Here's the fourth chapter. As usual, I own nothing but wish I did.
I have a response to two guest reviews at the end of the chapter, so if you left a guest review, you might want to check there.
Also, at this moment I'm suffering from my seasonal allergies and a terrible migraine, so I apologize if this chapter sucks. If you think it needs to be rewritten, I can easily do that when I feel better so long as someone reviews or PM's me to tell me that it needs work. I also doubt I'll ever be satisfied with any confrontations, since I suck at writing them. I hope you like it and if not, well...I'll do better next time. Thanks for reading!
The next day dawns bright and early for the three ninja Ravenclaws. As usual, they spend the morning training with Anko. After showering and getting into their uniforms, they head to the great hall. Sakuno and Hariko pack up some food from the tables to take onto the grounds, while Shikamaru is left carrying their school bags.
A very light covering of mist floats over the Hogwarts grounds, but not enough to deter determined Ravenclaws or prevent people from seeing things. The mist will clear up as the day progresses.
"This looks like a good spot" Shikamaru says, dropping the school bags on to the grass next to a tree.
The Gennin sit down and get comfortable. The plan is to eat and study for a while and once anyone watching gets tired of watching them do nothing unusual, Hariko will test out his Byakuugan. There's less magic out on the grounds than inside, so if the magic does indeed prove painful to look at through the Hyuuga Doujutsu, it wouldn't be as bad as looking around with it inside the castle. If that doesn't work, one of them will sneak off to look in through the window.
An hour after settling down, Hariko activates his Byakuugan. It takes a few seconds to orient himself and make sense of what he's seeing, but once he does, he raises an eyebrow.
"Well, the dragon theory seems to be right. There's a large egg-shaped object sitting in his fireplace." Hariko says.
"That so?" Shikamaru hums, laying back on the grass to watch the clouds.
"It's either a dragon's egg or a phoenix, and considering how rare phoenix eggs are rumored to be…well a dragon egg is more likely." Hariko sighs.
"Why would Hagrid have a dragon?" Sakuno asks.
The pink haired boy pulls his Astronomy book over, the Defence Against the Dark Arts book he was reading is left to the side.
"I don't know, but Hagrid is in there cooing over the egg. By the size of the dog that's in there with him, he has a thing for large and potentially dangerous animals" Hariko replies.
"How are we going to get the dragon out of there? We'll probably have to wait until it hatches. We wouldn't want it to hatch half-way to Romania" Shikamaru points out.
"An operation like this is usually done at night, but Hagrid's hut is only one room and he could easily see or hear us…" Hariko lays back like Shikamaru, deactivating his Byakuugan as he goes.
Sakuno shoves his book into Shikamaru's face.
"This is it! It says here that giants are truly vulnerable to one thing! Alcohol! Hagrid is huge, he has to be at least half giant. The alcohol would keep him out cold for hours once he's drunk enough. It says here that once a giant passes out from being drunk, they're nearly impossible to wake for several hours. If we can get some kind of drink into his hut, we can get that dragon out of there once he's out cold!" Sakuno says excitedly.
"Or, we could just get Anko-sensei to give us some of her knockout gas and use that on him once he's asleep." Shikamaru retorts, thrusting the book back into Sakuno's arms.
"If he's really half giant, though, he'll probably need at least a double or triple dose of the knockout gas" Hariko points out.
"Then we give him a double or triple dose, it's not that difficult a plan. Toss it in through the window and wait for it to take effect. Besides, are we or are we not ninja? One of the ninja mottos is 'silent as a shadow' for a reason" Shika folds his hands behind his head as he watches the clouds.
The Gennin are silent for a while, just relaxing in the tranquility of the crisp fall air. To any onlookers, they would think the three Ravenclaws are just taking a break after solving a difficult equation or question from one of the many textbooks spread around them.
Sakuno starts to read a book on healing that he bought by owl order.
Hariko flicks his wand from side to side, practicing a wand movement from the Charms textbook.
Shikamaru, having fallen asleep, snores softly.
The ninja watch Hagrid's dragon egg closely. It hatches a week later. Having gotten into contact with Charlie Weasley already, they know he's in the area for the next three days and send a letter to him right away about the dragon having hatched. The day after it's hatched, the three ninja kidnap the dragon and sneak it up to the tallest tower of Hogwarts, where Charlie picks it up with the help of some co-workers.
Soon enough, the Christmas Holidays arrive.
The ninja don't expect any gifts, as Christmas is a western celebration that hasn't made it to the ninja-populated Elemental Countries yet. They also told their housemates that they don't celebrate it due to not having heard of it before. It's not that easy to get to the Elemental Countries, and even more difficult to bring new holidays. The ninja world is steeped in tradition. The Hyuuga clan has their traditions, the Nara clan has ones unique to them. They would never accept a holiday like Christmas without a very hard and very long fight. A whole new generation would have to be introduced to it while they were young, if people wanted the holiday to get off the ground.
Anko steps up their training over the holidays, and thwarts even more attempts by Dumbledore to get Shikamaru to become his pawn.
The first years that have stayed for the holidays help Professor Flitwick spell ornaments and decorations onto Christmas trees in the great hall, except the ninja. They hole themselves away in their little corner of the library, discussing what it could be that's hidden beyond the Cerberus and the trap door it guards.
"I hate to say this" Shikamaru says. "But it seems like we're just going to have to go through the trap door and find out. Hariko's Byakuugan has trouble seeing past magic, because it looks bright yellow and hurts his eyes, so the only other choice is to go and find whatever is being guarded"
Hariko sighs. "You're right, Shika. I can use my Byakuugan on the grounds because there's less magic out there, but inside the school is painful. We have no clues and it's not like we can just ask the Headmaster. Then again, according to the older students there's never been anything like the forbidden corridor within the school. At least that he hasn't given them a reason for. This may just be a plot of the old man's"
"We have no choice. It's find that object or whatever it is so we can find out if it's a threat to the students, or ignore it and possibly have someone get killed because of it" Sakuno points out.
"After the holidays" Shikamaru says. "Suspects are easy to find when there's a small group of people around, but with the rest of the school here they wouldn't be able to tell who stole it. Assuming we actually steal it, of course."
The day after Christmas, Dumbledore corners Shikamaru alone while he's exiting the bathroom during lunch.
Shikamaru sighs.
"Why are you so insistent that I become your savior?" Shikamaru asks, a peculiar expression on his face.
He looks like he's trying to solve a difficult puzzle.
"Now, my boy!" Dumbledore smiles and his eyes twinkle. "I'm not trying-"
"But you are, Headmaster" Shikamaru interrupts. "For some reason, you seem desperate to insist that I'm Harry Potter. For some reason, you think that without Harry Potter, all your little schemes and plans will be ruined."
He shoves his hands in his pockets, eyes darting around the hallway for anyone that could be listening in. Fining no one, he glares at the Headmaster slightly.
"I refuse to be your tool" Shikamaru states. "You hired my friends and I to protect this school, not play politics. Renouncing my birth name means I'm no longer held by any magics that were tied to it. Monitoring spells, family magics, blood and prophecies. None of them have any affect on a person who has renounced the name they're tied to. Thanks to the adoption by the Nara clan, I no longer hold any Potter blood. The only blood relations I have now are the other Nara's. None of my children will be Potters, none of my grandchildren will be Potter's. I can't perform any Potter family magics, and I can't claim the Potter vaults or inheritance. Look for a savior somewhere else. I just plan to finish this mission, then find somewhere nice to watch the clouds and sleep."
They may be on a mission to protect the castle and it's students, but that doesn't mean they need to stay if they're in over their heads. At the first sign of the mission being too much for them, they're to head back to Konoha and abandon the mission. The Hokage made that very clear before they left. He also gave them a privately funded mission on behalf of the village. Their information on wizards needs updating and the Gennin are in the perfect place to get it.
Shikamaru may be lazy, but he knows when to book out of an area as fast as possible. Shikamaru admits that one thing he's really good at is running away. And so, he's down the corridor and off to find his friends before Dumbledore can even think of retorting or casting a spell at him.
Shikamaru finds Hariko and Sakuno in the hallway outside the library.
"What took you so long?" Sakuno asks, slipping a kunai he was tossing around into his sleeve.
"Dumbledore caught me outside the bathroom" the lazy ninja replies.
"What are we going to do about him? Anko-sensei says he's getting more forceful in his attempts to corner you. She can't hold him off forever" Hariko points out as the three of them head into the library.
The librarian woman smiles rather eerily at them. She's odd, but she likes the three Ravenclaws who seem so eager to learn. She's even snuck them a few of the milder books from the Restricted Section because she's got a real soft spot for Hariko.
After waiving a greeting to the woman, the Gennin head over to their section of the Library.
"So what are we going to do, Shika?" Hariko repeats.
"We just need to hold off until classes let out for summer. As soon as they do, we can make a move since our mission will be finished and he won't be our client anymore. Otou-san's helping me get things ready, but we just need to hold the goat off until the end of the year. I'll write to Otou-san and get him to buy some of the Aburame forgetfulness powder if needed. The stuff doesn't make you forget permanently, but it should hold him off for a few days at a time. The only problem is it can be lethal if more than one dose is used. We would have to wait at least a weak or two after the effects wear off before using it again. It needs enough time to get out of his system" Shika explains.
His friends nod in understanding.
Shikamaru is a genius, which is why the other two defer to him for plans of action usually. It's only when one of the other two have more experience in an area that they're the ones to come up with the plan.
Anko appears from around a bookshelf.
"Okay, Maggots! Outside so I can train your asses into the ground! It's boxing day after all!" She cackles evilly.
Shikamaru groans. "Sensei, you don't actually box on boxing day!" He protests.
"We do now!" the purple haired T&I expert drags her students outside for a hellish day of 'see how many pointy things you can dodge while being chased by snakes the height of the average full grown Inuzuka Ninja dog'. Those dogs can grow to the size of a black bear, so it's best to run from and dodge any snake attacks when they're that big.
That night, the Gennin return to their dorm covered in sweat and blood. It doesn't usually snow in Konoha, so they had trouble getting around in the snow, which reached mid-shin on them. After showers, Shikamaru settles down to get a Potions essay over with. Hariko works on an assignment for Charms while Sakuno pokes a plant he Owl ordered from a shop a Gryffindor named Neville Longbottom recommended. All in all, they're in for a long night. Anko wants their holiday homework done by lunch tomorrow so she can spend all day training them until the holidays end. And what Mitarashi Anko wants, Mitarashi Anko gets.
I'd like to address two 'Guest' reviews I received, only briefly of course. If this doesn't interest you, feel free to ignore it. Now, the first review asked why Harry couldn't see the Thestrals before his fifth year. To put it simply, it's a plot hole of JKR's. The Harry Potter wikia page says that you must see and accept the death to see a Thestral and Harry was too young to fully remember his mother die, and when it came to Cedric he hadn't accepted his death yet. It's just something Rowling did for reasons only she truly knows. The second review asked if there were going to be more confrontations with Dumbledore and possibly the Weasleys. The answer is yes. I'm not a confrontational person by nature, so I doubt those scenes will be too well written unless I find a Beta to go over them for me.
The second person also said that Shikamaru isn't getting much attention, and that is for a reason. Shikamaru is used to having training with Anko and his team for a few hours a day, then having the rest of the time to relax and do lazy Shikamaru-like things. Suddenly, he has a full course load of classes added on top of the three or more hours of training as well as several hours worth of homework to do each week while fending off Dumbledore when the man slips past Anko. He takes any chance he can to sleep because of this, so when the story focuses more on Hariko and Sakuno, it's because Shikamaru is extremely tired and wants to sleep. He's still their leader and the main focus of the story, but we all know Shika needs his sleep. It's like trying to take food away from Chouji. Not a good idea. And yes, Guest reviewer, more ninja will come into play eventually. Most likely once the kids finish up first year, which is probably two or three chapters away. I still need to figure out what they'll be doing in regards to Fluffy and the trapdoor.
I hope this cleared a few things up for people, I know that thinking of the answers to tham has certainly unraveled a few things I was thinking about in regards to how this series will continue. Now, I'm going to go take some aspirin and lay down in a dark room for a while.
Reviews feed my muse! Flames will be used to roast marshmallows and make smores. There's an x button for a reason!
Thanks to everyone that has encouraged me to continue this story! I love you all!
~Zaraki Hariko