Disclaimer: Yet again, I own nothing concerning Harry Potter or Naruto besides a few HP books. I don't even have any plushies 

Chapter 4: Meet the Fox

Sasuke could tell that the Fox was amused at the reaction they had gotten in the Great Hall: his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter and he was practically skipping. Even the Uchiha had to admit that the complete shock on the kids' faces was pretty funny. It was excusable in the new students, but the older ones who had been around magic for a while should have been more accepting. Then again, they were probably breaking every rule of magic in the book judging by Dumbledore's reaction.

"Excuse me, taichou-sama, but I would like to ask you a question," said Sasuke, nervously. After all, the question he was about to ask was rather personal and could be construed as an attempt to weed out the ANBU's identity. He was therefore rather shocked at the Fox's response.

Fox stopped dead in his tracks, stopped laughing, and turned to Sasuke. "First of all," he said. "You will stop calling me 'taichou-sama'. It makes me feel like an old man. 'Fox-san', 'Fox-kun', or, hell, even just plain 'Fox' will be perfectly sufficient or you will shortly find a kunai rammed up your ass. And as to your question: No, I am in no way related to the Shodaime Hokage. Damn, that would mean I'd be related to Tsunade-obaa-chan!" He shuddered at the thought, then started walking again, leaving a very confused Sasuke to follow.

'How did he know what I was going to ask? And more importantly, how can he use the bloodline limit of the First if he's not related to him? By answering my question he's created a half a dozen more,' thought Sasuke. 'And his personality; I just don't understand it. First he's 

deadly serious, then he's laughing fit to burst, then suddenly he's serious again. Truly a strange character.'

Sasuke was so involved in his thoughts that he hardly noticed when they reached Dumbledore's office again. Fox gave the password and entered the room. Dumbledore was obviously expecting them. His eyes twinkled and he said, "I must confess I was impressed at your little display downstairs. It certainly created an impression on the students and staff. However, although Professor Sprout loves the trees very much, I'm afraid they will be in the way. Would you be so kind as to remove them?"

"Not a problem," said the Fox, and Sasuke could feel him withdrawing his chakra from the Great Hall. Funny: Sasuke hadn't even realized Fox had kept the connection open until he used it to channel his chakra again. The Fox continued, "They are already gone. I imagine you can believe it is a little exhausting to keep a thousand years' worth of growth where it shouldn't be." Although he made it sound like he was tired, Sasuke could tell the Fox was feeling very little actual fatigue.

Dumbledore smiled. "Excellent. Now all that's left is to show you to your rooms. As Harry Potter ('Who? Oh yeah, the special boy.') is a member of Gryffindor house, I believe it would be advantageous to quarter you in the nearby vicinity. Therefore, I have arranged for you to stay in a newly-created room in Gryffindor tower. You will find at adjacent to the common room. That will be all."

The Fox and the Snake bowed to their current employer, formed a seal, and teleported away. They already knew where Gryffindor tower was from the letter sent to Konoha, so they had no problem getting there. At least, Fox didn't. Sasuke was still a little sketchy with his 

teleportation. Luckily, Fox grabbed his arm as they disappeared and guided him to the right room.

They appeared in the middle of a crowd of stunned Gryffindors. The blatant shock on their faces was quite enjoyable. In fact, Sasuke decided he had already had more fun during this one day than he got in a month back at home. Fox must have been amused at the confusion written all around them because his mild voice carried an undercurrent of laughter as he blinked, saluted, and said, "Maa, maa, are we late? You see, first there was this old lady who needed help with her groceries, then a mad bull came charging down the hall, and then…"

The perfect imitation of Kakashi was just too much. Sasuke burst out laughing. Fox gave him an extremely strange look, then walked over to two tall, red-haired identical twins. He asked, "Could one of you please kill me now? I think the world's about to end and I want to die surprised. Snake-kun never laughs…"

During this whole exchange, the entire common room was deathly quiet. Suddenly, people started to snicker. It struck Sasuke that Fox was a better manipulator than he had imagined. The entire Kakashi-rendition was designed to reduce tension. Luckily, it seemed Sasuke had done exactly the right thing, and now the ice was definitely broken. Everyone started yelling and shouting questions at the shinobi all at the same time.

Beating a quick retreat, the Fox and the Snake retreated into their assigned room for some peace and quiet. However, the crowd right outside the door was still speculating in loud, obnoxious voices. Fox turned to Sasuke and said, "I'll take the patrol tonight. You stay here and get a little sleep. I'll also see if I can do something about the noise." He grabbed a scroll and pen, wrote a short message, and headed out the door.



As he exiting into the common room, he was immediately accosted by dozens of students with hundreds of questions which ranged from "Why do you wear masks?" to "How did you Apparate in Hogwarts?" Sighing, he looked for someone with authority. He spotted an official-looking pin on the uniforms of two students, one a tall red-headed boy and the other a bushy-haired girl, and walked over to them.

Hermione and Ron were trying to establish a little order in the midst of the chaos as the ANBU headed in their direction. As prefects, it was their duty to stand their ground and hear what he had to say. He merely said, "I am leaving to inspect the grounds. Please read this message aloud," and handed them a small scroll. He bowed shortly, then walked over to the window, opened it, and leapt outside. Many students gasped in horror and a few screamed: Gryffindor tower was over a hundred meters tall! However, as they crowded around the window, they saw the ninja land gracefully on the lawn and walk away.

Hermione felt all eyes on her as she unfurled the message and read:

"Dear Gryffindor Tower,

"Unfortunately, neither Snake-kun nor I have any intention of revealing our secrets or spilling our guts to you tonight. However, I feel I must warn you that Snake-kun has informed me he has absolutely no compunctions against spilling your guts if you do not immediately cease to create an infernal racket. Have a good night!"

The message was signed with a simple but readily recognizable line drawing of a fox. Everybody was quiet for a few minutes, then realizing that the shinobi would not be returning to answer questions, they all headed to bed, discussing the exciting new events at Hogwarts among themselves.



Soon, only Ron, Harry and Hermione were left in the common room. They were still speculating in soft voices about the abilities of the ninja. They all agreed that Apparating within the Hogwarts grounds was impossible, as was dropping lightly from a hundred-meter window and walking away. Hermione had other concerns, though.

"I don't understand the note. It's obviously a thinly-veiled threat, but at the same time, it's written very politely. It's almost like Fox is concerned that Snake might do something and can't stop him." She snapped her fingers. "Maybe that's it! I bet Snake has authority over Fox, which would explain why he sent him out to guard on the first night while he himself gets to sleep," Hermione finished.

After a little thought, Ron and Harry decided that fit. However, they still didn't know much about the strangers themselves. It seemed that Snake was the serious type and Fox was always laughing. A little discussion convinced them to sneak after the ninja and try to discover some more about Fox. Harry fetched his Invisibility Cloak and they crept out of the tower.

After wandering down a few fruitless halls, Harry pulled out the Marauders' Map. He searched the castle floor plan for unfamiliar names. In the new room adjacent to the Gryffindor common room, he found a dot labeled "Uchiha Sasuke". Obviously that was Snake's name. However, after scanning the map several times, none of the three students could find the other guard. They decided he must have gone to Hogsmeade or something and headed back to Gryffindor tower, disappointed.

Suddenly, as they turned a corner, they heard a sharp whizzing sound and several daggers flew toward them. Before they could react, the daggers had pierced the cloak, ripped it off them, and pinned it to the far wall. They looked around wildly, searching for the source of the attack. 

With a stifled shriek, Hermione spotted the blond guard, upside-down, dangling off the ceiling by the soles of his feet.

With a quick, fluid movement, the ninja detached from the ceiling and flipped onto the floor. He glided over to the petrified trio and asked, "Now, what kind of adventure brings you three out into the halls on a night like this?" A surreptitious glance at the Marauders' Map showed Harry a completely blank space in front of their own dots.

Ron and Hermione started stammering about just being on a walk, but Harry could see that the ninja wasn't buying it. He gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and overrode the other two, saying, "We were looking for you. We have some questions to ask."

The guard merely nodded as though he had expected something like that, then turned and walked to the wall where the Invisibility Cloak was still pinned. He removed the kunai, and inspected the cloak for tears. There weren't any. He handed the cloak to Harry and commented, "That's a nice cloak. One of the best invisibility genjutsu I have ever seen."

Hermione interrupted, "What's a genjutsu? And how did you know we were there? You couldn't see us!"

The Fox chuckled and said, "No, I couldn't see you, but I wouldn't be much of a ninja if I relied only on vision, now would I? Where I come from, anyone who relies solely on visual detection usually lives a short, painful life. I not only smelled you coming around the corner, but also heard your not-so-subtle footsteps and the swish of clothing. I suggest you learn a little basic stealth if you intend to continue your nighttime wanderings."

Hermione said petulantly, "You ignored my first question! What's a genjutsu?"

"An illusionary technique designed to confuse and distract the enemy long enough to formulate an effective attack strategy."



"Oh," said Hermione. "But how did you cast that spell in the Great Hall without a wand? And how did you jump out of the tower window without being hurt? How can you Apparate in Hogwarts?"

The Fox laughed and said, "What is this, a press conference? Have you forgotten Dumbledore-sama's warning? Although he was mostly joking, I would not have hesitated to attack to kill if I had not recognized you under the cloak. I suggest you stop your nighttime strolls, for your own sake. Snake-kun might not recognize you when he's on duty."

Without thinking, Ron blurted out, "Snake-kun? You mean Uchiha Sasuke?"

In a blur of motion, Fox moved. Before Harry could even blink, Fox had Ron pinned to the wall with his left hand on Ron's right shoulder. Obviously no longer amused nor in a good mood, Fox hissed, "How do you know that name?"

Ron stammered something, then yelped in pain as the hand on his shoulder tightened. He tried to break free, but Fox's grip was too strong. Fox hissed again with annoyance, then asked again, "How do you know his name? Answer now or die." Harry watched, helplessly, as Fox opened his right hand, palm up. Hermione suddenly gasped in horror. Harry couldn't understand why until he looked at the space above the empty hand. He watched in astonishment as raw blue energy coalesced and started to swirl. Soon there was a madly whirling ball of energy about 2 inches in diameter.

Hermione gathered her wits and said, "It was an accident! We saw it on the Marauders' Map."

"What is that?" asked the Fox, without turning away from Ron.



"This," said Harry. He help up the map and bravely moved closer to the ninja. The Fox abruptly let go of Ron, turned, and snatched the map out of Harry's hand. He studied it for a little while. Then he looked up at Harry.

"Well," he said. "I am quite impressed. Whoever made this certainly knew what he was doing. The chakradetection jutsu is top-notch. However, you won't find me on it. Well, I suppose it would be pretty pointless to try to make you forget Uchiha-san's name while you still have this, so I will settle with your promise. You are not to allow anyone to learn his name unless you receive permission from him or me, understand?"

The three students nodded, relieved. However, Harry noticed that Fox still had the ball of blue energy in his hand. He pointed at it and asked, "What's that?"

Fox looked at his hand as though he had forgotten it altogether. "Oh this," he said. "It's known as a chibi rasengan. In you language, that would be 'baby spiraling sphere'."

"But what is it?" asked Hermione.

"Chakra."

"What's that?"

Fox paused for a moment. "I keep forgetting you know nothing of our techniques. Chakrais our equivalent of your 'magic'. In fact, magic is actually a diffuse form of chakrathat is channeled and amplified through your wands."

Hermione was fascinated. "So, that's pure magic?" she asked.

"In a way, yes," replied Fox. "However, as it is much more highly concentrated than your form, it's incredibly destructive. Allow me to demonstrate." He turned to the wall next to Ron's head and thrust his chakra-bearing hand directly into the stone. Harry couldn't believe it when he 

saw a good portion of the wall crack and the chibi rasenganactually went almost all the way through.

Fox turned back to the awe-struck trio and Harry could swear he was grinning. "I hope you never have to see what that does to a human's stomach," he said. "It's not very pleasant to look at and quite messy. However, it is also extremely effective. Now, I think it's time you went off to bed. Sweet dreams!" He laughed, arranged his hands in a specific way, and disappeared in a puff of smoke like he had in the Great Hall.

Stunned, Harry, Ron and Hermione automatically started toward Gryffindor tower. Along the way, they started to digest what had just happened. Ron was the first to recover and said, "He said that was a 'baby spiraling sphere'! What do you think the real one's like? I'll bet even Dumbledore couldn't do something like that!"

Hermione just shook her head. She was flabbergasted by the idea of visualized magic and disconcerted. "Did you hear what he said? That our magic is a diffuse form of his chakra? Incredible! He doesn't need a wand because he has enough magic that it doesn't need to be channeled."

Harry wasn't concerned with magical theory or destroyed walls. What he was worried about was the Fox's reaction to what Ron had said. Most disturbing was the display of power and the not-so-subtle threat attached. Harry decided that the ninja was deadly serious about what that kind of power could do to a human body and that the shinobi was also perfectly prepared to use it against Ron. The wizards and the witch headed to bed, not looking forward to trying to get to sleep.