Sphere of Influence
Disclaimer: I own a new little puppy named Kova, but I still don't own Naruto or Harry Potter.
There were a lot of mixed reviews on Chapter 3, it was fun to see what everyone thought about how things were progressing. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially the annonymous reviewers I couldn't reply to, both those who liked it and who didn't.
Everyone was really angry at Dumbledore... I was kind of surprised. I hope in the coming chapters you come to understand him and his decision a little better. I hope I can make Dumbledore's reasons clearer in future chapters, too. Already things are complicated, Harry just doesn't realize the extent of those complications.
My life is suddenly very busy between now and August 5, so I'm very sorry, but I think Chapter 5 will have to be delayed to August 12. I'll try to get it up before that, though... Thanks for bearing with me, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 4 – Stranger and a Strange Castle
"So, what are we going to do now?" Harry asked as he collapsed into a cross-legged position at the base of the tree Kakashi had abandoned his cloak next. He was exhausted, everything from the last twelve hours catching up with him again. First the training—he hated Gai—then the summoning thing—he didn't know how the ninken could stand it—the emotionally draining exchange he'd had with the Headmaster, and, finally, a good hour of training while listening to unfamiliar forest noises that were constantly raising the hairs on the back of his neck.
Kakashi was nowhere in sight when he asked the question, but the ANBU appeared on a branch over his head a few seconds later, standing with his arms crossed, still tense and angry.
"We have to find a way back," the teen stated firmly.
"How?" Harry demanded, tilting his head up to look at the older shinobi, "He said the only way is through their Ministry, and they'll never let us go until we do what they want."
"I don't know," Kakashi replied irritably, "But remaining here is not an option."
Harry frowned—he didn't see it as much of an option, either, but he couldn't see what other choice they had. "Why are you being so adamant about this, niisan? He said it would take a long time, but I'm sure together we could kill this Voldemort-san quickly."
The emotionless face of Kakashi's ANBU mask stared down at him silently for a moment, then he abruptly dropped from the tree, landing in a crouch right in front of the boy. Harry flinched despite himself, but Kakashi ignored it.
"What do you know about missing-nin, Harii?"
Harry frowned in confusion. "They're shinobi who desert the village," he supplied, "Hunter-nin track them down and... dispose of them."
"Define what it means to desert the village," Kakashi demanded sharply.
Harry hesitated. "Er... To leave with the intention of not returning, I guess," he offered, "Or with the intent of betraying our secrets..."
"Two shinobi disappear from the village one day," Kakashi said nonchalantly, "They have told no one of their intentions to leave or where they are going. What can you derive from that?"
Harry shifted uncomfortably, beginning to see where this was going. "But we aren't going to betray the village!" He insisted, "We've always been loyal—Hokage-sama knows that!"
"It's not a decision that is solely up to Hokage-sama to decide," Kakashi stated coolly, "The laws of Konoha state that a shinobi who goes AWOL will be declared as a missing-nin three days after their initial desertion."
"But," Harry started uncertainly, "It's not our fault! We didn't desert the village, we were taken away!"
"How is anyone supposed to know that?" Kakashi demanded, "There is no sign of struggle in the apartment, there have been no previous threats to remove us, and no one knew that you were being stalked. The trials of a presumed missing-nin are not easy, if we don't find a way back soon we would be better off staying away forever."
Harry's eyes widened at the thought. Sure, he'd faced his share of pain and hardship in Konoha, but he'd been accepted there nonetheless. He had comrades and friends and it was the one place on earth he felt secure. Konoha was his home. He became a shinobi to protect that home, to just walk away like that would be unbearable.
Kakashi's masked face tilted slightly—back and forth in the way the masked order used to convey amusement, although Harry didn't see any humor in their situation. "We might be better off," the masked-nin repeated, "But a shinobi of Konoha never takes the easy way out for himself when it puts his village in danger. We'll return, Harii, even if it takes us years. We belong to Konoha only."
Harry relaxed a little, expression softening, "Yeah..." Konoha was their mutual bond. The fact that they were comrades was more important than even their shared blood. Without Konoha, there would be almost nothing they had in common. Nothing either of them wanted to talk about, leastwise.
Kakashi stood again, moving further away from his brother. "We should try going to this Ministry place," he said at length, "I wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to lie about our probability of getting out of here." If they threatened the right people, they could probably get whatever they wanted.
Harry nodded slowly, "Should we ask him...?"
Kakashi hesitated, "If we ask him about it, he could orchestrate things so that they don't allow us to leave. We'll stay the night and make use of his library to find out where the Ministry is compared to here. The books will probably all be in English, so you'll have to read them, Harii. We'll leave as soon as possible, leaving clones in our place to delay the likelihood of him realizing we've left."
Harry was silent for a long moment after his brother revealed his plan, head bowed and face burning underneath his face mask.
"Anô..." Harry started hesitantly, "I... I don't think that will work, Kakashi-niisan..."
The ANBU mask turned towards him, dark eye sockets penetrating in their unblinking gaze.
Harry bowed his head a little lower to be certain his flushed face was covered with his untidy white hair, "Um... See... I can't really... read... English."
Kakashi frowned at him, "I remember seeing you write before, when you first came to Konoha."
Harry took a moment to remember. "Well, I can write my name," he agreed, although he wasn't entirely sure he could do even that without help, "… Maybe… And I remember… some of the letters... I think. But even before I left I didn't really know anything more than that." He scratched his head nervously and continued, "My aunt and uncle didn't teach me at all, so I only started to learn when I was five years old... and that was in a class of more than twenty students, so I didn't learn too much there, either..."
Kakashi mused silently for a moment. "Your English is written in Romaji," he started uncertainly.
Harry nodded—Romaji was sometimes used in advertisements and brand names and things, but he didn't know much of that, either.
Kakashi's mask tilted again, "Between the two of us, we should be able to sound out the words. You'll be able to tell what they say, then. It will take longer... We'll take two hours of sleep first, and a few more hours after we find the information we need if we can afford it."
Harry nodded, still feeling embarrassed, "Okay. Should we go back now?" It was only afternoon, but it felt like he hadn't slept for days.
Kakashi nodded slightly, turning to lead the way back out of the forest. Harry stood up and followed him, looking forward to some much needed rest.
"Anô... Kakashi-niisan," Harry started hesitantly as they approached the doors to the large stone fortress they had discovered made up the school of Hogwarts.
The ANBU didn't so much as glance at him, but Harry knew he'd heard.
"Where are we going to sleep?" The twelve-year-old finished.
Kakashi still didn't answer, mainly because he didn't know, either—if they had to, they could always rough it on the floor or in the forest. The Jounin pushed open one of the large front doors as if it were as weightless as a paper shoji, allowing Harry to catch it as it slowly began to settle again behind him. Harry grunted a little as he caught the weight, but pushed himself inside, regardless. He then nearly ran into his brother's back, stopping short just in time.
"Niisan, what is it?" Harry asked, sidestepping to look around his brother, one hand on his kunai pouch.
"The man from outside Dumbledore's office," the ANBU supplied in an undertone, mask staring fixedly at the man standing to the side of the hall.
Harry followed his gaze. The man was dressed in gray robes, which Harry could tell had been worn and patched many times, even in the dim lighting in the hall. His skin was pale and lined—signs Harry recognized as being from hard experience and pain more than age, as many shinobi looked the same—and his light brown hair was sprinkled with silver. Then the man's gaze shifted slightly to meet with his, and his expression lightened a bit.
"Harry," he started, moving forward.
Harry eyed him warily, but said nothing as he approached. Out of the corner of his eye, the Genin saw his brother slip weapons into his hands, but the ANBU made no other threatening movements. Clearly, he wanted to remain undercover until they'd made their escape.
The man was looking him over closely, soaking in every detail, and Harry felt a little uncomfortable under the stare. At last, he interrupted, consciously switching over to English with some effort, "Hello."
The man smiled slightly, having the decency to look a little abashed, "Ah, I was staring, forgive me. I haven't seen you since before you changed... it's hard to believe it's really you, Harry."
Harry frowned, "What do you mean… before I changed? Who are you?"
"I'm sorry," the man apologized again, "I'm Remus Lupin, I was a friend of your parents, Harry. When you were a baby you had black hair, like James, it wasn't until that night that it turned white."
Harry's frown twitched down further, "I always had white hair." He was a Hatake, his family had had white hair for countless generations. He'd heard that as an infant his hair had been black, but didn't particularly understand how that could be—unless it had been one of the countless lies he'd been told by the Dursleys. He changed the subject quickly, "Do you know where he and—we are... staying?"
The man looked a little distraught at the coolness of his tone, but he soon smiled again, "Yes, of course. The House Elves have prepared some guest rooms for you near the teacher halls. This way."
Harry paused briefly to let Kakashi know what they were doing before the pair of them followed.
After a few awkward moments in which they traveled in silence, Remus began to explain things about the castle as they went.
"That's the Great Hall," he pointed out first on their way to the staircases, "All of our meals are served there. There's dinner from five to six and breakfast from eight to nine, but if you want to sleep longer it would be possible to get food delivered straight to your rooms."
Once on the second floor, the man led the way down a corridor. "Most of your classrooms will be on this floor," he explained as they passed doors—Harry hurried to keep pace with him, interested in hearing what he had to say. If nothing else, it was always useful to know one's surroundings thoroughly.
"The paintings," the man motioned towards a frame full of half a dozen laughing women in brightly colored dresses—the women looked up to wave and titter at them, "As you've probably already noticed, move around. Most of them sleep at night, but they're quite active during the day. If you ever get lost, you can just ask one of them and they'll point you in the right direction."
Harry stared at the portraits they passed, wondering how they worked—like a movie-player, perhaps. Several waved at him or tried to strike up conversations, but Harry hurried after the others.
"Here we are," Remus said at last, turning into another spiraling staircase. They only made it to the second landing when he stopped at a pair of doors. "The passwords aren't set yet, but we'll set them to your names for now. Harry, this one will be yours," he motioned to the door on the left, "Just stand in front of it and say your name when I tell you to. Ready?"
Eyeing the man warily, Harry stepped in front of the door.
Pointing his wand at the wood, Remus gave it a flick, "And now."
"Hatake Harry," the Genin supplied clearly.
Remus gave another small flick of his wand and Harry could hear the faint click of a locking mechanism. The man smiled tightly at him, looking a little awkward, "Okay, good. And now for your... friend." His smile faltered as he turned uncertainly to the masked-nin—who he'd been avoiding looking at ever since the staring contest in the entry.
Harry quickly relayed the instructions to him and Kakashi gave first his brother, then Remus, a long stare before slowly moving to stand in front of the door.
Remus hesitated, then flicked his wand again, "Now, Harry."
"Ima," Harry relayed needlessly for his brother.
Kakashi didn't hesitate in annunciating, "Inu-san."
Remus hesitated once more before flicking his wand again. The clicking sound once more verified that the password had been set correctly and the man looked between the two shinobi. He smiled.
"That's all there is to it," the man announced, "You two are probably tired, so you should get some rest."
Harry relayed the information to Kakashi and the two started to open their doors when Remus spoke again.
"Harry, can I speak with you a moment longer?" He asked uncertainly.
Harry glanced at Kakashi, who had paused when the English man spoke. "Eto, he wants to talk to me a little more, niisan," he explained quietly, "I'll turn-in in a few minutes, okay?"
The ANBU nodded. "Be careful," he warned, "I'll see you in two hours."
Harry nodded with a small, grim smile under his mask. "Two hours," he confirmed. He felt like he could sleep for eighteen hours and still wake up tired.
Without another word, Kakashi headed inside, closing his door behind him. Harry turned back to the man.
There was an awkward moment of silence before Harry broke it. "You said you want to talk..."
"I just wanted to check on how you've been," the man admitted sheepishly, "Professor Dumbledore told us you'd been sent abroad. We were really worried when you didn't come back for school."
Harry thought a moment. He couldn't give away much about the village but if he didn't say anything he'd put himself—and Kakashi, maybe—under suspicion. "I just graduated."
"Didn't you want to learn about your magic, though?" Remus pressed bemusedly, "Weren't you at all interested?"
"... No," Harry answered blandly, "I... don't like magic."
"I see," the man mused pensively, "You must have been happy, at least, if you didn't want to leave... right?"
Harry nodded in way of answer and moved towards his door, "Good night."
"One more thing, Harry, if you don't mind," Remus put in quickly. Harry paused, looking back at him expectantly, "That man you came with... who is he?"
"You heard," Harry returned, "He calls himself Inu-san."
"But who is he?" Remus persisted, "Professor Dumbledore was only expecting you."
Harry snorted, "Dumbledore-san was wrong. Inu-san is my... boss. Goodnight, Lupin-san."
With those as his last words, Harry slipped into his room, not allowing the man further time to protest. Remus stared at the closed door for a moment before releasing a sigh and turning to leave.
Harry felt even more tired when he woke up than he'd been when he went to sleep. It took a great deal of effort to drag himself out of bed and onto his feet.
It was a small, comfortable room he'd been given. A plush bed was pushed against one wall and a desk against the wall opposite it. There was a dresser and a mirror he hadn't paid much attention to earlier, and a table next to the door. Harry paused at the table when he noticed a small basin and a jug of water.
Pouring some of the water into the basin, the boy gratefully splashed his face with the cool water. It helped him to wake up a little, and he headed out the door, slipping his mask up as he went—he rarely wore it for so long at one time and was getting a little sick of it, but it was best to reveal as little as possible for now.
He was surprised to see no sign of Kakashi in the dark hall, but turned towards the other door after ensuring no one was around.
"Inu-san," he muttered self-consciously, and heard the soft clicking sound of the lock disengaging. Carefully, he turned the doorknob and pushed the door slightly.
"Niisan...?" He called out tentatively, a precaution against getting stuck in the stomach with a kunai or some other pointy instrument of death.
"Yo," Kakashi raised a single hand in a wave of acknowledgement and Harry stepped the rest of the way into the room, closing the door behind him.
Kakashi's room was almost identical to his own. The only differences Harry noticed was the lack of water on the small table next to his door, and that Kakashi's cloak had been thrown over his mirror. The ANBU still had his mask and full armor on, and was lounging on his bed with a small, orange book open in front of his face. Harry frowned at it.
"You're reading that again?" He asked disapprovingly, "How long have you been up?"
Kakashi shrugged.
Harry's eyes narrowed and his frown deepened a little, "Did you sleep at all?"
"Never mind that," Kakashi excused, "I found the library. Let's go." He stood, pocketing the book somewhere underneath his armor and grabbed his cloak, swinging it efficiently over his shoulder before heading to the door. Harry found himself following before he even consciously thought of it.
The ANBU waited until they were in the hall before continuing in a low undertone, "Our rooms are being watched. Did anything strange happen while you were asleep? Do you still have all your equipment?"
Frowning, Harry checked. After a moment, the boy nodded. "It's all here," he confirmed.
Behind his double masks, Kakashi frowned slightly. "There was something in my room," he stated, "About half an hour ago. It was probably meant to disarm us. Maybe it thought better of it after I nearly killed it."
"Only nearly?" Harry asked in confusion—if his brother wanted to kill someone, it usually worked.
"I captured it with the intent of holding it until you were awake and then interrogating it," Kakashi supplied coolly, "It would not stop squawking, though, so I decided to eliminate it, instead. When it saw my knife, it disappeared."
Harry blinked. "Disappeared?" He echoed, "You mean... like a jutsu?"
Kakashi's masked head shook slightly, "No. It made no hand signs and there was no smoke—just a cracking sound."
Harry frowned—the description sounded oddly familiar. "Magic?" He asked.
Kakashi nodded. "Probably," he agreed unhappily.
A few minutes later Kakashi stopped, frowning at a stone wall. Harry stopped beside him, wondering what he was doing. After nearly a minute, the younger Hatake had to speak up.
"Niisan?" He asked hesitantly.
Kakashi stepped forwards, putting his hands on the wall and feeling around a little.
Harry squinted and peered at the blank wall—he didn't see anything remarkable. "What are you looking at?" He asked, wondering if the ANBU was using his Sharingan.
"It was here earlier," the older teen muttered, still feeling around the wall.
Harry looked at the wall again, but didn't see anything, "What?"
Kakashi stepped back and formed the Ram with his hands, "Kai!"
Nothing happened. The wall remained quite intact and didn't change into anything else. Kakashi stepped back and crossed his arms, frowning pointedly at the wall.
"Niisan," Harry repeated in confusion. When Kakashi still didn't respond, he spoke a little more insistently, "Inu-san."
At last the ANBU's head turned toward him slightly, expression unreadable behind the white mask. Harry raised his eyebrows expectantly.
"... There was a door here," Kakashi said at length, sounding annoyed and turning to look at the wall again.
"The library?" Harry asked.
Kakashi nodded slightly, hooded head bobbing in a way that might have been comical on anyone but a member of the ANBU Black-Ops. You didn't laugh at someone who could kill you just as easily as blink.
Harry scratched the back of his head, "Well... are you sure? I mean, it can't have just... moved."
ANBU masks were emotionless; they couldn't show if their wearer was happy or sad or excited or surprised... but somehow, they always did manage to convey when their wearer was angry, and Harry immediately regretted his comment, even though it was true.
"Of course I'm sure," the ANBU growled—Harry was reminded a little too late that Kakashi hadn't slept in more than twenty-four hours.
Turning back to the wall, Kakashi asked the question Harry was glad he didn't have to ask, "So where is it? It's not Genjutsu, I would have been able to tell, and I can't find anything hidden by normal techniques... Either these wizards are a lot more clever than we thought, or something is very wrong with this place."
Harry, recalling the eccentric man that had met them, was willing to bet on the latter. He didn't say as much, though. Kakashi would be putting his money on the former—never underestimate your enemies.
"Excuse me!" A high, snappish voice said suddenly in English, causing both ninja to whirl around in surprise.
There was no one in the hallway, though, and they looked both ways—and up and down, for good measure.
The voice came again, "What do you think you're doing? Dallying in the hallway and snooping around like that. Awfully suspicious, if you ask me."
As she spoke, their eyes were dragged to the apparent source, a young woman in an auburn petticoat with golden rings in her hair. She brandished a closed umbrella like a bat, and was peering at the two of them with obvious dislike. Out of a picture frame.
Harry couldn't help it if his mouth dropped open, and Kakashi was unable to keep the shock from his eyes, which nearly doubled their usual size. It was a woman. In a picture. Talking directly to them, and apparently waiting for a reply.
She seemed further annoyed by their staring, "Why, I never! What do you mean, gaping like that? It's very rude, you know."
Harry's mouth took several tries to get working, "S-sorry," was all he could force out in the end, and it sounded more like an odd gasping sound that a fish might make if it were being fried alive than an actual word.
The pictures they had passed earlier had moved, and even talked, but Harry had assumed it was pre-recorded, somehow. There were movie theaters back in Fire Country, and his old house in Surrey had had a telly, but that didn't even come close to comparing to this. The woman was actually reacting to what they did and said, it seemed—it would be impossible to record something like that ahead of time, wouldn't it?
"I should say you're sorry," the woman agreed coolly, looking at both boys with equal amounts of distaste and scorn, "What are you two doing here, anyway? Who are you? I should let the Headmaster know."
"Wait!" Harry called out quickly, finally getting his head on straight at the threat of being reported—could a painting report them? Harry wasn't willing to risk it. "We're... guests of Dumbledore-san," he supplied, pleased when the woman hesitated, "We're... looking for the... the books… um…"
The woman peered at him closely, then snorted, resting her umbrella on the ground demurely, "Well, if you're looking for the library, you're in the wrong tower, aren't you? It's not here—it's been moved to the north-east tower, Gryffindor wing, I do believe."
Harry frowned. "What do you mean it's been moved?" He asked, "When was it moved?"
"Oh, earlier," the woman supplied vaguely, now appearing quite bored with the conversation, "It does that sometimes, of course."
"Er, right," Harry agreed, because she seemed to expect him to. He offered her a feeble smile—not that she could see it well through his mask, but it was the thought that counted, really. "Thank you."
"See that you get cleaned up a little while you're at it," the woman called after him scornfully as he turned to walk away.
Kakashi followed him until they were far enough from the painting that they felt safe to talk, voices low.
"She said it moved," Harry hissed to Kakashi, "Some north-east tower in a Gryffindor wing..."
Kakashi frowned, not giving any reply as he chose to glower down a curious looking man in a purple shirt with a frilly white cravat round his neck. The man quickly turned away, pretending to look at a plaque painted next to him while peering at the pair out of the corner of his eye.
Now that he'd started looking for them, he noticed many of the paintings had people inside of them, watching him. More of Dumbledore's sentinels, the ANBU suspected.
It took an extra hour and a half of exploration to find the library. When they did, it was nowhere near the north-east portion of the school, as they had been told, which left both shinobi in a bit of a foul mood, but they set out searching the shelves for atlases and maps nonetheless.
Harry let out a long groan and sat back in his seat. "There's nothing in here," he complained, frowning at the piles of map books he and Kakashi had spent the last several frustrating hours studying. It was early in the morning now and fatigue was beginning to get to the Genin.
They'd found Ministry of Magic on a map without too much trouble, but the problem came in when they tried to find where they were now. None of the maps had so much as hinted at the location of Hogwarts. They'd even looked all over the maps of other parts of the world, despite Hogwarts being supposedly located in Scotland.
"It must be hidden," Kakashi mused, rolling stiff shoulders uncomfortably, "Konoha and the other villages aren't marked, either." Even the countries they were located in had been suspiciously absent from the maps.
"That would be too easy if they were," Harry grumbled. With a sigh, he leaned forward. They had to figure this out. With a second sigh, he entangled his fingers in his hair roughly, trying to think of anything that could help them.
Kakashi was thinking as well, wondering if the old summoner had mentioned anything that would be useful. Harry, of course, had only translated bits and pieces of what the man said, so he had to rely completely on his brother's memory. Harry wasn't an idiot, but Kakashi would have felt much better if he was able to do the thinking himself.
"Did Dumbledore tell you anything else?" He asked at last, resigning himself to relying on his brother's memory, "Anything about our location?"
Harry shot him a glare born out of too little sleep and too much stress. "I'm trying to remember!" He snapped.
Kakashi frowned under his masks.
Harry sighed again. "Sorry," he grumbled, "But I am trying."
"Keep trying," Kakashi said, "We only have two days left at our disposal."
"I know," Harry growled, annoyed.
They both looked up at a sound from the other end of the library. The table they'd chosen to study at was in the far back corner, out of the immediate line of sight of the door. It gave them a tactical advantage. The people they'd met so far weren't exactly subtle in their movements, so chances were they would notice anyone who tried to disturb them before they were seen.
With a silent sign to Harry, Kakashi slipped out of his chair and soundlessly moved through the room to get behind the intruder. Harry waited only a few seconds before jerking up his mask and following, putting all his skills into moving as quietly as he could.
A startled shout around the corner drove Harry to move faster and he cleared the end of the bookshelf to find Kakashi holding a kunai to the neck of the man they'd met the afternoon before. It took a moment for Harry to recall his name—Remus Lupin.
"Lupin-san," he acknowledged coolly.
The man was paler than he'd seemed the night before—understandable, really, since he was being effectively restrained by a member of ANBU.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, the words leaving him slowly as he reminded himself of the need to speak in English—it came a little easier than it had the day before.
"I..." The man's eyes glanced at the white mask over his shoulder before hastily returning to Harry again. "I was looking for you," he admitted awkwardly, uncomfortably aware of the knife threatening to cut his throat, "I was going to see if you and your... superior wanted breakfast brought to you. It won't be served in the Great Hall for a while, yet, but if you're hungry I can have the House Elves whip something up..."
Harry frowned, trying to ascertain the truth in the man's words. It was one of the things he was good at, and he slowly nodded.
Kakashi eased the blade away from the man's neck and released him. Lupin was quick to put distance between himself and the other man—Kakashi had removed his cloak while they'd been studying maps, and for the first time Lupin was able to see his slim, muscular form covered by filthy white armor. More than ever he wondered what, exactly, this person was. Based with the mask and weapons he wore, Lupin's first thought was that he was some kind of warrior, but even that didn't quite do him justice.
"Can you have breakfast... brought up here?" Harry asked, startling the man out of his thoughts. He didn't want to risk leaving the library while they still had answers to find—they might be forced to waste another two hours looking for it again.
"Ah—yes," Remus answered, trying to keep the nervous edge out of his voice and hesitantly turning to look at Harry, "Yes, of course... the house elves can send it right to your table if you want."
Harry nodded—he was starving. "Yes, thanks."
The older man offered a shaky smile and edged a little closer to Harry—further still from the masked man. "Er... so, what are you studying?" He asked carefully.
Harry frowned, looking at his brother for a long moment, then back at the man. They hadn't wanted to ask Dumbledore, and this man was obviously a subordinate of Dumbledore's. But they were quickly running out of time and options—it might be the best bet.
When Harry looked back again, Kakashi gave him a slight nod, as if knowing his brother's question already. Harry smiled slightly in relief.
"We're looking for... where we are," he supplied, turning to lead the way back to their table.
Lupin frowned, casting the ANBU one last anxious look before following Harry. "You're at Hogwarts," he supplied, "Professor Dumbledore told you, didn't he?"
"But where is Hogwarts?" Harry asked with a frown, "We thought it was in... Scotland, but it's not on the maps."
The man smiled slightly as they approached the book strewn table. "Hogwarts is Unplottable," he announced, "That is, the spells cast around it don't allow its location to be recorded anywhere."
Harry's frown deepened, "Then how do people find it?"
"It's right next to Hogsmeade," Lupin supplied, "One of the wizard villages. Students usually come by train—the Hogwarts Express goes straight from King's Cross to Hogsmeade station. They take carriages or boats up to the castle."
The man frowned, pulling one of the books towards himself. "Hogsmeade should be in here," he mused thoughtfully, flipping back a few pages. A small smile crossed his lips as he stopped, tapping the page with one index finger. "There," he said with satisfaction, looking up at Harry expectantly.
Harry leaned over to get a better look at the point. "That's where we are?" He asked, just to be sure, "Hogwarts is there?"
"Around here," Lupin confirmed pleasantly, "We're about one and a half kilometers from the actual village."
Harry nodded in understand and with a quick look at Kakashi, he explained what the wizard had said. In seconds, Kakashi was leaning over the book on Lupin's other side—the wizard looked distinctly uncomfortable, listening to the two exchange rapid words in a language he'd never heard before—the ANBU's low and clipped tone and Harry's voice still a little high with youth and excitement.
Suddenly they both stopped and looked at him. "When can we eat?" Harry asked abruptly, bright green eyes all of a sudden reminding Remus of Lily when she was on the verge of solving a particularly challenging problem.
He was shocked for a moment at the unexpected reminder of his friends, and it took him several seconds to work out a reply. "I—I'll go let the... uh, the house elves know." He took one last look at the two boys, then made a quick retreat to call a house elf. He wasn't quite brave enough to call one in front of the boys—he didn't want to risk startling the larger one… and earlier that night the house elves had point-blank refused to go anywhere near the mysterious, masked man.
"... Almost five hundred kilometers," Kakashi mused, referencing the small scale in the corner of the page. "We'd have to keep a steady pace of at least 16 kilometers per hour, with breaks." He cast a calculating look at the younger boy.
Harry tried not to wince. He was pretty fast, but keeping it up for a long time wouldn't be easy. Still, if that's what they had to do, what choice did he have? He nodded gravely.
"We'll have breakfast, switch with our bunshin, then head out," Kakashi decided.
Harry nodded again and looked anxiously up at the ANBU, "Will that leave us with enough time?"
"It'll have to be enough," Kakashi said seriously, "We'll be traveling for the next forty hours or so with very little rest, and after that we'll still need to find a way to get one of these portkey."
Harry nodded once more and began closing books. "You know the way, right?" He asked, pausing before reaching for the two books they'd been relying on the most—one was a map of the whole island country, and the other was a more detailed atlas of London.
Kakashi nodded and Harry closed the books, hurrying to return them to their shelves. Lupin caught sight of him and changed his return path to give him a hand.
"All done, then?" The man asked amiably, glad that the other man wasn't hovering over his shoulder.
Harry nodded. "Thank you," he said formally, "It's... strange. I know I used to... live here... but I don't know much about the country... outside of Surrey."
Remus smiled faintly, pleased with the boy's apparent frankness. When he wasn't around that other one, he was actually a pleasant child. "Well, you were young when you left."
Harry snorted in disbelief. "I was six," he corrected.
The man glanced at him in confusion as they stacked the books back where they belonged. "Six is a little young to know about things like that," he said carefully.
Harry hummed without conviction. Kakashi had been a Chuunin when he was six. Harry was twelve, almost thirteen, and was still only a Genin. Kakashi had pointed out—once—that the first six years of Harry's life really couldn't be counted since he hadn't been exposed to anything like shinobi life, but Harry realized that even with that excuse, he came up woefully short measured next to his brother.
The boy pushed those thoughts from his mind and put the last of his books away. "We're going to sleep after eating," he told the man with a yawn that was completely natural, "Didn't sleep much last night."
Remus nodded in understanding—the boy was looking tired, with shadows under his eyes and drooping eyelids. Of course, he must have been up most of the night trying to figure out where Hogwarts was.
"I'll see if the house elves have the food yet," he said, turning to leave the library again.
Harry frowned slightly, "That's the second time you said that. What are they?" Remus looked at him and he added, "House elves."
"Oh... House elves are a type of magical creature," Remus replied, "They're... well, they're a kind of funny little creature that looks a bit like a misshapen man with long ears and leathery skin... they like to work in houses and things, so we have a group of them staffing the castle, cooking and cleaning."
"I see," Harry said, even though he wasn't sure he did.
Remus smiled uncertainly and moved away again, "Well, I'll go check on your breakfast."
Harry nodded and turned back to the table he'd been working at with Kakashi. The older boy had his mask tilted to the side slightly, and the cloth mask he always wore was lowered to his chin as he crammed the rest of a nutrition bar in his mouth. Harry rolled his eyes as the mask was quickly pulled up again and the ANBU plate returned to its place over his face.
"You don't trust them," Harry intoned bluntly.
"I can't even understand what they're saying," Kakashi pointed out, "In my profession, trusting is the same as giving your enemy a kunai and painting a target on your back."
Harry rubbed the back of his head and slumped down in one of the chairs. "I guess," he agreed, "But they've had plenty of chances to do something to us, and nothing bad has happened yet."
The ANBU stared at him.
The boy colored a little, "I mean... well, besides not letting us go home. I think they really want our help, so they probably won't poison us or anything."
"They want your help," Kakashi corrected.
"Well... yeah," Harry agreed.
"They're afraid of me," Kakashi added.
Harry smirked under his mask, eyes lighting up a little in amusement, "Well, yeah, who wouldn't be? You're still in your uniform, and you've still got blood on you, and you've attacked most of the people we've met so far."
The ANBU mask tilted in amusement, "True."
He didn't say anything else, as a moment later Remus walked up to them with a large tray of food.
"Alright!" Harry exclaimed, forgetting to use English in his excitement—his stomach grumbled loudly at the sight of so much food. He could recognize eggs and pancakes and toast with several types of jellies. There was a bowl of fruit and a pitcher of something—he couldn't see what. He hadn't seen such a well-endowed breakfast in years. Not since he'd been making it for the Dursleys.
Remus smiled vaguely at the boy's enthusiasm and placed the tray on the table, handing both males a plate and glass. "Help yourself," he told Harry.
Harry did so, immediately piling his plate high with pancakes and sausages and eggs and smothering it all with plenty of syrup.
"... You're going to be sick," Kakashi commented, watching in distaste as the food mounted higher on his brother's plate. He'd never seen Harry eat so much in one sitting before.
"I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday!" Harry pointed out, "I'm starving!"
Kakashi chose not to comment on his poor choice of words as Harry reached for the English cutlery—a fork and knife like he hadn't used in a long time—and barely paused long enough to say, "Itadakimasu!" and jerk down his mask before digging in.
Remus watched him dig in with amusement for several seconds before noticing that the older boy wasn't even touching the food placed before them. He frowned at Harry in concern.
"Isn't your... superior going to be eating?"
Harry quickly swallowed what was in his mouth and looked up, his hand positioned to keep his face from easy viewing—just in case. "He ate already," he supplied blithely. "He doesn't..." the boy paused, finding himself at a lack of words and thought furiously for the way to express himself, "Believe you won't hurt him."
It took several additional seconds for Remus to understand the implications of the statement. He frowned deeper. "He thinks we'd poison him?" He asked in surprise, looking at the masked figure, "Even though we didn't mean for him to come, he is still our guest and will be treated appropriately."
Harry shrugged it off and reached for the pitcher, taking a look at the orange colored liquid as he poured it into his glass. "He's... not friendly," he supplied, "What is this?"
"Huh? Oh, pumpkin juice," Remus supplied distractedly, still worrying over the second young man.
"Pumpkin?" Harry repeated in surprise, "Like pie?" He took a tentative sip of the sweet liquid and his eyes widened in surprise—it was a little odd, but good. He dove back into his plate of food with renewed gusto. For the next forty hours—probably longer—he'd have nothing to eat but dry nutrition bars and anything Kakashi felt like killing on the way, so he was going to make the most of his last civilized meal.
Harry was uncomfortably full as Remus escorted them back to their rooms twenty minutes later. He was sure Kakashi had rolled his eyes at him, and he was more sleepy than ever, but he stubbornly refused to admit to his discomfort. After all, he had said he wouldn't get sick.
Remus left them as they disappeared into their rooms, and once inside Harry quickly formed a bunshin.
It wasn't a skill Harry was particularly good at. He often missed little things, as Kakashi (and his sensei) lectured him on time and again, and his chakra control was sloppy at best, but a puff of smoke later he was staring at a copy of himself that would fool anyone but the most observant of shinobi. Harry was satisfied.
"Okay, you'll be staying here," he directed needlessly, pointing to the bed, "Just... pretend to sleep and that should be enough."
The clone nodded and lay down on the bed, on top of the covers. Harry frowned a little, but that would have to be good enough. Regular bunshin couldn't affect the world around them like kage bunshin could. It couldn't pick things up or move things, so the covers would never stay over its unsubstantial body.
"Ready to go?"
Harry startled at the voice behind him and turned with surprise to see Kakashi in the shadowed corner of his room. He winced a little under his mask—the ANBU looked creepy in the shadowed folds of his cloak, the only thing standing out being the red and white mask he wore. He nodded.
Kakashi indicated the door and they both slipped out silently, moving down stone corridors with all the stealth of light-footed cats.
It wasn't difficult to find their way out of the castle, although it took a bit longer than it should have. The corridors, Kakashi had commented dryly, seemed to have rearranged themselves since the last time they'd come that way. Still, it was fairly simple to continue going in the same direction until they found a window low enough to the ground that they could jump out without being hurt.
It was turning into a bright summer day, although a chill that Harry didn't remember from his summers in Surrey hung in the air. They stayed low as they crossed over the grassy field between the castle and the gate in the wall that surrounded it, and Harry used every trick he could think of to move unseen.
They paused in front of the wall, about twenty meters west of the main gate, and Kakashi turned to Harry. "Ready?" He asked the younger boy.
Harry nodded and Kakashi took the initiative, leaping with a small burst of chakra. He was aiming to land on top and jump again to the ground beyond, however the second he passed above the boundary, an odd, tingly feeling swept through his body. It was all the ANBU could do to catch himself on the wall and land safely, and it took him only a second longer under the influence of the strange effect to realize what it was. Immediately, he turned his attention down to Harry.
"Stop!" He called out, just in time for the crouched boy to abort his jump.
Frowning in confusion, Harry straightened and looked up curiously, "What is it?"
Kakashi remained sullenly silent for several seconds, mentally berating himself for his carelessness, then reluctantly admitted, "My chakra's been drained." More accurately, it was still being drained, and he could feel himself getting weaker by the second, but the continued drain was much more sluggish than the initial reaction had been. He needed to get away from this wall before he was too exhausted to move at all.
Harry's eyes widened in alarm, "Do you want me to do something?"
"Hmm..." Kakashi mustered his strength to pull himself back off the wall, finding himself without even the strength to stand anymore. Harry could only watch with horror as his brother tumbled from the wall, hitting the stone structure twice before finally landing on the ground with a sickening thunk.
The twelve-year-old immediately rushed to his side, hovering over him uncertainly, not wanting to hurt him further by touching him. Kakashi was sprawled face down on the grass, and his shoulders were moving slowly with his breath.
"Kakashi!" Harry shouted, forgetting everything about code-names in his worry, "Kakashi-niisan!"
The ANBU stirred slightly with a groan.
"Kakashi! What should I do?" The Genin asked frantically, still hovering over him without quite touching him.
Kakashi groaned again, using what little strength was left in him to attempt to turn over. He couldn't even manage that, but Harry, seeing what he was trying to do, helped him to roll over. Kakashi hissed in pain when the boy clumsily touched his shoulder, but clenched his teeth and endured being man-handled until he was looking up at his brother's concerned face.
The ANBU's mask had cracked a little—probably during one of the impacts with the wall—and Harry reached out tentatively to move it away, feeling like he was committing a horrible taboo as he did so. There was blood smeared on the older teen's face, but not a lot so it probably wasn't anything too bad, Harry hoped.
"Kakashi-niisan...?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Help... me get back... to our rooms," Kakashi muttered weakly, struggling to move his arm enough to reach the pouches he wore at his belt.
Harry followed the movement with his eyes and was quick to help, "What do you need?"
"... Soldier pills," Kakashi grunted, "Second on... on the right."
Harry reached for the indicated pouch and hesitated, "Soldier pills? Is that... is that safe?"
Kakashi laughed breathlessly—every breath hurt and he was sure he'd cracked a rib or two—"Of course not... But... it's necessary."
Harry admitted he probably wouldn't be able to get Kakashi back to their rooms by himself, but the chakra enhancing drug could have devastating effects on Kakashi's body if he was really that weak already. Harry knew a bit about how they worked, and they tapped into and amplified the remaining chakra in the body. Unfortunately, if someone's chakra was too low, it would dip into the chakra set aside by the body to maintain life, and if it dipped too far into that reserve, the outcome could be deadly.
The twelve-year-old quickly fumbled with the latch on Kakashi's pouch and pulled out one of the small round pills. Instead of giving it to his brother, though, he yanked down his own mask and slipped it in his mouth, feeling the energy flooding through his coils almost immediately. It was also dangerous to use when there was no deficit of chakra, as the body was hard-pressed to handle all the extra chakra running through it, but that was a risk Harry was willing to take.
With excess chakra pouring through every part of him, Harry was able to lift the mass of muscle that was his brother relatively easily, something he really couldn't do under normal circumstances.
"Idiot," the ANBU sighed, but made no effort to resist his being moved.
Harry hurried up to the castle, wanting to get his brother back in bed as soon as possible. He was also worried about the strain on his own body—hopefully he wouldn't collapse from overuse before he found their rooms.
The trip back was long and winding, but it didn't take Harry as long to find their rooms as he'd expected it to. Following familiar landmarks, he was able to find them in less than an hour—which was good since by then he was feeling exhausted and sore.
He put Kakashi in his own room, since he knew there was water there, and set the older teen on his bed with a relieved sigh. The blood on his face, the twelve-year-old soon found, was from a battered nose—already swollen and probably broken.
Harry clumsily wrapped a few other scrapes, trying his best to be gentle, but wasn't sure what to do about broken bones or anything else, besides trying not to aggravate them. It also didn't help that Kakashi had fallen asleep on him during the time it took for him to get back to their rooms.
The boy leaned back on his heels, regarding his brother uncertainly. He needed a medic, that much was obvious, but the ANBU would be furious if he brought him to the school nurse, especially without his permission.
Harry chewed on his lower lip indecisively. At length, he chose to err on the side of caution. He'd wait until Kakashi woke up, then he'd ask him about seeing the nurse. At the very least, Kakashi could tell him what to do about his injuries.
Decided, the boy sat back to rest, the adrenaline rush from Kakashi's fall and the soldier pill slowly draining out of him and leaving him even more exhausted than before. It wasn't long before the twelve-year-old was asleep.