A/N: Welcome to the first real example of what I've dubbed 'Naruto-English'. You'll notice that his English is mangled, but hopefully not beyond recognition. If so: please tell me.

I've rewritten Naruto's lines often to best reflect the hard and confusing parts of English from an outsider's point of view, based on my own experience with learning the language.

"Interesting," Sasuke murmured softly. Naruto turned over on his bed and asked in a voice laced with the remnants of sleep: "What's interesting?"

Sasuke, never one to lose his cool, flipped a page to disguise his surprise at hearing Naruto's voice. How could he have missed the awakening of That Loud Yellow Idiot?

"Wands are interesting," he replied curtly and flipped another page. Reading with the Sharingan meant a significant increase in reading speed, but it quickly tired him out. Still, since there was a huge library at his disposal, Sasuke felt he should at read as much as he could. Every scrap of intel might save a life later.

"Wands are just sticks with a chakra-enhancing center. So?"

"As can be expected from you, you're wrong."

"Your face is wrong."

Naruto stretched out underneath the covers, but it didn't look like he was getting up any time soon. And since Sasuke had a 'captive' audience anyhow…

"They're sticks which enable wizards to use their chakra coils. They're unique to the user. Furthermore, a wizard's chakra coils are unbalanced until he finds a wand which fits. Without a wand, the 'magic' pressure builds up and lashes out at unexpected times, or when a wizard is in grave danger."

Naruto managed to raise his head from the bed to stare at Sasuke incredulously. "Wait, what? So an untrained wizard's coils are screwed up, until they touch their magic stick? Then they balance themselves out?"

"Yes, sort of. I've got a diagram right here, but it's filled with more words than you've read your entire life."

That got Sasuke a rude gesture, but Naruto apparently still didn't feel like getting up, because he asked: "So if a wizard never touches a proper stick…"

"His coils won't balance, and it'd probably kill or at the least disable the wizard."

Naruto blinked twice at that. "That's messed up. Why won't they train their kids to balance their coils?"

Sasuke shrugged, keeping his eyes on the book. "Who knows. Maybe it's tradition, maybe separating the strong from the weak."

"Or," Naruto added after some thought, "they don't know about chakra coils. They keep calling our jutsu 'wandless magic' all the time. Have you come across any descriptions of coils, booknerd?"

"No."

Sasuke kept his answer short. Maybe Naruto was on to something. He'd have to visit the library later on to check some more books, because he'd finished this one. With a sigh he closed it and chucked it at Naruto's head. "Get up, now that you're awake we might as well get an early breakfast."

His teammate rubbed his head where the book had hit him and Sasuke ducked a retaliation … something which slowly sailed past his head and soundlessly fell on the floor.

"Yes, your sleeping cap is utterly threatening," said Sasuke in a monotone.

"Shut up. You stole my kunai, so now suffer the wrath of my sleeping cap." Naruto shook a fist at Sasuke, who turned around and headed for the door.

"Dress yourself and meet me in the Great Hall in ten."

No use wasting time on waiting for his teammate when instead he could check out a new book in the library. He quickly stepped outside and closed the door just in time. Several 'thunks' resounded from the door. Looks like Naruto found his shuriken back.

Quite a lot of students turned up for duelling class. Naruto suspected that that number would go down once they saw that this duelling class would be... harder than what they were used to. He hoped that the teachers would let them continue teaching the class, because it broke the monotony of guarding. Though he and Sasuke sparred, teaching these kids some moves (and learning some moves himself) would further help expel his pent-up energy.

Once Naruto heard the far-away clock bang one, two, three times, he climbed on top of the small podium next to the staff table and took a deep breath. Sasuke had written down an opening speech, and Naruto had memorized it to the best of his abilities. He didn't understand all the words that came out of his mouth, and he hoped he wouldn't have to improvise too much. He opened his arms wide in a welcome gesture.

"Welcome to duelling class. I am Fox and that is Crow."

Any students still whispering quieted down, and Naruto looked at the different uniforms the students wore. There were a great deal of red-hems around, but some blue-hems and yellow-hems had joined the fray. The students with green-hemmed robes stuck together near Sasuke's position, but there were more blue-hems than green-hems.

"We have been asked to teach dueling to any interested. I am happy that you're here, and we are going to teach you lots of things."

A hand rose up in the crowd, the owner of the hand was a small girl from Hufflepuff. Naruto gestured towards her, and her high-pitched voice sounded enthusiastic. "Are you going to teach us wandless magic?"

Naruto's brain drew a blank on that word. He glanced over at Sasuke, who cocked his head and rolled a shoulder. Although Naruto was anything but fluent in English, he understood Sasuke Language.

"Maybe."

The girl broke into a huge grin, and here and there the whispers restarted. They were quickly shushed when Naruto continued the carefully prepared welcome-speech.

"You learn spells with Defense Against the Dark Arts, yes?"

Some students nodded, but the younger ones shook their heads.

"We are not learn you spells, but we learn the syphical, no, physical duelling. Because-"

"You mean, fight like a muggle?" a boy in blue-hemmed robes called out. His face scrunched up in contempt.

Once again Sasuke came to Naruto's rescue. He gestured the signal for 'civilian'.

"No, other," said Naruto. He struggled to explain it with his limited vocabulary. The silence only served to further confuse the students, and if the boy could wear pictograms, he'd have question marks dancing above his head like a polka on traditional Czech nights.

"So you're saying that you won't teach us any spells, you'll just put up a punching bag and tell us to have a go at it?"

Naruto thought about that for a second, and then nodded. Now the boy grew mad, and he made grand gestures with his arms as he ranted.

"Hello? This is a wizarding school! We're supposed to learn how to throw spells, not punches. What's the use of learning how to punch like a mug-"

Like any good shinobi, Naruto used the boy's distraction with his impromptu speech to slip closer. With a quick motion he circled around him and he held one of his dulled kunai an inch from the boy's throat. With his other hand he snatched the wand from the boy's pocket. In three seconds the boy was dead, if this was a real fight.

"Spell me," challenged Naruto softly, and the boy paled, making his freckles more pronounced. Around them students gasped at this display of shinobi prowess and Naruto heard some guys exclaim "cool!"

"How'd you..." he muttered, and felt for his wand. When he encountered empty space, Naruto chuckled before raising his voice to address the rest of the students. Sasuke had anticipated this response from the students, so Naruto had memorized some phrases to use.

"I tell you, you cannot use spells when your wand gone is, or I hold your arm. That is why we learn you 'fight like a muggle'. Because Dark wizards do not expect you to punch them in the face."

That was one sentence Naruto had laughed at, so he remembered it well. Naruto let the boy step out of his deadly embrace and gave him his wand back. Red replaced the white in the boy's face, and he didn't look Naruto in the eye. After twirling the kunai a few times Naruto stuffed it back into the appropriate pouch.

"If you do not want this, leave. You stay: you must turn up every duelling class. If you don't, we will cut dead- deduct points from your House."

Some kids immediately left, but the majority stayed. One boy raised his hand, and Naruto gestured for him to speak. "Can you tell us what you're going to cover in this course?"

Sasuke answered that question. Some students jerked, as if they had forgotten that he stood there. A typical Sasuke-trick, making himself invisible so he could study the crowd. Naruto had seen it a dozen times.

"No," said Sasuke.

The 'why' hung so heavily in the air that Naruto almost saw it written on the enchanted ceiling. Sasuke elaborated.

"Because life is not predictable. We have already told you we are going to teach you how to fight. We keep the rest a surprise. But we can tell you that we are going to teach you a lot. So, who stays?"

The boy nodded and stepped back. Four more kids left, but then the thinned crowd remained constant. Naruto recognized some faces, the special charge and his friends among them. Naruto had looked up some words to add to the speech, and he continued:

"Good. My lovely assistant will-"

Sasuke overruled Naruto with his voice, but some kids snickered nonetheless. "I will pass parchment and quills around. Write your name on it, so we can take attendance."

With some shuffling the students penned down their names and when Naruto got the parchments back he continued his speech.

"Good. Then we expect you on Saturday at 7 PM-"

"AM," corrected Sasuke. Naruto quickly amended his words to the horror of the students.

"7 AM in the Entrance Hall. On Saturday."

That caused a scene when a lot of the students cried out in outrage. Naruto heard things like "we deserve a lie-in!", "I'll barely get any sleep!", but the shinobi waited out the storm. When the worst had passed (or maybe they were in the eye of it), Naruto raised his voice to get their attention. He hoped he remembered the next part of the speech right.

"If you do not come, we deadcut house points. So sleep early, and you can sleep late on Sunday. Unless you want us to schedule it Saturday afternoon, when you have homework or Chess Club or… something."

Sasuke had written more, but he couldn't remember it for the life of him. But the last remark struck true, and a lot of clamor died down at once. Naruto clapped his hands together and announced: "Alright, let's begin the first lesson. Form lines so you can see what I'm doing."

"Right now? Can't we get changed first?" The same boy who had asked about the curriculum spoke up again, and again Sasuke replied.

"No."

Sasuke waited a beat before he elaborated. "You now wear normal clothes, right?" At a nod, Sasuke continued his lecture. "You don't know when you are going to fight. Maybe in your sleeping gear, your normal robes, or even naked. That happens."

Naruto stalled when Sasuke mentioned that particular night (and consequent fiasco).

"Chances are, that you wear normal robes. So no, don't change. Maybe you can wear the right clothes on Saturday. But for now: form a line."

The students obliged and pretty soon the Hall was filled up with bodies practicing stances and punches, with Naruto and Sasuke showing them how. After this warming-up, Naruto raised his voice again.

"Form pairs. But," Naruto had to raise his voice even further the get over the noise of voices calling out for a friend.

"Form with somebody from a different House."

At that announcement, so much protest broke loose Naruto wasn't able to raise his voice over. So he patiently waited until the worst of it died down, and then simply clapped twice in his hands.

"I do not joke. Go."

It took the kids way too long to form pairs, Naruto noted. They'd have to work on teamwork in the near future. But finally, each kid stood opposite of another, with a different kind of color on the hem. Some of them happily chatted with their partner, but most of them were quiet, fidgeting on the spot.

"We have warmed up, so I have holds to show you. Crow, come here."

He wanted to instruct these kids well, and for that, he needed a partner who knew the holds and wouldn't complain if Naruto accidentally hurt him. But Sasuke didn't agree with that philosophy, and for a few seconds Naruto felt sure he'd get a rude gesture and then his authority would shatter. But Sasuke complied, for once, and Naruto felt his heart swell. It was a small gesture, sure, but coming from Sasuke, it meant a lot in terms of friendship.

"If you are attacked and he grabs by the throat," Naruto gestured for Sasuke to do that, "break out with two things: hit his eyes, or do this."

Naruto forced his hands upwards between Sasuke's arms, and then counterattacked by slapping him on the ears.

"Or punch him in the face," finished Naruto.

After demonstrating the move a few times, he set the pairs to work. The result was ... abominable, at best. The kids weren't working together, and if they practiced holds, their stance and posture was severely lacking. Here and there some kids had success, with one kid being exceptional. A tall guy with a dark skin wearing Gryffindor robes stood out to Naruto. His stance was decent, perhaps even good, and he didn't hesitate with his counterattack. He was maybe too enthusiastic, because his Ravenclaw partner cried out and clapped his hands to his ears.

Naruto slowly made his way to the guy, stopping here and there to give tips and demonstrate the hold once more. He saw that Sasuke made his way over to the guy too. They arrived at the pair at the same time, and confronted him.

"You train?" Naruto asked conversationally, and the kid nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I've had karate lessons for pretty much all my life. Never thought I'd be able to practice it at Hogwarts, though."

"What's your name?" Sasuke asked, and the guy smiled.

"Dean Thomas. Gryffindor fourth year, if you want to be specific."

"We teach you maybe 'wandless magic," Naruto added in an enticing voice. Dean nodded as enthusiastically as before, a big grin on his face.

"That sounds great!"

"Excellent. You train your …"

"Stamina," finished Sasuke for him. "We can provide a training schedule."

Dean's grin grew even wider. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

The two shinobi slunk off, targeting other kids who showed potential.

Sadly, there were few kids whom Naruto and Sasuke deemed worthy of hearing about the wandless magic offer. Even civilian kids in Konoha had better stamina than some of these, much to their shock. Naruto reasoned that they had been served too much great-tasting food, and since the students weren't encouraged to exercise more often, overweight students waddled through the corridors.

"Alright, next training. Form new pair with different house!" Naruto instructed, and patiently waited until the storm of protest cleared and every kid found him- or herself a new partner.

The rest of the two hours allotted to them had the two shinobi demonstrating, and then having the kids practice on each other while they roamed around and gave pointers. They topped it off with some nice cool down exercises and told the kids to gather 'round.

"I tell you the truth: we are surprised how... slow you are. Untrained. We are going better that, but you too must practice. If you learn wandless magic, you must train your body. Run on the lake, walk more stairs. That is important for wandless magic."

Some of the kids on the ... heftier side of the scale shifted and some muttered things under their breath, but Naruto plowed on. "We will see you next Saturday at 7 AM. You remember: if you don't come, you will lose points."

When the students noticed that was all Naruto had to say they dispersed. Dean Thomas motioned for his friend to leave without him and approached the shinobi.

"Got a moment?" he asked, and Naruto nodded.

"Is it alright with you if I start an exercise club? I've been thinking about it for some time, but now I've got a reason to. Some basic Muggle exercises, to keep up with my karate training and make sure I don't get out of shape myself."

Naruto hadn't understood everything, so Sasuke took over for him. "That sounds like a good plan. We can help create a ... plan, schedule, if you need one."

"A training regime? Thanks, it'd help a lot if you can mention what you'll be focusing on regarding training. General stamina, or do you need muscle mass as well for your brand of wandless magic?"

Naruto left Sasuke to explain their plan to Dean and started cleaning up the place. Time would tell if any student was able to learn some basic jutsu, though Naruto had high hopes for Dean Thomas.

Dumbledore regarded him from the other side of the desk, gazing upon him over his long, crooked nose. Naruto kept standing, the respectful stance of a chuunin, beaten into him by both Sakura and Sasuke. He could still hear their voices... 'A chuunin doesn't slouch in the presence of an employer. A chuunin doesn't put his hands in his pockets, yawns, and then smacks his lips. A chuunin does not, under any circumstance, pick his nose. A chuunin will never, ever in the history and future of Konoha, scratch his balls in public.'

These and other hard-won manners were fourth nature at best to Naruto, but he tried. Because if he didn't, he'd have Sakura on his ass fast as a lightning jutsu.

"Mr. Sato, please, take a seat. And you don't have to wear your mask in this office."

Naruto tried to seat himself all dignified, but it was hard sitting in a dignified way in a fluffy chair with a loud floral pattern. He took off his mask and placed in on the armrest, resisting the urge to rub his face.

This was the first time Naruto had been called to the employer's office alone, and he hoped the employer wouldn't complain too much about his methods. Or worse, request a transfer. Naruto wasn't keen on finding out how crazy he'd get when he couldn't blow off steam with Sasuke for a whole year. Dumbledore wore a Serious Look, and that usually didn't bode well for a hellion like Naruto.

"The reason I have called you to my office is ... curiosity, to be honest. But also concern. Are you familiar with the concept of Dark magic, mr. Sato?"

Naruto remembered that Sasuke had said something about it, and he knew that that professor with the weird blue eye taught a class on that subject. Or was that anti-Dark magic? It had to do with evil magic, anyhow. So he nodded.

"I ask this because," Dumbledore hesitated a second before bluntly saying: "you have traces of Dark magic on you. All the time."

Naruto knitted his brow in confusion. On him? Dark ma-. Oh. Right. Automatically his hand hovered over his stomach, and by the look in Dumbledore's eyes the man had caught the movement. Naruto sighed, closed his eyes for a second, resigning himself to the fate of being sent back to Konoha. Who in their right mind would want a jinchuuriki [1] guarding a school full of children, after all? Especially one which was so centered on Light magic that the headmaster singled him out fast, and confronted him on the 'Dark magic' which surrounded him.

When he opened his eyes, he felt ready to face the employer.

"I'm a jinchuuriki, that's why I have traces Dark magic on me."

Naruto lifted his chin up, as if challenging Dumbledore to look away in disgust, get angry or ridicule him, or express any of the other myriad of negative reactions he's had poured over him all his life. What he didn't expect was the employer looking quizzical.

"Jinchuuriki? I like to think I'm fluent in your language, but I'm afraid I've never heard of that word before."

"Never heard of-" sputtered Naruto and then sagged. He'd have to explain to Dumbledore why he should be revolted by one of his guards by society's standards, and piece by piece the man would puzzle it all together, until he came to the inevitable conclusion that Naruto formed a threat to his school. But if the employer asked, the employee should answer, or risk a termination of the contract.

"A jinchuuriki is created when a powerful shinobi seals a demon into a human," Naruto explained in a monotone. "It depends on the seal, but the jinchuuriki often has access to a demon's chakra. Literally it means 'power of the human sacrifice', since a human life needs to be sacrificed to seal a demon away."

Dumbledore blinked once, expression neutral, and then said:

"I see. And you have access to a demon's chakra, if I may be so bold?"

Naruto briefly entertained the thought of lying and saying 'no', but if on this mission he'd need the Kyuubi's chakra, he was screwed. And it wouldn't do him any good anyway, since he already had Dark magic permeating his entire being, according to the employer. So he nodded and didn't look Dumbledore in the eye. But the man wasn't done yet.

"How long have you been a ... jinchuuriki?"

"Since the day I was born," Naruto answered truthfully, and for some reason Dumbledore looked sad.

"Jinchuuriki aren't treated well, are they?"

That was one question Naruto knew the answer to. He repressed the memories that came rushing in at the question, and silently shook his head. That made Dumbledore look even sadder.

"Just one more question, and then you're free to go," promised Dumbledore, and this time it was Naruto's turn to look quizzical. Did he mean 'free to go' as in 'continue your patrol', or did he mean 'free to leave this school ASAP'?

"This demon... do you have it under control?"

The man's gaze was razor-sharp, and Naruto felt like he was trapped in a genjutsu. He knew he'd have to answer truthfully, or suffer ... something bad. And for once, the truth was in his favor.

"Yes," he said in a authorative voice, and Dumbledore smiled and inclined his head at him.

"Very well. Thank you for taking the time to come by my office and satisfy an old man's curiosity. Good luck on your patrol."

The employer's tone was dismissive, but Naruto wasn't done with him. That's it? He finds out that one of his guards hosts a demon, and all he did was wish him luck on the patrol? Naruto felt the manners falling off him and for a second he was the brash 13-year old, determined to make the world acknowledge him.

"That's all? You're not gonna kick me out despite that I've got the fox inside me?"

Dumbledore kept on smiling.

"If you say you've got it under control, I trust you. Unless there's something I'm missing, I have no reason to request a transfer from Konoha."

The implied question caught Naruto off guard, and he wanted to tell the old man about the Kyuubi's influence on him. The struggle to maintain control of the fourth tail, the subconscious visits to the giant cage in times of dire need, the old demon's voice sometimes floating through his head when he called upon its chakra... All of it. But he bit his tongue to keep the urge in check. There was something unnatural about the urge. He'd tell people he was a jinchuuriki if he felt it was relevant, but only his teammates and his sensei knew of his love for raw meat. This old man looked trustworthy, but he wasn't a teammate, or that close to him. So he didn't need to know.

"No, I have it under control," Naruto assured him once more, and got up to leave. He put on his mask and walked to the door. With the opened door in his hand, he looked back at the old man sitting at the desk, who followed Naruto's exit with his eyes.

"Thanks."

Naruto said quickly and stepped onto the moving stairs. That went a lot better than he ever had hoped for.

Sasuke wasn't terribly chummy with the teachers at this weird school. Sure, he occasionally talked with them, and they answered his questions if he bothered to ask them, but other than that, they left each other alone. The teachers were happy they didn't have to get up at night and patrol the school anymore, but they didn't trust the shinobi yet either. But since Dumbledore trusted the pair, and they in turn trusted Dumbledore, the teachers treated Sasuke and Naruto with kindness.

One teacher was more than civil. And he was a teacher who reminded Sasuke the most of home.

Alastor Moody was as marked as any retired shinobi and carried the weight of constant vigilance with him. His no-nonsense outlook on life appealed to Sasuke, and he found himself striking up conversations with the man.

One night on the third week of their stay Sasuke was on patrol and walked past Moody's office when the door opened.

"Got a minute?" the man asked, and at Sasuke's nod gestured for him to come inside.

"I've been introducing the kids to the Unforgivable Curses in my class. Since you aren't familiar with this world, I'd like to invite you and your colleague to my next lesson. So you know what these Unforgivables look like, and what they can do to you."

"Thank you, we will come," said Sasuke.

"Why are they here?"

The blonde kid jerked his thumb backwards, gesturing towards Sasuke and Naruto, who stood at the back of the classroom. Moody apparently heard the remark (Sasuke noted the man had sharp ears), because the next moment he cleared his throat to silence the already quiet class and start the lesson.

"As you can see, I've invited our guards to join this lesson, because it might one day save their lives, and yours as well. So pay attention, ms. Davis, and I won't have to give you detention for eating a Sugar Quill in class."

The girl in question dropped her candy in shock, picked it up and quickly stuffed it back into her bag. Moody gave an introductory speech on why he wanted to teach these curses to fourth years, and Sasuke agreed with the sentiment. Fighting dirty was also a way of fighting, whether it was with knives or with spells. These kids wouldn't be in this school forever, and the sooner they learnt to deal with the nasty side of magic, the better. It was easier to get over the shock of a survival situation (kill or be killed counted as survival in Sasuke's mind) when you got exposed to it more often.

The blonde kid seemed interested in this material when Moody probed the kids for answers.

"The Imperius Curse," he answered to Moody's first question, and he watched with rapt attention as Moody made a spider perform flea-circus worthy tricks. The pair of brick-faces laughed, but scowled when Moody scolded them.

With every curse the man demonstrated, Sasuke felt his stomach tighten. Magic could torture and kill with one blast? No defense against it? Next to him Naruto shifted uneasily and they shared a glance. Sasuke knew he'd have to step up his training and read way more books on magic if he wanted to create a solid defense against such vile curses. He needed to force Naruto to read some books as well, or risk getting his teammate killed.

The blonde kid knew the answers to all the questions, and Sasuke swore his face lit up in triumph when Moody demonstrated the Killing Curse. They had to look out for that kid. Though he wasn't the only one listening with rapt attention.

"Did the Dark Lord often use Crucio, professor?" asked a girl the size of a small bear, and she almost drooled. Moody frowned at the question, but nonetheless answered it.

"He used it when necessary, but often left the torturing of his victims over to his most trusted Death Eaters."

"Who invented the Killing Curse?" A boy wanted to know.

"We don't know, mr. Nott. It's been forbidden Dark Magic for a long time, but every spell was once discovered or invented. I can't imagine the man or woman had many friends, so his or her findings have either never been recorded or are lost in time."

When it appeared the class had asked the questions they wanted to know for now, Sasuke used the silence to ask a burning question of his own. "Is it possible to break the Imperius Curse?"

To Sasuke, the Imperius Curse was the most dangerous one of all. He knew he was able to withstand torture, and if you got killed there was no point in being tortured, but being controlled, that was a nightmare.

Moody's eyes glittered, and all the kids in the class turned to look at Sasuke. From the looks on their faces he saw that some had forgotten they were also in the classroom.

"There is a way. You have to be strong-willed, but with your mind alone you can break free. I was going to save this for a lesson later in the curriculum, but since you've got double Defense Against the Dark Arts anyway... Please get out your wands out and stand on one side of the classroom."

The kids complied and Moody swept the desks to the other side with a single gesture. Sasuke and Naruto perked up. Having a way to defend himself against such a dangerous curse appealed to Sasuke.

"I will cast the curse on you one by one. Focus your thoughts and try to break free."

Moody called out a student's name and the boy stepped forward, shaking.

"Imperio!"

The boy's face relaxed at once and took on a dreamy expression. His eyes were vacant, but then he frowned. The next moment, however, he jumped on one of the desks and gave his best impression of a deranged monkey. Moody frowned and released the curse. The boy seemed puzzled as to why he stood on a desk, but then blushed as he realized why and quickly jumped down.

"Nice monkey, Nott!" called the blonde-haired kid and the boy blushed even fiercer while a girl patted his shoulder and whispered a question.

"What's it like?"

"Like there's a voice in your head, telling you what to do," the boy whispered back. Naruto elbowed Sasuke when he heard that statement.

"It's a good thing we've both got other voices in our heads already, huh?"

Sasuke wanted to elbow him back, but snorted softly instead. The idiot had a point though. Would his curse mark affect the curse? And what about the Kyuubi's influence on Naruto? Would that make it easier or harder to resist the curse?

Moody made every kid dance around at his command. Some resisted for a few seconds, but they all succumbed in the end. Some students nursed minor injuries when Moody lifted the curse and they realized they did things they weren't usually capable of, like juggling five textbooks. The poor kid somehow managed to let all five books bounce on his head when they inevitably came down.

When all the students had been humiliated enough (aka been subjected to the curse twice), Moody turned his attention to the shinobi. Sasuke stepped forward and nodded sharply. The man smirked at him and softly said: "Imperio."

Everything was right with the world all of a sudden. It was nice not having to worry about anything, because Moody was the Master and he knew what was best.

'Why don't you take off your mask,' commanded an unfamiliar voice in Sasuke's head. Why not, it was just a mask after all. His hand lifted to his face, but then he hesitated. Why should he take off his mask? He had no Master.

'Go on, take off the mask. It's not hard.'

Orochimaru was the last idiot who wanted to be his Master, but the old snake pervert was dead and gone. He had no Master. He was a free shinobi.

'I said: take off the mask.'

Despite the hazy fog which gripped his brain Sasuke saw the world in sharp contours. Vaguely he realized he had slipped into the Sharingan, and it helped him focus. This feeling... it was like a genjutsu. A strong, mind-controlling genjutsu, much like Ino's jutsu. But, as many enemies had found out, genjutsu was a Sharingan user's specialty.

'I'm not going to take off my mask,' Sasuke told the voice, and forced his hand down.

'TAKE IT OFF!'

It was the voice's last command, and Sasuke closed his eyes, took a deep breath and put his hands together in a release seal.

"Kai," he said calmly, and immediately the voice disappeared and the world rushed back. Moody smiled triumphantly and Sasuke smirked. He was still a master of genjutsu, be it magical or chakra based.

"And that, students, is how it's done. He has enough focus and discipline to dispel the curse and regain control of his body."

Sasuke inclined his head towards Moody. The teacher's spell had been powerful, but not powerful enough to deal with the Sharingan. He wondered how the teacher would fare against a Jinchuuriki.

Sure enough, Naruto stepped forward and Moody took a deep breath, focused and said: "Imperio."

From the outside Naruto didn't change much. His alert stance relaxed somewhat, sharpened, relaxed... It took a few seconds, but then the sharpened stance took over. With the mask on it was harder to read Naruto, though Sasuke read Naruto as easily as any book laid bare. Sasuke knew that inside Naruto's head a battle of two (or maybe three) voices took place, but Sasuke knew that Naruto was winning. The other kids had been dopey when the curse took effect, but Naruto stayed sharp. Or maybe that was shinobi training ingrained in his bones so deeply that even a mind-altering spell couldn't erase that.

It took five more seconds before anything happened. All of a sudden Moody grabbed at his head and stumbled backwards, while Naruto emitted a growl that wasn't entirely human. Sasuke couldn't see if Naruto's eyes were red, but he would bet his entire inherited fortune on it that they were.

"That's one way to break the curse." Moody smirked as he righted himself. The students looked from Naruto to Moody, puzzled expressions on their faces. Sasuke could simply interrogate Naruto later on, back in their room, but he knew that these students would start speculating. They had to be careful, not anybody growled animal sounds like Naruto.

The bell rang in the hallway and startled the students from their glancing and whispering. With much noise they gathered their bags and stampeded out of the room, leaving Moody alone with the shinobi.

"Excellent work, the both of you. I hope I have helped you deal with Dark magic better. Though if there's anything you need, don't hesitate to come by my office. We need to stick together, even in times of peace."

"Thank you for the offer," said Sasuke, and when Naruto had said "thanks" as well, they both left the room.

"Today was certainly ... interesting," muttered Naruto when they settled in for the night. "I saw that you beat it like it was genjutsu."

"Yeah," was all Sasuke said, which earned him a glare from Naruto. Sasuke wondered how Naruto had beaten the curse exactly, but damned if he let his teammate know that. Thankfully Naruto could still be as dense as a burned tire to Sasuke's thoughts and intentions and satisfied Sasuke's curiosity.

"I beat it because I've already got the Kyuubi in my head, telling me to do stuff. And he's a hell of a lot stronger than some wimpy spell. Kyuubi took offense at the other voice and threw it out so fast I think it broke the sound barrier."

"I noticed," Sasuke said in a dull voice and suppressed a smirk when Naruto chuckled at the deadpan comment.

"Aren't you perceptive. At least it's a relief that we can't be controlled that way."

Sasuke agreed with all his heart with that statement, but on the outside merely nodded, face blank. One less care in this world. Four million, two hundred and ninety seven thousand, eight hundred and twenty two to go.

[1] Demon host