deserved it."
"Come on!" Ron said. "We need to find a table before they're all taken!" Ron lead the way through the empty dance floor. The only open one was near the end with Luna as the only occupant. "Mind if we join you?" Ron asked.
"Oh yes," she said happily. "Daddy's just gone to give Bill and Fleur our present."
"What is it, a lifetime's supply of Gurdyroots?" asked Ron. Hermione aimed a kick at him under the table but hit Harry instead. Naruto muffled his laughter at Harry's pained expression. Within minutes the band began to play, and Bill and Fleur started off the dance. The next two couples were Mr. Weasley with Madame Delacour, and Mrs. Weasley with Fleur's father.
"I like this song," Luna said, swaying to the music in her seat. A few seconds later she stood up and made her way towards the floor, but paused partway. She turned around and looked at Gaara. "Do you want to dance?" Gaara looked rather alarmed at the offer, but gave a curt nod in her direction. Kankuro jabbed his brother playfully in the stomach as he passed by but Gaara ignored him.
Naruto gulped and glanced at Sakura sheepishly. "D-do . . . do you want to dance, Sakura?" The kunoichi looked rather alarmed at his question, but she nodded. Trying to remember how the dance went two years ago, Naruto offered Sakura his arm and the two of them made their way to the dance floor.
"Wow, didn't know they were a couple," Ron teased. Harry laughed. Just then Krum sat down in Luna's vacant seat, causing Ron to tense up.
"Who is that man in the yellow?" the Quidditch player asked.
"That's Xenophilius Lovegood, he's the father of a friend of ours," Ron said stiffly. "Come and dance," he added abruptly to Hermione.
She looked taken back, but pleased too, and got up. They immediately vanished among the growing throng on the dance floor.
"Well, I dunno about you two, but I'm going to find a girl to dance with," Kankuro said with a smirk. He had been to a dance before on a scouting mission (purely for gathering information) and had rather enjoyed the experience. Things appeared to be slightly different here, but no worries. As he skimmed the crowd for a suitable dance partner, he nearly ran into Ginny.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Kankuro," she said.
"You wanna dance?" A bit young for his tastes, but who cared?
She looked at him as if to confirm whether or not he was serious, then smiled when she saw he was. "Sure."
"That's a beautiful dress," Kankuro said once they started dancing. One of the best ways to charm a woman was to shower them with compliments.
"Thank you. And you look nice in your dress robes."
"Thanks. Not what I usually care to wear, but it's okay." Ginny laughed.
"I know what you mean."
Sakura looked around nervously. "Naruto—I don't know how to dance! I've never done it before."
"Just follow me and do what everyone else is doing!" Naruto said happily as the two of them swayed back and forth. "I'm not really that good at it either, but I think I did okay at the Yule Ball."
The kunoichi raised a dangerous eyebrow. "So you've already danced with someone?"
"Y-yeah, but it was just for the Hogwarts dance!" Naruto said quickly as Sakura started to glare at him. "I went with Ginny because there wasn't any other girl I really knew."
"Okay, then."
Gaara and Luna were dancing in relative silence. "So . . . what happened in the last two years?" Gaara asked.
"Quite a lot, actually. I joined 'Dumbledore's Army' and it was a lot of fun. Harry started the club to teach us how to duel and I made some new friends. Then we battled the Death Eaters last school year, and my father is working on duplicating Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. He found some excellent Wrackspurt siphons to use last week. What about you?"
Kakashi moved around the perimeter of the dance floor, perfectly intent to watch and observe. It looked like the twins were too preoccupied with dancing to try that trick on him again. Or maybe they learned their lesson, he thought with a smirk. No matter the reason, he was just overjoyed that he didn't have to dance. Thankfully the girls who saw him were too embarrassed to ask and he preferred it stay that way.
Looks like you would have been really popular with the woman, Obito, Kakashi thought sadly. You wouldn't have any trouble with Rin once she grew out of that school-girl crush.
"You there!" Kakashi frowned and turned towards the source of the noise, unsure if he was the one being addressed. "Yes, you! Now come over here quickly, I'm a hundred and seven and shouldn't be doing things on my own."
The jounin mentally swore. It was Aunt Muriel—the old woman he overheard the Weasley boys talking about. Just by her expression he could tell she was a cranky old hag who cared for no one but herself with a personal hobby of making people miserable. He smirked at the thought of her meeting up with Danzo. It was a match made in heaven.
"What are you smiling at? A man as old as you should have better manners." She narrowed her red-rimmed eyes at Kakashi disapprovingly. "If you were my child I'd bend you over my knee for being so disrespectful. And what's with that hairstyle? You look like you've used too much hair gel. The only thing men need to do with their hair is keep is short, not fix it up like some deranged pop star."
Kakashi resisted the urge to grimace. He had gotten so used to the expressional freedom that his mask provided that he was slipping up. As long as his eyes appeared neutral he had been able to make any face he wanted.
"What do you need, ma'am?" he said, bending at the waist.
"Now that's better. Get me some wine and escort me around the tables. I need to find someone worth talking to." Kakashi employed Obito's signature smile and handed her a glass of wine before offering his arm.
"And what's with that charming smile?" Muriel huffed as she latched onto Kakashi's arm. For someone so old she had quite a grip. It reminded the shinobi of a grindylow. "I'm an old woman and there's no need to try and win me over with your boy band looks. I'm not one of those shallow hussies who will hang on to your every word."
As they walked Kakashi prayed to every god he had ever heard of and some he didn't that she would find a place she wanted to sit. The urge to kill something was becoming too powerful.
Without warning Muriel let out a shrill cackle. "Rita Skeeter? Oh, I love her, always read her!" (Yet another reason to hate the old woman) "Bring me over there, boy." She gestured to a table off to their left and Kakashi quickly did as he was told. To his surprise Harry was seated at the table, apparently discussing something with an old man with cotton-white hair. "She's written a book about Dumbledore, you know!"
"Hello, Muriel," the man said weakly. "Yes, we were just discussing—"
"You there! Give me your chair, I'm a hundred and seven!" A rather unfortunate Weasley cousin jumped from his seat and Muriel plopped down on it with surprising ease. Grateful to finally leave, Kakashi threw Harry a pitying look before taking off.
Overall things were progressing smoothly without incident, and everyone was having a good time. By now most of the young shinobi and wizards decided to take a break from dancing and they sat around at tables strewn throughout the covered area.
That's when all hell broke loose.
A silver lynx suddenly appeared in the middle of the dance floor, and people immediately ceased what they were doing to stare at it. Everything was completely silent as it opened its mouth and spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."
The entire crowd was frozen for a moment as the warning sunk in. The shinobi were the first to snap out of it.
"Everybody get to safety!" Kakashi yelled, his hands already full of kunai and shuriken. A woman screamed and all the guests went crazy. They were running every which way, upturning tables and chairs in their dash to find loved ones. The air was full of people sobbing, yelling, or calling for the names of those they held dear.
Out of nowhere, cloaked and masked figured appeared, firing off curses the instant they arrived. The protective charms had been broken.
Kakashi threw a flurry of weapons at them, managing to hit two of them in the shoulder while the others blocked them with shield charms. He wasn't aiming to kill exactly, because such a thorough and rapid extermination of Death Eaters through non-magical means would surely alert Voldemort to their presence. The best strategy was to maim them enough that they gave up and left. He just hoped the others came to this conclusion.
The most important thing now was to get Harry and the others to safety. "Naruto!" The blonde whipped around. There was a young boy in his arms who was sobbing. "We need to get you to Harry!"
"But this kid can't find his parents!" Naruto argued, pulling the inconsolable boy closer. Kakashi quickly made a bunshin and it took the boy from Naruto's arms before running off.
"Let's go!"
Harry and Hermione were desperately trying to search for Ron amidst the chaos. They ducked to avoid spells that were whizzing about their heads. Hermione was half crying and all the noise was making it difficult for Harry to concentrate. Suddenly, Kakashi and Naruto appeared at their side.
"All four of you need to get out of here!" Kakashi yelled. He was partially distracted by a curse that came their way, but expertly deflected it with a shield charm.
"What about Ron?!" Harry shouted. As if on cue, Gaara appeared next to them with the boy, the two of them arriving in a swirl of sand.
"There! Now you need to get out of here!" Kakashi continued. "We'll hold them off!"
Hermione grabbed Ron's hand while Harry grabbed Naruto's. The blonde turned to Kakashi in protest, but the jounin shook his head. "Be safe." Then Hermione turned on the spot and they disappeared.
Gaara and Kakashi leapt out of the way as a magicked table came crashing down where they were mere seconds before. "Help the guests!" Kakashi ordered. Gaara nodded and took off. Two curses came flying at Kakashi and he flipped backwards in the air to avoid them. When he landed there were two Death Eaters gazing at him stupidly.
Kakashi crossed his arms in an 'X' shape with a kunai in one hand and his wand in the other. He then sent a feral grin their way that made them tremble like children.
They were in for it.
"SHANNARO!" As the blonde Death Eater soared through the air, his companion and even nearby fleeing guests turned around to look at Sakura. When they saw who had punched the man their mouths dropped open comically. There was no way that girl in the red dress could have done that! She was half his size!
Yet there was no denying it. Her arms and legs were thrust out in a combative stance and there was a mischievous smirk on her face that many onlookers had never seen on a girl before.
The second Death Eater grit his teeth before sending numerous nonverbal spells her way. She dodged them with the grace of an acrobat and landed on the canopy, actually hanging upside down. That seemed to push her opponent over the edge. He aimed his wand at the canopy and yelled, "Incendio!" Flames shot from his wand tip and they quickly enveloped the canopy. Sakura jumped to the ground and looked up at it in worry. She had to do something fast or else the entire canopy would fall on innocent people. If only she knew some water jutsu! Though, even if she did, it wouldn't do any good because the only liquids she could see were spilt butterbeer and wine.
"Aguamenti!" a chorus of voice shouted. A column of water soared over Sakura's head and quickly doused the flames. Sakura shook the water out of her hair and glanced behind her. Remus, Mr. Weasley, and Hagrid were standing there with their wands out. Hagrid's looked like a pink umbrella, though Sakura was impressed with the wise strategy. What better way to throw off an opponent than to disguise your weapon as a mundane object? Pink didn't seem to be his color though.
On instinct, Sakura dropped low to the ground as a spell barely grazed her head. Before she could turn around to attack, Mr. Weasley cast a spell in the Death Eater's direction and started chasing after him. Without give her a chance to voice her thanks there was a cry from some guests who had been detained by Death Eaters and she joined Hagrid in rushing towards them.
Kankuro was in a very good mood. He was finally getting some action! The moment Kakashi called out for everyone to get to safety Kankuro could feel the adrenaline pumping. He cracked his knuckles at the sight of the obvious intruders and immediately set to work.
A couple screamed in fright as the man next to them burst out of his clothes and transformed into a rather odd-looking wooden puppet. A boy with brown hair rushed past them and ran with the puppet, his hands moving in a complicated pattern. Kankuro knocked out the first Death Eater by simply ramming Karasu into him.
The next wizard was a little smarter and used some sort of spell to create a shield that Karasu simply bounced off of. He then aimed his wand at the puppet and yelled, "Reducto!" As the puppet shattered to pieces the Death Eater turned to Kankuro with a smug look.
Kankuro just shook his head. "Never battled a puppetmaster before, huh?" He curled his fingers in and lifted them into the air, causing all the individual pieces to rise up. The Death Eater stared in shock as the "broken" pieces unveiled a hidden blade, all of them directed at him. He didn't even have time to scream.
"Who's next?!" Kankuro yelled as Karasu reformed behind him, leaving trails of blood in the grass. Before he could say anything else something hit him in the back and he crumpled to the ground.
"Kankuro!" Gaara had just finished helping the last family find each other when he turned around at his brother's yell. There was a Death Eater behind him and he waved his wand at Kankuro's back. Whatever the spell was, it was nonverbal so Kankuro had no warning as it came barreling towards him.
Gaara felt uncontrollable anger as the Death Eater walked up to his unconscious brother and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. Gaara's sand started moving on its own, but without warning his face was splashed with water and the half-soggy sand fell to the ground. He blinked the water droplets out of his eyes and saw Kakashi standing in front of him with the offending Death Eater in his hands. Dead.
"Why did you do that?" Gaara asked angrily. Kakashi narrowed his eyes and tossed the body to the ground.
"Your sand is a dead give-away to who you are."
"So what? Kankuro was—"
"Kankuro is fine," Kakashi said firmly. "He's still breathing and he doesn't seem to be in that much pain. Most likely the Death Eater wanted to capture him for his unique abilities."
"But I—"
Kakashi's gaze softened and he placed his hands on Gaara's shoulders. "I know you're concerned, but you need to look at the big picture. If you let the Death Eaters know that we're back now then they can prepare for your arrival at Hogwarts, creating problems for our mission and the students there."
"But they're going to know after the first day!"
"Yes, but the less time we give them to prepare, the greater advantage there is for us. I don't know how long Hogwarts will stand against Voldemort's influences, but it will be a lot safer if we can get you three in there first." Kakashi then turned to the corpse beside him and sighed.
"I would have rather not have killed him, but since he saw you use your sand there was no choice." Gaara brushed past Kakashi and ran to his brother's side. He put a finger next to Kankuro's neck and noted with relief that he was, in fact, breathing normally.
While he didn't necessarily prefer it, a bloody wound was something much easier to handle because one could visibly approximate the extent of the wound. With a wizard's spell, however; it could be near impossible to tell at a glance.
"Looks like they've left," Kakashi sighed in relief. He walked over to the two boys and effortlessly lifted Kankuro up in his arms.
"Do you think he's Stunned?" Gaara asked. Kakashi shook his head.
"I tried Ennuverate, but it didn't work. We'll have to see what Molly thinks."
Everyone who was left gathered near the back door. Mrs. Weasley had gathered some repaired tables and chairs which were being used as a makeshift medical station. Ginny and Gabrielle were running around with water and towels, rushing back and forth out of the house.
Those who were injured were sitting in the chairs, either being tended to or waiting to be. Tonks was holding a bloodied towel against the side of Remus' head; Mr. and Mrs. Delacour just held hands as they stared at the ground in shock; Bill and Fleur were cleaning cuts all over the twins' arms; and Sakura tended to Mr. Weasley as Mrs. Weasley stood by in worry. Sakura held her hands over his wrist which was covered in green, healing chakra. Mr. Weasley's face was drained of all color.
"I've been able to set the bones right," Sakura said as she reached for some bandages, "so your wrist should heal properly in a few days. All you need to do now is make sure you don't agitate it."
Mrs. Weasley kissed the top of her husband's head. "Thank you, Sakura. It sure is a blessing you are here." The kunoichi smiled warmly and finished wrapping the arm before making a sling.
"Here is some medicine that will numb the pain." She handed a small container to Molly. "Take them twice a day at meals."
When Sakura picked up her supplies so she could move on to her next patient, she gasped upon noticing Kankuro.
"What happened?" she asked. The medical kunoichi quickly made room on top of the table and Kakashi laid the boy down.
"Merlin's beard, is he alive?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking over Kankuro fearfully.
"Hit by some sort of non-verbal spell," the jounin explained. "It wasn't Stupefy and he seems fine to me but he won't wake up."
"His vitals seem to be fine," Sakura muttered. "Heartbeat is lower than usual, though not enough to be alarming . . . it looks like everything is running slower than it should be for someone who is unconscious but it doesn't look like he's in any danger . . . "
Mrs. Weasley touched Sakura's shoulder. "I think I may be able to help here. How about you go tend to Remus?" Sakura nodded and walked over to the wizard in question.
Molly flashed them a strained smile and ran her wand slowly over Kankuro's body, muttering words that made no sense to the two shinobi. "Is there anything else you can tell me about what happened?"
"We think they were trying to take him for his abilities," Kakashi said. Gaara could only stare at his brother in worry.
Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips together and lifted her wand from Kankuro's body. "My guess is that they were just using a spell to make him worthy to travel. Using a Stunning spell could cause some shock to the system, so they may have used a modified version of Stupefy that simply slows bodily functions. He'll most likely wake within the next ten minutes."
"You're sure?" Gaara asked, his throat rather dry. Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly and nodded.
"Your brother will be fine."
"Jus' finished writing a letter ter Minerva," Hagrid announced, coming out the back door. There was a small cut above his eye but other than that he was unscathed. "She'll let the other Order members know what happened."
"Thank you, Hagrid."
"Miss Muriel is asleep!" Luna said happily, skipping out the door behind Hagrid. "I told her all about how to use Yartz juice on her skin to keep it healthy."
"Just what we need," George muttered.
"Aunt Muriel to live longer," Fred finished.
Bill whacked his brothers on the head, being the only one to hear them besides the shinobi.
"Thank you, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, walking back to her husband's side. "Where is your father?"
"Oh, he's gone back to our house to make some infusion of Gurdyroots for everyone," Luna said as she walked over to Gaara. "It's great for calming your nerves."
"Very kind of yer ol' man," Hagrid said, beaming at the thought. Those who had tasted Hagrid's cooking before let out a little sigh, knowing that the two men's definition of "cooking" were rather similar.
"Is your brother all right?" Luna asked, inspecting Kankuro as if he were a fascinating science project.
"Mrs. Weasley says he'll wake up in a few minutes."
"Well, that's good," she smiled. "I wouldn't want to see you sad." Gaara returned the smile, though it was still forced.
"Where did Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Naruto go?" Remus asked. His head was wrapped in bandages and Tonks sat beside him with her hand in his.
"I don't know exactly," Kakashi began, "but the important thing is that they are safe and the Death Eaters were unable to find them."
"I think it would be best to discuss this inside," Mrs. Weasley said, glancing around nervously. Everyone agreed and they slowly made their way into the house, barely able to fit.
"They're most likely at Grimmauld Place," Mr. Weasley said, once they were all settled.
"But with Snape knowing how to get in don't you think that's dangerous?" Mrs. Weasley said.
"We've put up jinxes against him," he explained, "and even so, Harry is the rightful owner now. It's most likely the first place they thought of. I should probably send a message to let them know we're fine."
Mr. Weasley flourished his wand with his good arm. "Expecto Patronum!" The silver weasel came to life and turned to Arthur as if waiting for instruction. "Family safe, do not reply. We are being watched," he said forcefully. "Go to Grimmauld Place Number 12," he instructed. The weasel nodded before disappearing into a silvery mist.
"Being watched?" Tonks asked.
"It's best they don't draw attention to themselves," Mr. Weasley explained. "And it's bound to happen anyway. Even though the Death Eaters have been beaten for now, they'll be back for sure."
Everyone was silent as they finally allowed the news to sink in. The only noise that could be heard was Kankuro's deep breathing and the soft tick-tock of one of the Weasley's clocks.
"I can't believe it's actually happened," Bill said slowly.
"We all knew this day would come," Remus said.
"Pity it had ter happen on yer wedding day."
Fleur wrapped her hand in Bill's. "We 'ad fun while it lasted. It was a very beautiful wedding, after all. We appreciate all zat you 'ave done for us."
"We're just glad no one was seriously injured," Bill said.
"Still, things are going to be a lot more difficult now." They resumed their solemn silence, each wrapped in their own thoughts.
The war had reached an all new peak.
Phew! Man, there was a lot happening in this chapter. But now that they are starting to separate things will be a lot easier to control. The chapters will go back and forth between the three different viewpoints, though it can be split it half or three-ways sometimes. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! (What do you think of the chapter heading, huh? I must admit I am quite proud of it)
My biggest problem was hitting that block about what item Naruto should receive from Dumbledore. I was merely reading through the chapter and trying to figure out how to shorten that whole scene because I wanted the shinobi to see it but not spend forever re-typing it, and then I had a glorious revelation! Have Dumbledore give Naruto something in the will! It was sheer genius and I just had to include it, but then I had to step back and plan out what exactly it had to be, and how in the world I was going to include it in the story. I tried to come up with my own item, but that didn't work. Then I figured—Ron got the Deluminator that was introduced in the first book, and these are all objects that Dumbledore (in a way) owned, so what else did he own that was introduced in the books? His watch of course! :) 'Course that meant I had to figure out how to make it work, but it all came together in the end.
Anonymous reviewers reply time!
Anonymous: Before I reply I feel like I gotta apologize to you the most. I am so sorry for taking such a freakin' long time to update, and causing you to sadly ask for an update all this time. I swear it wasn't done out of neglect--it's just that I have to focus on schoolwork, ya know? Believe me, I would rather spend time on this story. And there is a lot to include in this, because this is probably the most extensive work I've done. But thank you for all your kind words and I'm so glad that you are enjoying it so far!
Glad you liked the wizard's reactions! There were so many possibilities of how this could have gone, and I'm relieved to know that the one I chose was well received. As for the Horcruxes, I'm pretty sure Naruto would luv to tell Kakashi and the others about it since it's central to their mission, but as you can see with what happened in this chapter, he sort of ran out of time to do so. Darn those Death Eaters! XD Haha! The first time I saw Envy I thought that too, but at the same time I thought that he was really that pastor guy in disguise. "Cross-dressing palm tree" is probably the best description I've ever heard of him! And speaking in such a dignified in pompous way is quite fun, old bean. 0.o Okay, so I suck at it online but I've got a great accent in person!
nayami-chan: Good for you! I applaud you on your wonderful achievement! That was one of my favorite scenes too—poor Sakura and Gaara have to deal with hot-headed teammates, but that's why we luv them right? (And I feel sadistically happy to have made you crack up so, because that's happened to me a lot when reading other people's stories and I always get a weird look). You started a story? Well I shall be honored at being able to read it! :)
Kuaispeed: Thanks for the review! Eh, that's okay. Everyone has those days. You thought it was funny? Great! ^^; I just luv it when people think what I write is funny, because I never feel all that funny in real life. Awww, man! Your mom is limiting your computer time? That really sucks. That's what I luv about college—I set my own rules for me. (Sometimes I should really limit my computer time though ^^;)
krazypuppy8: Yeah, sorry 'bout that, but I'm glad it was worth it. College is gonna be killer this semester (and the next) but I am going to do my best to get updates as quickly as I can. I hope that there are enough changes that it's not like they were never there, but not too many changes because I honestly luv what JK Rowling did with the book. XD She's a genius.
Sakura: Awww, well I'm glad I didn't disappoint! :D Your review certainly put a smile on my face and I thank you.
minirowan: My—what a long review! XD S'okay, this just gives me a chance to write a long response! As for my wording I meant that Sasuke isn't going to be there, but it will affect Naruto emotionally at some points as he reflects back to it. (Go over some of the events that the trio went under, and you can get a basic idea of what I'm leaning towards here) Heh, yeah that does sound like something from a biology class! How's Voldy gonna deal with Naruto and Gaara? Well you'll just have to wait and see then! XD Sorry I can't be more specific than that, but do know that it will be revealed soon enough, and that you are quite on the right track there in your thinking, so great job! Ah, yes you are correct! I can't say much here because that would spoil it for some people, but I think I can do a little something like a bonding experience between them. If you can remember, I did do some foreshadowing to this topic in the last story. XD Do you remember where it was? It was brief, but there nonetheless. I can't wait until the movie! The only bad thing is that it's going to be broken up with about a year in between, so that's really gonna suck. Oh well! The battle had better be awesome!
Octopus: Don't worry about Sakura kissing anyone--but there will be kissing! XD And believe me when I say that you will never guess what's going to happen, and you're going to crack up at it! It's going to be awesome! Kankuro totally rocks, and glad you like my having Naruto go with the trio.
Allistra: Sequels are great! Thanks for the long review! Hurray! I'm glad that you felt the reactions from the adults were realistic, and Kankuro is awesome! Glad to see that I'm doing him justice because I think he's an awesome guy and not this idiot that everyone makes him out to be. Thanks again for the awesome review!
AustinUzumaki: Thanks for the review!
Elaendorlien: Well, thank you so much for the review!
GirlLoki: LIAR! XD Oh, and that is a DEFINITE awesome scene that I am quite tempted to put into the story. Thank you so much!
I 3 U: Thank you so much for the many reviews! :) A lot of great stuff is gonna happen, so stay tuned!
Emi-hime: Awww, well thank you so much! I'm glad that I'm doing a satisfactory job. Sorry this chapter took a little long in coming out, but I hope I didn't disappoint.
kakashiluver: Don't worry—there shall be a perfect amount of Kakashi in the story. :D He's gonna have a very . . . interesting part later on. I feel so horrible.
DB: Well thank you very much! I try my hardest to keep them in character. No, he's not going to have knowledge of interdimensional travel, because the only way Dumbledore knew it was because he was able to study Neville's cauldron. As cool as it would be to have Naruto hear music, I don't think there will be time for that since he's on the run and all, but it is a good idea. I'll see if I can make it fit later. Sorry to say that I have no idea what Resident Evil 5 is, but Voldemort is going to find out about the shinobi and adjust accordingly for some new "powers" I guess you could call it, and with Naruto and Harry being on the run together there will be some teamwork. And I guess your answer about black smoke was answered. XD Don't worry about the ending—I promise that it won't suck.
megan: Thanks! :) Glad you like it so far. This story is going to take a long time to finish though. Definitely more than the last one.
NekoChi: That's okay! I'm just glad to know that you like it so far. And thank you so much! I try hard to make it flow and stay IC. And of course Gaara would go! He's only my second favorite Naruto character! :) And I'm glad you approve of my decision to bring in other people. If I didn't then it would just be a repeat of the prequel, right?