Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter.
Key: "talking" Japanese (or emphasis or books/newspaper articles, I hope you're smart enough to tell which)
Pairings/Friendships: Nejiten, SasuSaku, NaruHina, ShikaTema
A/N: A whopping total of 21 reviews! Much thanks to my beloved repeat reviewers and everyone else who bothered. It means a lot to me.
CH. 4 – Curious Sympathies
A NarutoHP Crossover
- at Hogwarts ( Classes )
Harry had a jumble of things occupying his mind as he walked distractedly across the sodden vegetable patch in the back of the school. He didn't even register his arrival at Professor Sprout's greenhouse until Hermione and Ron, who were walking alongside him, came to a jarring halt. The herbologist's voice quickly snapped him out of his reverie; his head shot up, and his eyes landed on the ugliest plants he had ever seen. Indeed, they looked less like plants than thick, black, giant slugs, protruding vertically out of the soil. Each was squirming slightly and had a number of large, shiny swellings upon it, which appeared to be full of liquid.
"Bubotubers," explained Professor Sprout briskly, gesturing to the disgusting plants. "They need squeezing. You will collect the pus –"
"The what?" said Seamus Finnigan, sounding revolted. At the same time, another voice could be heard directly behind Harry, and the black haired boy whipped around in surprise. Standing a few paces away was Fox, and judging by the sound he was making ("What the fu– pus?"), he didn't much like the idea of bubotuber pus either. Not that he was the one that had to squeeze it out, of course.
"Pus, Finnigan, pus," continued Professor Sprout, "and it's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. You will collect the pus, I say, in these bottles. Wear your dragon-hide gloves; it can do funny things to the skin when undiluted, bubotuber pus." (Fox nearly gagged, "Does she have to say the word pus so many times?")
But oh, oh oh! Harry realized something, disregarding the Herbology lecture, as his eyes swept around the rest of the greenhouse. If Fox was here, then where was Sparrow? After a few moments of searching, he found Sparrow standing a ways behind Professor Sprout, chatting idly with Slug and Owl. He glanced at his two friends and jerked his head in direction of the guards. "Why are they here in class? The Triwizard tourney doesn't even start until..."
Hermione only nodded sagely, grabbing a pair of dragon-hide gloves to get started on her bubotuber. "It's only natural," she said loftily. "They are, after all, from the far East. They might want to observe some of our classes and teaching methods, or learn some of our European customs."
"What are they, diplomats?"
"In a sense," she replied, her eyebrows furrowed as she squeezed the swellings on the bubotubers. Harry grunted in response, feeling oddly satisfied as he popped open the ugly plants. The pus ended up looking yellow greenish, very thick, and very smelly. Fox had something to say about that, since he had something to say about everything.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," the blonde guard muttered, staring at the pus.
"Geez, you simple minded idiot. You can handle blood and guts without batting an eyelash, but some magical goop makes you hurl?"
Harry nearly jumped when a second voice joined Fox's behind him. He quickly looked up, and was amazed to see that the female guards were no longer behind Professor Sprout. When had they moved? He should've noticed... By the high-pitched and mischievous quality to the voice, he deduced it must've be Sparrow that had spoken.
He was right, he thought a trifle smugly, as he saw Slug talking avidly to the Head of Hufflepuff and Owl pointing shyly at a plant while exchanging quiet words with Neville. It had to be Sparrow behind him. Harry scrunched up his nose in a vain attempt to get rid of the pus' petrol smell from his nasal cavity, and right then and there decided to make it his project to be able to discern the different voices of the guards. So far, Fox was light hearted, airy, and laced with amusement, and Sparrow was playful, happy, and had an underlying flavor of mischief.
It would be just to pass the time, he justified. All in good fun and intrigue.
A booming bell echoed from the castle across the wet grounds, signaling the end of the lesson, and the class separated; the Hufflepuffs climbing the stone steps for Transfiguration, and the Gryffindors heading in the other direction, down the sloping lawn toward Hagrid's small wooden cabin, which stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Slug and Owl waved good-bye to Sparrow and to Fox, who simply lifted two fingers and made an informal salute motion.
Hagrid was standing outside his hut, one hand on the collar of his enormous black boarhound, Fang. At the sight of the dog, Fox exclaimed, "Hey! That looks like one of Kakashi's ninja dog summons!" and Sparrow elbowed him in the side. Harry tore his curious eyes off the two guards and focused his attention on the several open wooden crates on the ground by the Gamekeeper's feet. As the group drew nearer, an odd rattling noise reached their ears, punctuated by what sounded like minor explosions.
"Mornin'!" Hagrid said, grinning at his three favorite students. "Be'er wait fer the Slytherins, they won' want ter miss this special treat – Blast-Ended Skrewts!"
"Come again?" said Ron.
Hagrid pointed down into the crates.
"No, no," Ron shook his head. "Not that.. You said, Slytherins?" The red head squeaked out the last word, his face paling rapidly.
For a moment there, Harry wondered what made Ron so scared.. it was just Draco Malfoy and his groupies, right? But then realization hit him like a ton of bricks as his eyes wandered onto the golden haired guard, who was glancing gingerly into the boxes, and he felt himself shudder. He could he have forgotten..the Slytherin guard!
"What's wrong with the Slytherins?" asked Sparrow suddenly, appearing like a phantom to his right. Hermione started in shock at the female guard's arrival and accidentally stepped on Ron's foot as she tried to retreat a safe distance.
"They're a rotten bunch. All of them are snot nosed brats from pure blood families," said the bushy haired girl, sniffing in distaste while apologizing brusquely to the Weasley. "But that's not why Ron is scared. He's afraid of the Slytherin guard Viper."
"Viper?" questioned Sparrow, quirking an eyebrow under the mask. "I guess he's a bit standoffish, and sure he can be disagreeable... but he's not such a baddie underneath all those thorns."
"Hmph. Only you would say that," spoke the familiar cold, hard, and poisonous voice. The spiky, raven haired guard stood ominously next to Ron (probably on purpose), his eerie presence making Hermione's hair curl even more than was thought possible.
"Noo," sang Sparrow, flitting around Viper in order to see if she could spot Raccoon. "I bet all of us would say that. We've gotten to know each other pretty well after all."
The snake-like guard simply snorted, but Sparrow could tell that beneath his porcelain mask he had on a pleased expression. She smiled knowingly and turned to shoo away the Golden Trio.
"Go on, your class is starting!" she said sternly, and the three were only too glad to walk as far away from Viper as possible. Viper's voice was cold, sarcastic, and unsettling.. Harry thought briefly about it before scooting away with the rest of the class towards the wooden boxes.
The class ended up pretty much a disaster. Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewts really did have a blasting end that exploded occasionally. They were like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long. They were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish, and every now and then sparks would fly out of the ends of a skrewt, blasting them forward several inches. Having left the oppressive aura of Viper, the Slytherins started to return to their usual mouthy selves.
"What do they do?" Malfoy asked, staring disdainfully at the animals. "What is the point of them?
Hagrid opened his mouth, apparently thinking hard; there was a few seconds' pause, then he said roughly, "Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feeding 'em today..."
After a couple minutes of horrid development and revelations ("Ah, some of 'em have got stings," said Hagrid. "The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies too... I think they may be ter suck blood."), the pale blonde decided to open his obnoxious trap once more.
"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Malfoy sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"
"Those ones are the most useful," protested Fox from off to the side. He was talking about ninja summons, but no one really knew that. A few of the students just stared at him in confusion, semi-horrified looks on their faces before trusty Hermione broke in hurriedly at Hagrid's defense.
"Just because they're not very pretty, doesn't mean they're not useful," she snapped. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"
"Dragons?" perked up Sparrow, who was swinging her legs, with a rather bored demeanor, while sitting on a tree branch near the Forbidden Forest. "What are you talking about? I love dragons. Do you know, back at home they call me East's Steel Dragon? ...er, nevermind," she said, almost sheepishly, at the weird looks she was getting. "Forget I said anything."
Raccoon, who was standing off to the side engulfed in tree shadows, gave the twin bun brunette a disarming grin from beneath her mask. "East's Steel Dragon? I could've sworn it was Konoha's Steel Dragon.. I simply cannot wait to tell Konoha that one of their top ANBU is defecting to this.. East."
The chocolate brown haired female aimed a playful kick at Raccoon's dirty blonde head. "Raccoon!"
- at Hogwarts ( Great Hall )
An hour later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione trudged back up to the castle for lunch, discussing the Blast-Ended Skrewts.
"Well, at least they're small," said Ron, trying to be optimistic for once. It didn't really suit him.
"They are now," said Hermione in an exasperated voice, "but once Hagrid's found out what they eat, I expect they'll be six feet long."
When they reached the Great Hall, Hermione sat down immediately and began inhaling her food like a vacuum. She ate so fast that Harry and Ron gaped at her.
"Is.. is this some kind of new stand on elf rights?" asked Ron, watching with a sort of disgusted fascination as the food on her plate disappeared faster than you could say "stupefy". And he thought he could eat fast. "You're going to make yourself puke instead?"
"No," said Hermione, with as much dignity as she could muster with her mouth bulging with sprouts. "I just want to get to the library." To look up on elf rights throughout wizarding history was her main purpose, but she also wanted to do some research on the eastern wizarding nation..
"What?" Ron exclaimed in disbelief. "But we haven't even got homework yet!"
The bookworm just shrugged, shoveled down the rest of her food, and left as fast as she could in the direction of the library.
Meanwhile, across the room, a certain Haruno Sakura was watching Hermione Granger carefully.
- at Hogwarts ( the Library )
A certain, bushy haired brunette made her way, alarmingly fast, to the school's magical library. One would think, if one witnessed her determined flight, that it was because of some sort of emergency. Haruno Sakura, however, recognized it as eagerness.. for being a fellow bookworm, she could understand the urgency to satisfy a curiosity. The pink haired medic pursued the Gryffindor silently and quietly, like the elite ninja she was. All it took was utilizing the shadows of the castle corners and a bit of chakra at her feet, since the senses of a wizard were definitely not up to par to notice even the most elementary of ninja stalking techniques. Hell, Konohamaru could sneak up on one of them... and by the gods was that saying something.
The ANBU female shook her head, trying to shake out her insulting thoughts. It was no good to be biased, she reprimanded herself firmly, before slipping noiselessly into the quiet confines of the Hogwarts Library. The brunette, whose name was Granger Hermione, began to search for books in the Foreign Relations section, at letter E.
In reality, it should have been Tenten that followed Hermione and monitored her, since Neville wasn't really a top priority. He was high up on the respect list, though.. but anyway, it was by some miscalculation that she (who coincidentally took an avid interest in her current target) shadowed this girl. Her team was under the impression that all three of the Golden Trio would stick together for the most part; well, except for the girls that knew about girly things, and Shikamaru, who was probably too lazy to point anything out. Obviously, the Weasley-Granger-Potter group (collectively and unofficially dubbed Team Harry) weren't as inseparable as originally thought.
But besides all of that, this girl was pretty interesting. Was she trying to get information on the guards? Sakura peered down from her perch on the ceiling, covertly hiding in the darkness of a cobwebby arch. There wouldn't be much information since there really wasn't much to the East in terms of wizarding, and there was simply no way the Hidden Villages would allow a leak.. but it was a good effort.
The medic watched as Hermione slid a particularly large and dusty volume off the shelf and opened it. The girl's slightly sun-kissed fingers tread lightly down the page, where she paused and read thoroughly a section that caught her eye.
Using her ultra special heightened ninja senses, Sakura squinted into the afternoon sunlight to catch a glimpse of the page's small scrawly print:
Eastern Wizarding Relations
So far, there have been no recorded contacts with the wizards of the Eastern continent. We were not even sure of their existence until recently, having only heard ancient myths of Asian magic.. but a powerful barrier surrounding the East has confirmed it. We remain unsuccessful in penetrating it to explore further.
The people of the East will quite possibly forever remain a mystery.
The pink haired ninja allowed herself a smile when Hermione let out a huff of indignation and irritation, closing the book almost grumpily. Suddenly and inexplicably, Sakura felt the urge to do something that Naruto would probably do... and Mistress Tsunade was not here. With that concrete reasoning, she gave in to indulging her bored self. She dropped to the floor without a noise and barely any movement, directly behind the Gryffindor. Leaning slightly forward, so her mouth was close to the brunette's ear, she spoke teasingly, "Didn't anyone tell you? Curiosity kills the cat."
With a strangled yelp, for even in her unconscious reflexive action she remembered her location, Hermione leapt a few feet into the air in shock. This reaction elicited a soft chuckle from the medic, who stepped back a bit, quirking another smile behind the mask.
"Of course," she said, unable to resist. "You are more of a mouse.. so in that sense, curiosity might be what finds you your food."
The Gryffindor merely opened and closed her mouth, apparently still recovering from the surprise.
"But just remember.. everything is good only in moderation," Sakura finished, a finger held to the area her lips should be, before fading away into the shadow of a nearby bookshelf.
- at Hogwarts ( Classes )
When the bell rang to signal the start of afternoon lessons, Harry and Ron set off for the North Tower where, at the top of a tightly spiraling staircase, a silver stepladder led to a circular trap-door in the ceiling, and the room where Professor Trelawney lived.
The familiar sweet perfume spreading from the fire met their nostrils as they emerged at the top of the stepladder. Usually, all the curtains would be closed, but a single window had been opened, through which a faintly cool breeze rippled the red velveteen fabric. Next to the window, with his head practically hanging out, sat a rather dejected looking Fox. The blonde was currently mumbling complaints to Sparrow, who was shaking her head.
"God this place is the dump," the guard said contemptuously, trying in vain to clear out the sweet smell from his nostrils. "I swear my sense of smell is permanently damaged."
"It's not that bad," retorted the female. "Please, think of Kiba!"
"He'd be complaining twice as bad as me!"
"No, I meant during the Chuunin Exam," she said impatiently. "Remember? When you –"
Fox let out a barking laugh that resembled.. well, a fox's. "Oh, that was a riot! When I farted in his face? God dammit, wish I coulda taken a picture of his expression."
"The Inuzuka bloodline limit is as much a hassle as it is an asset," commented Sparrow sympathetically.
"Hey.. It just occurred to me that I'm on an unranked mission right now to a practically whole different world, sitting in a smelly old castle tower, and I'm talking about Kiba to pass the time. As if I didn't have enough of that mangy, rough housing mutt of an Inuzuka. Just the other day he was boasting about his sister becoming clan head.."
Sparrow shrugged. "It got you to quit complaining for a moment. And be glad he wasn't assigned on this mission, then."
"He almost was," said Fox dispassionately. "Except for the #1 unspoken ANBU rule."
"What's that?" asked the female ANBU, almost warily.
"Only one mongrel per assignment."
The two continued their conversation, albeit quietly so as not to disturb the class, as Harry and Ron walked through the mass of chintz chairs and poufs that cluttered the room and the others settled down. The two sat down at the same small circular table, and waited for the teacher to speak.
"Good day," said the misty voice of Professor Trelawney right behind Harry, making him jump. Gosh, there was an awful lot of jumping today wasn't there?
A very thin woman with enormous glasses that made her eyes appear far too large for her face, Professor Trelawney was peering down at Harry with the tragic expression she always wore whenever she saw him. The usual large amount of beads, chains, and bangles glittered upon her person in the combination of sunlight and firelight.
"You are preoccupied, my dear," she said mournfully to Harry. "My inner eye sees past your brave face to the troubled soul within. And I regret that your worries are not baseless –" An audible snort from Fox could be heard, and Harry felt his cheeks burn. "– I see difficult times ahead for you, alas... most difficult.. I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass.. and perhaps sooner than you think.." ("What a fraud," commented Sparrow offhandedly. Fox readily agreed.)
Her voice dropped almost to a whisper, steadily ignoring the quiet interjections of the two guards. Ron rolled his eyes at Harry, who having composed himself, looked stonily back. Professor Trelawney swept past them and seated herself in a large winged armchair before the fire, facing the class.
"My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars," she said... and so the lesson went on.
- at Hogwarts ( Great Hall )
"Miserable old bat," said Ron bitterly as he and Harry joined the dinner crowds that were descending the staircases back to the Great Hall. "That'll take all weekend that will..."
Hermione caught up with the two, her usual know-it-all air replaced with a slightly brooding one.
"You alright?" asked Harry, lifting an eyebrow.
"Yeah.." she said. "I've got something to tell you two, though –"
A loud voice rang out behind them, its tone mocking and derisive. "Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing there, each looking thoroughly pleased about something.
"What?" said Ron shortly.
"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" said Malfoy, brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet and speaking very loudly, so that everyone in the packed entrance hall could her. "Listen to this!"
However, before he could begin to read the offensive article out loud, the paper was snatched delicately from his fingertips. The pale haired aristocrat boy whirled around angrily, his mouth poised to put whoever stole his scrap of entertainment from him. But he froze as he recognized the forbidding figure of Raccoon, one hand on her hip and the other grasping the newspaper.
She paused a moment to read over the article, her demeanor growing more and more disapproving as she reached the end of the page.
"Malfoy," she said in a commanding tone. "Rule #4."
"But –" He protested, hands itching towards the paper. The dirty blonde glanced coolly at him, promptly ripped the page to threads, and then said again, "Rule #4." This time, more harshly.
"There shall be no fighting or feuding with the other Houses, or even within our own house," recited Malfoy, defeated. "But this isn't a fight!"
"Your ill intent could very well provoke one," Raccoon replied indifferently. "Now leave peacefully and eat dinner." This comment she directed at all of them, and before any of them could move, she turned on her heel and walked briskly away. Malfoy, who had momentarily regained his pompous attitude, grabbed his wand out in a reckless rage and aimed a spell at her back.
"Stupefy!" he yelled, swishing his wand, and a red jet of magic shot out of the tip with a bang. The spell shot towards the guard, and before Harry could plunge his hand into his robes for his own wand, two extraordinary things happened.
One, the guard pivoted on the spot, reached out a fisted hand, and simply knocked the spell out of the air. Two, a loud roar of "OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!" echoed through the entrance hall. Harry spun around while Hermione gaped at the guard. Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase, with his wand out and pointed at a pure white ferret (which was shivering on the stone-flagged floor, exactly where Malfoy had been standing). A terrified silence filled the entrance hall, and nobody but Moody and the guard moved a muscle. The grotesquely scarred DADA teacher turned to face the dirty blonde ANBU, and growled, "Did he get you?"
The female didn't respond, she was busy staring at the white ferret. Coincidentally, she had two things going on in her mind at the moment. One, her thoughts towards Malfoy's actions were a little like this; "That mother fucking bitch –" plus many more expletives. But on the other hand, two, he was now transfigured into a ferret. And ferrets were in the weasel family... and her summon was a weasel. She was a bit torn between her two emotions, before realizing that Malfoy was only a ferret temporarily. When he turned back.. She smacked her fists together in anticipation and the white animal on the floor let out a squeak.
"Leave it!" Moody shouted suddenly.
"What?" said Raccoon, clearly disgruntled by his loud overbearing voice.
"Him!" Moody growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Crabbe, who had just frozen, about to pick up the white ferret. Raccoon made a mental note; the rolling eye could see out the back of his head. The professor started to limp toward Malfoy's two cronies and the ferret squeaked even louder, streaking towards the dungeons (probably to the safety of the potions master Severus Snape).
"I don't think so!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again; it flew ten feet in the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more.
"I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody, flicking his want to bounce the white animal once more. He was stopped when Raccoon appeared and plucked the ferret out of the air to save it from its second fall, motioning for him to stop.
"Enough," she said, holding the ferret by the scruff away from her as if it was a disease. "I thank you for your thoughtfulness Professor Moody, but I am perfectly capable of dishing out my own punishments."
The ex-Auror just stared at her, before coming to his senses and coughing lightly... only to be interrupted by a shocked voice coming from the marble staircase.
"Professor Moody!" said McGonagall, her eyes darting from him to the guard to the ferret. "What is going on?"
"Just teaching a bit of discipline," said Moody calmly, glancing at the ferret. Professor McGonagall froze as she realized the implications of what he said.
"Moody, is that a student?" she shrieked, dropping all of the books she had in her arms so that they spilled out haphazardly onto the stone floor.
"Yep," said Moody.
"No!" the deputy headmistress cried, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand to undo the transfiguration. With a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy appeared, still being held by the collar of his robes by Raccoon.. who didn't look in the least bothered by the new found weight of his human appearance. In fact, she hadn't even twitched. The boy's sleek blonde hair was now disheveled and all over his now brilliantly pink face. The female Slytherin guard dropped him without warning, and he smacked into the floor once more.
"We never use transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"
"And you!" she rounded on the guard without thinking. "What were you doing?"
"Saving him," responded Raccoon, brushing her fingers off on her black trouser pants. "Some what."
McGonagall visibly deflated and paled as she realized who she tried to reprimand. "Oh, my apologies then..." She recovered in a matter of milliseconds.
"But you, Moody! We give detentions, or speak to the offender's Head of House!"
"I think I'll do that then," said Moody, eying Malfoy before grabbing the boy's upper arm and marching off towards the dungeons.
The Transfiguration teacher stared anxiously after them for a few moments, then gathered her books and stepped into the Great Hall. Raccoon followed closely, and soon so did the rest of the audience.
"Don't talk to me," said Ron quietly to Harry and Hermione as they sat down at the Gryffindor table a few minutes later.
"Why not?" said Hermione, surprised.
"Because I want to fix that in my memory forever," said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing white ferret..."
Harry and Hermione both laughed, and Hermione began to dole out beef casserole for all of them.
"I wonder how that guard repelled that spell though," she said thoughtfully, looking contemplative. "And it was really good that Professor McGonagall stopped it –"
"Hermione!" said Ron furiously, his eyes snapping open again, "You're ruining the best moment of my life!" Hermione made an impatient noise.
Harry's eyes followed Raccoon for a moment as the guard spoke angrily (judging by her body language) to Viper, and it was with idle amusement that he saw the fearsome, raven haired Slytherin guard stride out of the Great Hall towards the dungeons.
The Boy Who Lived almost felt sorry for Malfoy, his sworn enemy. Keyword, almost.
Something random (not part of the story) I felt like writing..
Ways to Love:
Harry sighed heavily and pushed the mound of schoolbooks he'd been studying from away from him. To his right, the warm crackling fire of the Gryffindor common room seemed almost cold.. He glanced, almost desperately, at the stoic guard sitting next to him, who was being absolutely silent and still.
And it was too quiet. Way too quiet. He had to do something to change that.. and given such a rare private chance, The Boy Who Lived couldn't resist asking Hawk a question that would probably be ignored anyway.
"Do you know.." he began awkwardly, suddenly feeling small and insignificant and a lot more nervous than before. "Do you know about love?"
Something in the guard stirred, and Hawk slowly turned to face the young wizard. He had the man's attention.
"What is love like in your world?"
"...Our world?"
"I mean.. That's got to be something we have in common, right?"
The reply was stiff, as if having something in common with him was insulting. "What makes you say that?"
"I've been told that love is a universal language," said Harry firmly, staring at the long haired male. There was a lasting pause as the guard pondered the statement.
"Perhaps," Hawk allowed. "But in the end, we all speak different dialects."