Disclaimer: I do not own.
Warnings: OOC, AU, language, slash/boyxboy/yaoi, etc. Mention of rape in this chapter as well.
A/N: I had hoped to get five up as well, but it is taking me longer than planned to revise it. It will however be up before I post six next Wednesday. This chapter is also rather different from what I first posted. Hope that you enjoy the changes. If you're confused about anything, just leave it in a review or send me a message and I will do my best to clarify it. In any case, enjoy this chapter. I still don't have a poll up just yet, but I'll have one up in my profile sometime in the next two weeks.
(Re)Posted: 11 November 2009
Word Count: 9,851
Story Stats Chapter 1-3:
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Key:
"Ohayou." - Another language, in most cases, Japanese, unless otherwise specified.
Chapter Four: Dementors, Trials, and Mr. Cuddles!?!
Naruto stumbled out of the fireplace at the Ministry of Magic. His once orange outfit was now pitch black, but he didn't really care too much. It was simple enough to wash the soot away later on, and he wouldn't draw nearly as many stares now.
Focusing, he quickly searched for Dumbledore's chakra. It may have been years since he had seen the man, but he clearly remembered the feel of the old coot's power. It actually reminded him of Dumbledore, clearly old and powerful, but there was a playfulness to it as well as a generally grandfatherly feel that was recognizable but not describable.
He growled as he picked up a faint trace coming from way below him. He may not know if the Ministry was the same, but generally speaking, the lower you went, the more serious, and stealing Shikamaru's phrase, troublesome the floor was. It certainly held true in Konoha at least.
There were only three real reasons to go underground in Konoha. The first was to use the underground tunnels to get to safety during an emergency. The other two reasons weren't as widely known. There were archives of Konoha's history beneath the Hokage tower, a rather closely guarded secret. The clans also had their own underground archives, but that was something everyone knew about, even if they didn't know the exact location. The other reason someone would be underground was if they were visiting Ibiki in T&I, either to deliver information, retrieve information, or as a guest. No one wanted to be a guest of T&I, especially if Anko was hanging around that day.
Shaking his head, Naruto quickly passed through security, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes when the guard believed that he was there to report the theft of his wand. The man hadn't even raised an eyebrow at the numerous kunai and shuriken he had on his person, not to mention the exploding notes and a handful of other 'toys'.
If it was this simple to get pass security in the Ministry of Magic, he couldn't blame Dumbledore for seeking outside help to guard his school and students. An Academy student would have been able to infiltrate the building, assassinate the Minister, and get out undetected before anyone probably knew that the man was dead.
Stalking to an elevator, he completely ignored everyone around him. Instead, he tried to pass the time by thinking of various ways he could suggest the need for improved security. After considering taking Academy students on a field trip to prank the entire Ministry as an example of how not to set up security, he grew bored with the idea and began to bounce nervously. His mind was still spinning from the fact that none of his friends hated him, which did not help his nerves in the slightest.
Which probably explained his dwindling patience and growing irritation. His impatience only grew further as the elevator stopped at each and every single floor. By the time they reached the ninth floor, he was ready to explode. At least he was the only one left on the elevator when it finally came to a stop.
Forcing himself to walk calmly down the corridor, he didn't stop until he reached a door with a slightly balding man with flaming red hair standing next to it. He would have actually walked right by the man if he hadn't felt a flare of familiar power.
It was here, just behind these doors.
He kicked them open violently and stomped into the room. He was annoyed, and he was going to make sure that everyone knew he was. It didn't matter that he would probably get the lecture of all lectures from Tsunade, he needed to blow off some steam before he completely went insane with his whirling thoughts.
He needed time to think and process, not to spend an hour or so hunting down the old fart that had hired them. Mentally shaking himself, Naruto took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He was really off kilter if he was losing control of his emotions so quickly and easily.
Maybe he should ask Dumbledore for one of his lemon drops. He was positive that the man spiked them with something since he had actually sat still for nearly ten minutes while munching on a small bag of them. Given that he was six at the time, Naruto was fairly sure that the Sandaime considered the event to be a minor miracle.
Dumbledore looked up slightly surprised as he saw the blonde storm in, a slacked jawed Mr. Weasley staring after him. His surprise quickly turned to a thoughtful look as he studied the young blonde. There was something familiar about him, but Dumbledore couldn't for the life of him figure out why the teenager seemed so familiar. Any chance to ponder on it would have to wait until after the trial was concluded. He really couldn't let Harry get expelled for merely defending himself. Something that he shouldn't have had to do in the first place if the dementors hadn't shown up. And if Mundungus had stayed guard. Slightly shaking his head, Dumbledore focused his attention on Fudge. There was no use regretting what was already done and over.
Upon his abrupt entry, Fudge had stopped shouting for a minute before he quickly regained his composure. This time when he began to shout, his attention was focused on the blonde teenager that had dared to storm in uninvited.
"Who do you think you are? You can't just barge in here like you own the place. Leave this instance before I have a pair of dementors escort you out and into a holding cell."
Naruto's face went death white at the mention of the dementors. All thoughts of asking Dumbledore for some lemon drops flew out of his mind as he turned slitted scarlet eyes on Fudge. A smirk that was more snarl than smile tugged at his lips as the man flinched under his piercing gaze.
"Are you the man in charge here?" Given how offended and arrogant the man was, Naruto was fairly sure he was looking at someone at the top of the political pyramid. If not the Minister himself. Which would explain the pathetic security, if not how the clearly incompetent man got his position in the first place.
"Of course he is, now leave. You are interrupting a very important trial." Naruto didn't even need to look at the red head with horned rimmed glasses to know that he was a boot licker. Really, just the tone of voice alone was more than enough to tell him that the young man was a major suck up. He would have completely ignored the man if he hadn't opened his mouth to speak again.
Naruto silenced him with a glare, one that was actually a combination of Uchiha Glare #5 and Gaara's Agonizing Death Glare #2. Naruto was rather impressed that the man didn't wet himself. After all, Naruto had used the glare on battle-hardened shinobi before and had on more than one occasion been nearly overwhelmed with the stench of urine.
Turning his attention back on the pompous man that had demanded him to leave, Naruto softened his glare to the one he usually gave when he was annoyed, but not quite homicidal. It did the trick though as the man seemed petrified in his seat.
"If you're in charge then that means you can answer my question. Why the hell were there dementors in a muggle neighborhood? I'm minding my own fucking business and out of nowhere, two of them appear running from some silver stag before the stag disappeared. I could understand it if you had sent them to catch a Death Eater or something, but the only fucking wizard I even sensed within twenty miles of the area is that boy there. Now, can you please answer this simple question for me. What the fuck were you thinking?"
Eyes narrowed, Naruto waited for an answer. He couldn't show his irritation through leaked killer intent, so he settled for using the f-word a few times. He'd just have to make sure that Iruka-sensei never found out, otherwise his ears would be ringing for several hours with the lecture he would get. He may be constantly nagged to be more respectful, but Naruto had learned quickly that having a foul mouth near Iruka-sensei was asking for the permanent taste of soap to remain in his mouth at all times. Not even ramen was able to get the taste out.
He was lucky enough to be able to get away with mild swearing, but considering how every fifth word out of his mouth wasn't a swear of some kind when he had first met Iruka-sensei, it was a vast improvement.
Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't have stopped the reaction even if he tried. This boy had seen the dementors. And not only that, he had seen Harry's Patronus. He was clearly magical, especially since he had been able to sense that the only other wizard in the area was Harry. His testimony would carry much more weight for the mere fact that he was clearly a wizard. If this whiskered teenager could convince enough of those present that he had indeed seen both Harry's Patronus and the dementors, he may not need to do some very smooth talking. Which he wouldn't have been present to do if he hadn't arrived three hours early at the Ministry in order to register the sixteen new transfer students that Hogwarts would be hosting for the next year.
Fudge remained frozen in fear for all of a minute before he bolstered his courage with his arrogance as he sneered down at Naruto, speaking in the most condescending tone the blonde had ever heard used. "You must be mistaken, for no dementors have been sent out in the past two months, much less into muggle neighborhoods. Now, will you please leave quietly or would you like a pair of dementors to escort you to a cell?"
Naruto snarled at the man, his eyes flashing with barely restrained rage before they calmed as an evil smirk spread across his face. The scarlet bleeding away to be replaced by his normal blue, his pupils took but a few seconds to become round once more as his eyes fully returned to normal. Drawing a kunai, he sliced a shallow cut into his palm, just enough for it bleed before hiding the blade back where it came from and forming a series of hand seals. A blur of motion later and he was pressing his hand to the floor, a cloud of smoke appearing as he summoned a blood red fox with three tails.
"What do you want Naru-cub?" Naruto smiled at the fox's nickname for him. All of the foxes had nicknames for him, but only Kyuubi was allowed to refer to him as Kit. It didn't mean though that she was the only fox that had adopted him as her own. All of the foxes had adopted him in some fashion or another, not that Naruto really minded all that much. Even if he did, there was nothing he could do to stop them.
"Please deliver this message to Tsuande. Unless you wish to deal with a war with the wizarding world, get your ass over here before I go on a killing spree. Tell her she has two minutes to get here. Bring her here directly, okay Ruby?"
The fox smiled, teeth glittering in the flickering light before disappearing with a small pop and a cloud of smoke. She wasn't even gone for more than a minute, the smoke having just barely cleared from her departure, when she reappeared with a very angry Godaime.
"I thought you said you would stay out of trouble. Going on a killing spree and causing a world war is not keeping out of trouble."
Naruto stopped her angry rant as he allowed a few tears to slide down his cheeks, unable to keep them back any longer. Damn, his moods were changing faster than he could keep up with, and that only made him want to start bawling all the more. He now had an even greater respect for the pregnant woman if this was what she had to deal with.
Seeing Naruto's tears, Tsunade forgot about lecturing the blonde as she scanned him for any injuries. All anger flew from her mind as she rushed over and embraced him, discretely scanning him with her chakra to make sure that he wasn't physically injured.
"Talk. Now."
Naruto nodded his head before he hid his face completely in her chest. So much for not telling her about his run in with dementors. At least he could do some damage control. Tsuande already knew about how he had used a 'borrowed' timeturner so that his absence wouldn't be missed at the village. Given that the event he had witnessed was technically two weeks ago, Naruto needed to be very careful in how he worded his explanation.
Time travel was not something to mess around with, something that the Kyuubi had constantly reminded him of for the duration of his mission. Naruto had come to the decision that the headache just wasn't worth it, no matter how tempting.
"Remember my trip to investigate an odd barrier that was found? Well, I didn't tell you that I ran into a couple of dementors the night before I returned. I was able to apparate back to my hotel room before their presence took effect. I remembered things I didn't want to remember. I was forced to relive my fifth birthday. The guy in charge says that the dementors must have been a figment of my imagination since he hadn't sent them. Then he threatened to have a pair escort me out for interrupting a trial, but it's more like the kid has to sit and listen to the bastard call him a liar and then punish him for telling the truth and doing some magic that saved his life."
At this, Fudge exploded. Maybe Naruto shouldn't have added that last comment. It could be entirely false, but any doubts he had were removed with what Fudge shouted down at him.
"How dare you doubt me! When I said that there is no possible chance that a dementor was sent out, then it's true. And what the bloody hell did you do? Where did that fox come from and how the bloody hell did it apparate through our wards, not to mention the woman-"
Feeling Tsunade hold him tighter, Naruto could tell that she had had enough.
"Don't you dare say another word or I will be more than willing to declare war on you. I didn't know that you wizards were so disrespectful that you would yell at the Hokage of Fire Country."
Fudge completely disregard everything she said as he ignored her and continued yelling.
"What are you talking about? A Hokage? And there is no such place as Fire Country." Tsunade cut him off before the man could dig himself an even deeper grave, not that it wasn't already deep enough.
"You must be incompetent at your job Cornelius Fudge, because if you had done your job properly, then you would be familiar with the Treaty of Ignorance that my grandfather had signed when he founded Konoha. Since you are obviously incompetent, I will give you the the condensed version. Only the leaders of the various Magical Governments, such as the Minister of Magic, would know of the existence of the Elemental Continent. A continent which is hidden from the entire world, much like Hogwarts with the exception that ships and planes are transported to the other side of our wards if they try to sail or fly through them. It was agreed that if you left us alone, we would leave you alone. It did not mean that interaction was prohibited. Since the majority of the Wizarding world does not know of our existence, and the Muggle world is entirely unaware of our presence, we have had few visitors. The same applies for the Elemental Continent. Now, please explain to me why you, as a leader, did not know of my country's existence until I told you? Are you not suppose to know all treaties that have been signed by those that preceded you?"
Fudge went very pale at this. Apparently he had heard of Konoha. And was smart enough to realize that risking a war would mean not only a humiliating defeat, but most likely the revelation of magic to the entire world.
"Please forgive me Tsunade-hime, I had completely forgotten. Mr. Potter, since there is a witness that corroborates what you have said, you will be pardoned. But do not think that you will be pardoned again if you use magic before you are of age for anything other than a life threatening situation. This trial is over."
Sitting up even straighter, Fudge turned his attention onto Tsunade, a somewhat strained smile twisting his lips as he spoke. "Tsunade-hime, would you like to join me for a cup of tea. I'm sure there is much we should talk about."
Tsunade hid a smirk as she bent down and planted a kiss on Naruto's cheek. Really, Naruto was bound to give her a heart attack. Ruby's sudden appearance in her office was not something that she had been expecting. The message had her ready to send Naruto through at least two walls if she found out it was a joke, even though she sincerely hoped that it was. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, depending on how much sake she had when she looked back on the event, Naruto's message had been at least partially serious.
Giving Naruto one final hug, she whispered quietly into his ear so that only he heard what she said. Regardless of what had set him off, Tsunade was happy that he had sent for her, silently asking for her help. "Don't worry, I'll make the bastard squirm for you. Thanks for getting me out of doing paperwork for the afternoon Gaki. Now be good and don't start any wars with other countries. You can cause chaos at school as long as you don't use any jutsus in front of the students unless absolutely necessary for the mission. Have fun. And Naruto, do yourself a favor and be selfish for once. You deserve to be loved. I know you like Sasuke, and I have a feeling its mutual. Tell him, see where it goes from there."
Pulling away Tsunade gave him an amused smile before ruffling his hair. "I'll see you later. Don't forget, send your reports every week with a summon. I want to know how you're doing. And don't you dare leave out any injuries, no matter how minor, otherwise I will be chaining you to a hospital bed the next time I treat you. I'll also make sure that you don't get any ramen for the duration of your stay."
Seeing Naruto gulp and frantically nod his head, Tsunade allowed herself a satisfied smirk. She would know too if Naruto didn't mention even the smallest paper cut he may have gotten in his reports. However, he didn't need to know that. After all, it would completely ruin the surprise, and give away the fact that she was more worried about him than he ever needed to know.
Harry couldn't believe what he had witnessed. Just as he was beginning to despair that he would never go back to Hogwarts again, a blonde boy who couldn't be any older than he was, bursts into the courtroom. Harry had barely managed to close his jaw when the whiskered teenager started snarling at Fudge. He was positive that his heart had skipped a beat when the smaller teen demanded to know why he had seen dementors running away from a silver stagin a muggle neighborhood. The teen had seen the dementors as well as his Patronus.
If that wasn't enough to give him hope that he wouldn't be expelled, something even more shocking happened. Barely seeing a glint of a blade, Harry just made out the blur of motion as being the blonde's hands before one was slammed onto the ground, a cloud of smoke immediately appearing. Once it cleared, Harry stared at one of the oddest sights he had ever seen. A scarlet fox that was clearly magical if its three tails were anything to go by. If that wasn't a big enough clue, the fact that the fox was the same size as Padfoot was.
Plus the fact that the fox could speak. Something that Harry was gaping at long enough to miss most of what the blonde had said. All that he managed to catch was that the fox, Ruby, would bring someone directly to the court room. And within moments of the smoke clearing, there was another pop and an even larger cloud of smoke that revealed an extremely angry blonde woman. She also had the largest breasts he had ever seen on a woman. And wasted no time in starting to lecture the blonde, only to pull the boy into a hug before she could truly begin to rant at him.
Then things had went from unbelievable to just plain surreal. Whatever the other teenager had said to the woman, Fudge had heard it, causing the man to explode in anger, screaming about how no dementors were in Surrey because he said that there weren't any. Fudge did have a point though in asking how the woman had gotten through the wards around the Ministry and into the court room. He would have to ask Hermione about it, not to mention asking if she knew anything about an apparently hidden continent and a treaty about secrecy. The woman was clearly someone important given how quickly Fudge's attitude had changed from being angry to apologetic.
The true icing on the cake though was when Fudge had warned him against using magic outside of school again until he was of age or the situation required it, and then he was free to leave, no longer facing being expelled from the one place he considered home.
Still rather shell-shocked, he didn't start grinning until Mr. Weasley asked him if he had been cleared. The fact that he had been tried by the full court was enough to make him feel giddy at just how close he had come to being expelled. If it wasn't for the sudden appearance of the blonde, Harry wasn't sure if Dumbledore would have been able to get him out of this mess. He really was lucky.
Before anything else could really be said, Dumbledore exited the court room, looking just as startled by the outcome as he was, but he was smiling none the less, blue eyes twinkling more than usual. Realizing that no one else was leaving the court room just yet, Harry decided now was the time to ask any questions before the headmaster disappeared.
"What just happened?"
Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling brightly enough to be seen in the dark. "I do not really know Harry, but he appeared at exactly the right moment. And just who might you be young man?"
The blonde boy had followed them out of the courtroom. He looked hurt for a moment at the headmaster's question before he flashed them a smile. Harry wondered why he would be hurt, it was clear that neither of them knew him, nor did Mr. Weasley.
"You really did look better with purple hair old man. I could dye it for you again, but I think I'll do it orange this time."
Harry had no clue what the boy was talking about, neither did Mr. Weasley, but apparently Dumbledore did.
Eyes widening momentarily, Dumbledore smiled widely. That was the final clue he needed to place just why the blonde's presence had been nagging at him. The whiskers should have been enough of a reminder of a particularly mischievous six year old he had the pleasure of meeting some odd years ago. The child was truly delightful and had kept him on his toes.
"I daresay that green really did suit you. Especially that shade of lime."
Naruto chuckled as he cracked a genuine smile that reached his eyes, lighting his whole face up and making him look years younger. Harry was really confused at this point. Since he doubted that he would be getting any answers anytime soon, he decided to quickly change the topic.
"Was that lady your mother?" Harry was surprised when the blonde stopped smiling and a look of sadness spread across his face, darkening his eyes until they were almost black.
"No, she's the leader of my village." Although the words were spoken softly, he could hear a note of steel in them. Harry took that as his cue to shut up. It didn't stop him from noticing the headmaster's reaction though.
Dumbledore bowed his head in sadness. If he didn't have to worry about Voldemort, he would have gone straight to Konoha in order to pay his respects. That would have to wait though, until after Voldemort was dealt with.
"I need to visit your village in the future to pay my respects. Naruto-kun, do you mind telling me how he died. Your Hokage only said that he was killed during battle." Naruto nodded solemnly, silently confirming the truth of Tsunade's statement.
"I'll tell you later. That's if Baa-chan doesn't tell you first. I think Tsunade-baa-chan didn't want to tell you how he died in a letter because she wanted to tell you in person since you were an old friend of Sandaime-jiji. We should hurry back. The transfer students are waiting and I have the feeling that you failed to mention our arrival since we were greeted by a paranoid lunatic and a werewolf. I told everyone to stay silent until I came back with you."
"Ah, you will have to go ahead of me. I need to finish some paperwork here. It will take me but a few minutes."
At that moment, the others left the courtroom, Tsunade ignoring Fudge as soon as she saw that Dumbledore was still present. "Ah, I was hoping to catch you before you left Headmaster. I wanted to ask a few questions about how my students will be treated in your care."
"Tsunade-hime, if you would follow me..." Trailing off, Fudge just kept himself from quivering under the molten glare Tsunade shot at him.
"I'm sure that Headmaster Dumbledore will be kind enough to show me to your office once we finish discussing how my students will be treated. We wouldn't want any misunderstandings like today to happen again, would we?"
Gulping at the threat hidden in the sugary sweet voice, Fudge quickly nodded. As much as he hated Dumbledore, he knew the man would never allow the Hokage to believe her students would suffer unfair treatment while he was Headmaster. He also couldn't afford to anger the Godaime any more than she already was. Unable to take his anger out on Dumbledore, his eyes lit up when he caught sight of Arthur Weasley. He just knew the man supported Dumbledore, but he had no evidence to safely take action against him, not with how well liked he was in the Ministry. That didn't mean he couldn't make the man's life miserable.
"Weasley, what are you doing down here?" Just as the man began to sweat, Tsunade suddenly shifted her attention to the man.
"Arthur Weasley?"
"Yes?"
"Ah, I want to thank you and your wife for agreeing to foster my students until school started. I hope that your children don't mind staying in the home that I had provided. It was rather unavoidable though since the sixteen of them insisted on staying together."
"It was no problem, honestly." Only having a vague idea of what she was talking about, Mr. Weasley decided it would be safer to just play along.
"Still, sixteen teenagers, plus your own children is a bit much to deal with."
"Ah, do not forget young Mr. Potter here, as well as his friend Ms. Granger." At Dumbledore's words, Mr. Weasley blushed even as Tsuande's smile widened. Maybe he shouldn't have played along.
"Twenty-two teenagers. I must insist on sending you and your wife on an all expense paid vacation once they all head off to Hogwarts. I'm sure that Cornelius will be more than happy to give you the time off, with pay."
"Of course Tsunade-hime. We can discuss the details in my office over tea."
"Yes, we can. I'll have Headmaster Dumbledore escort me to your office once I'm sure of the safety and fair treatment of my students."
"I would be delighted Tsunade-hime."
"Be good for Mr. Weasley Naruto-kun."
"I will Baa-chan." Ruffling blonde spikes, Tsunade barely kept from cackling as she took Dumbledore's offered arm, allowing the older man to escort her to the elevators. Fudge was fuming, but Tsunade didn't plan on ending the torture just yet. Looking over her shoulder, she tossed a comment at Fudge, making sure he didn't stick around and bother Naruto.
"I'll see you in your office Minister. We have much to discuss."
Watching Fudge disappear down the hall with Dumbledore and Tsunade, Harry was utterly confused. What did she mean when she said that the Weasleys were taking care of sixteen extra teenagers, as well as needing to change houses. The Weasleys were staying at his godfather's home just like he and Hermione were. She wasn't making any sense.
"Mr. Weasley, what was she talking about?"
"Ah, well you see Harry, Dumbledore mentioned to me and Molly that we would possibly be taking care of a few transfer students this summer, but I hadn't expected there to be that many."
"Then why did she say that she had provided a house for you? It doesn't make any sense." Not unless they would be staying at the Order's headquarters with them. And even then, why did she lie about providing a house? It was Sirius's home that they were using.
"Isn't it obvious? Sheesh, Baa-chan was making sure that Fudge couldn't question Weasley-san on how he was capable of caring for all sixteen transfer students. I don't know how big his home is, but sixteen teenagers obviously can't live in an average home."
Jumping slightly, Harry turned to stare at the blonde. He had forgotten that the other boy was there. But as he fully processed what he said, he couldn't help but bristle. So what if the Weasleys' weren't rich, they were a far better family than the Malfoys.
"We really should get going Weasley-san. I'm sure that you'll want to tell your wife that you'll be going on a vacation soon. Baa-chan wasn't lying when she said that she would send you and your wife on an all expense paid vacation. I'll bet it won't only be for this year only either. She'll probably arrange for at least five over the next few years or so." A vacation for each team, minus Haku, but she would probably think of something. Especially since they were technically under the guardianship of the Weasleys during their stay. Something made clear to him by the fact that she had brought it up to Fudge.
"Yes, we should get going. I'm sure the others will want to know how your trial ended Harry." Reminded that he had gotten off, Harry's earlier excitement returned as he grinned widely. He had gotten off.
Trailing behind the two, Naruto was thankful that neither male had decided to ask some rather sensitive questions. This was not the place to answer them, especially with Fudge just around the corner, talking to someone that had Kyuubi growling in his mind. A clear sign to be wary of them.
"Well, well, well...Patronus Potter. The Minister was just telling me of your lucky escape, Potter." Hairs standing up on the back of his neck, Naruto was instantly on guard, keeping just out of sight of the man behind Mr. Weasley. The pale blonde seemed even more arrogant than some of the Lords that Naruto had met over the years, if that was even possible. But unlike the arrogant and spoiled men he had dealt with, this man held an air of danger to him. He was not to be underestimated, nor were assumptions to be made. He was far too dangerous for that.
"And Arthur Weasley too! What are you doing here, Arthur?"
"I work here." Given the little he had seen of the man, the short answer was a clear sign of tightly controlled anger.
"Not here, surely? I thought you were up on the second floor...Don't you do something that involves sneaking Muggle artifacts home and bewitching them?" Blue eyes flashing, Naruto knew he would have to step in soon. Fudge was looking far too smug, as if waiting for either Harry or Mr. Weasley to step out of line.
"No." Mr. Weasley was close to losing his temper, but the man was keeping himself in check. Maybe he wouldn't need to interfere.
"What are youdoing here anyway?" Scratch that, he was going to have to interfere. Really, he had just escaped being expelled and here he was picking a fight with a man that clearly had the Minister's favor. Hearing the distinct rattle of gold as the man smoothed his robes, Naruto knew exactly why he had the Minister's favor.
"Shall we go up to your office, then, Minister?"
"Certainly. This way, Lucius." Eyes narrowed, Naruto stepped forward, drawing both men's attention to himself.
"Baa-chan doesn't like being made to wait, especially over something so trivial as donations being made that your secretary can take care of. Unless of course, this is a donation only you can accept Minister. Baa-chan especially hates being made to wait over such donations." Keeping his expression mild, as if he was entirely bored, Naruto kept his eyes focused on Fudge. The Minister was struggling with his anger, but at least the man was smart enough to catch what he was implying. He wasn't the only one. Lucius was glaring darkly at him, not that Naruto particularly cared.
"Come Lucius, I'll introduce you to Tsunade-hime."
"Be careful Minister, you don't want to anger Baa-chan further by breaking a treaty she needed to remind you of."
"Ah, Lucius, we'll take care of this another day. If you'll follow me, you can discuss a time that would be convenient for you with my secretary." Smiling serenely, Naruto watched the two disappear inside the elevator. It was vastly amusing to see the man scowling at him just before the doors closed. Once they were closed though, Harry exploded. That was something that he would have to work on. At the moment though, he was content to let Mr. Weasley handle it. The man knew more about the situation as well as what could and couldn't be safely said in public.
The rest of the way back to the Atrium and fireplaces passed in relative silence. Mr. Weasley would only make sure that they went through the floo safely, he did have to get back to work after all.
Naruto was rather amused when he saw Harry dump an entire bag of gold coins into a fountain just before they reached the fireplaces, grinning rather broadly once he was done. And his friends called him strange.
Sasuke was fuming. He had found Naruto in Gaara's lap in Tsunade's office and then the blonde had given the red head a hug when they arrived. Only he should be allowed to hug the blonde. Unfortunately for him, the dobe wasn't his, and Sasuke was beginning to doubt that he ever would be. Of course, that didn't mean he would give up. Uchihas were stubborn, possessive, bastards. And Sasuke was most certainly an Uchiha.
Gaara had better be prepared for war. He would not give Naruto up without a fight.
It had been almost an hour since Naruto left and he was beginning to get annoyed with having to stay in the same room with his new found love rival. It didn't help that Haku kept staring at him with a worried expression written all over his face.
Just before he could snap, an old man with long silver hair and a beard of the same color that was long enough to tuck into his belt stepped out of the fire place gracefully, dusting off his purple robes. Sparkling blue eyes twinkled from behind a pair of half moon spectacles that were perched on a crooked nose that look like it had been broken before.
"Ah, it seems that I am the first to return." Just as the man finished speaking, a red headed woman entered the kitchen, giving a soft gasp as she caught sight of them. Her gasp was soon echoed by five other teenagers crowded in the door behind her.
"Oh, Professor, do you have any news?" The man just smiled at the worried woman. Any answer he may have given was prevented as the fireplace once more flared green. This time Naruto fell out, quickly followed by a boy their age with spiky black hair, shocking green eyes similar to Sakura's, round glasses, and a thin lightning shaped scar slightly hidden behind his bangs.
"Why do you not ask him for yourselves?"
The man that Naruto had called a werewolf quickly stood and rushed over to the bespeckled boy. The others quickly gathering around him as well, whooping and shouting when the teen finally spoke, three of them starting up a chant.
Naruto gave a tired grin to his team before walking over to his backpack and digging through it. He pulled out a scroll and handed it to the old man who read it carefully, looking up at Naruto as soon as he finished. Naruto answered the silent question in their native tongue.
"As you can see, Tsunade sent sixteen, including myself. We're all fifteen or sixteen, but we are some of the best and we have the added advantage of being underestimated because we are children. We will need to get wands if we are going to learn anything in this next month. I would like it if none of the teachers besides yourself knows what we are. I will assume that you will have some of your teachers catch us up in our studies. Tell them that we were not invited to Hogwarts because our magic was not detected until this summer due to the protective barrier around our village. Which is true in a way. Do not provide any special privileges to us. We will patrol the castle at night in shifts, if we get caught, which is highly improbable, then we will face whatever punishment is dealt to us. However, I do request that there be a room in which we will be allowed to train in. Also, it would be appreciated if you could stress to Harry and his friends that the Weasleys are our host family as far as the rest of the school is concern."
Dumbledore nodded. The request was reasonable and made it easier for Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley children to talk about what they did over the summer, so long as they made it clear that they couldn't reveal the exact location they were at because of safety reasons. Naruto gave him a mischievous grin, drawing him out of his thoughts.
"Just because I'm older doesn't mean I've matured any. I'll warn you in advance, what I did to your hair when I was six will look innocent compared to what I have planned. As a wise man once said, 'Age brings many things. Maturity isn't always included.' Now, I have a saying for you. 'Only risk what you are willing to lose.' That isn't so much a saying as it is a warning. This is my saying to you that I will most definitely employ. 'Pranks, only pull them if you won't get caught. But be prepared for retribution tenfold if you are.' I learned that when I sported such an interesting shade of green hair."
Dumbledore sweat-dropped as he remembered his part in the dying of Naruto's hair. It looked like Naruto was going to play a prank that took a decade to plan. It was certainly going to be an interesting year.
His warning given, Naruto turned his attention to his friends, relieved to see that they were all in one piece, if slightly annoyed in some cases, mainly Sasuke and oddly enough, Gaara seemed more bored than annoyed. Glancing at Haku, Naruto gave a heavy sigh at the guilt he could see. Shaking his head he spoke.
"Haku, I thought I told you that Sasuke-teme wouldn't hate you just because of what happened in the past. You have heard of the phrase 'forgive and forget.' I doubt he hates you, sure he's still probably pissed because you royally kicked his ass and handed it to him on a silver platter, but I don't think he hates you. If it will make you feel better, just apologize to the bastard. And Sasuke, stop glaring at Gaara. I don't know what he might have done to piss you off, but unless you want to contemplate what it would feel like to be buried alive in sand, I suggest you quit it. Oh, Shino and Kankuro, you'll probably be my first victims. Haku, are you still crushing of Zabuza or have you finally gotten over it and realized you saw him as more of a psychotic yet lovable older brother?"
Sasuke could feel his lips twitching as he held back a smile. He wasn't the only one. Sakura and Kiba were both muffling snickers as Ino and Temari outright smirked at the two. Shikamaru merely rolled his eyes, softly muttering a quiet 'Troublesome', while the others looked rather amused, even Gaara and Neji if the slightly upturned lips were anything to go by.
Kankuro and Shino on the other hand, looked utterly terrified.
Sasuke looked at Haku and found the boy smiling sheepishly as he answered Naruto's question.
"Zabuza is not psychotic."
"......"
".........."
".............."
"Okay maybe a little. And yes, I got over my crush. Why?"
Naruto gave Haku a grin that sent shivers down his spine.
"Oh, I just wanted to know if I should tell you that I was the one that set him up with Ibiki. They aren't that serious yet, but it looks good and its hilarious to watch them talking to each other. I don't think I've seen that much facial twitching in five minutes before. They refuse to show any emotion at all. That gives me an idea. If they aren't together when we get back, they're going to be. Since you're no longer breaking your heart over Zabuza, I'm gonna hook you up. You'll never know what hit you, not even if you were staring it in the eye."
Haku looked rather pale by the time Naruto finished his little speech. Sasuke couldn't stop himself from smirking, unfortunately for him Naruto saw it.
"Teme, don't think I don't have any evil schemes for you. Your last on my list but your still included." Gaara gave a small laugh and immediately drew Naruto's attention.
"No, the world's going to end. I'm too young to die." This caused Gaara to scowl while Kiba burst into laughter, Akamaru yipping his opinion.
"You know what Gaara, you'll be my new teddy bear. Stupid Baa-chan kept mine. She said she would hug it whenever she missed me, meaning all the time. I want my Mr. Cuddles, but I guess you'll have to do." He wasn't about to admit that he actually left his bear with Tsunade. Besides, Gaara would make a good substitute.
As if to prove his point, Naruto tackled the red head to the floor. Gaara sat up only to find Naruto in his lap and hugging him. He rested his head against his shoulder and fell asleep almost instantly.
All of the shinobi face-faulted when they heard light snoring coming from the blonde. Gaara's eye was twitching but he didn't move to disturb the blonde. Finally he sighed and stood up, cradling the blonde in his arms. Naruto loosened his grip slightly but didn't let go.
Sasuke glared at Gaara.
How dare the red-head touch his Naruto. He wanted to be Naruto's new teddy bear.
As if sensing the glare Naruto woke up and stared up sleepily at Gaara, much like he had with Tsunade.
"What?" Naruto smiled as Gaara scowled at him. Turning his head, he looked at the old man.
"The old man with the silver-hair is Dumbledore, he is the headmaster of the school that we will be attending. As for the others in the room, don't have a clue except that ones a werewolf, ones a paranoid old bat with a weird eye, and black-haired boy seems to get in trouble with the government pretty often and he has a scar from some curse. The others weren't here when I left, and I met the teen when I went to get Dumbledore. If you have any questions about what we will be doing tomorrow, direct them to the old man. Oh, Gaara, since your so cuddly, I'm gonna go back to sleep. Drop me and you'll learn a whole new meaning to the words hug, cuddle, and death grip. Night."
Sasuke glared at Gaara, his jealousy apparent to all of the shinobi with the exception of Lee who was busy praising Naruto's flames of youth. If he had noticed, he would have been praising Sauske's passionate flames of youthful love.
Dumbledore sighed, wishing that Naruto was still awake because he knew he would have to explain everything to him again.
"Everyone take a seat and I will start filling you in on what you will be doing. You will all need to hear what I am about to say since it will make things easier for all of us. Remus, can you gather all of the available Order members that you can find. We will be needing their help for the next few weeks."
The werewolf left to do as he was asked, returning with Tonks, Snape, McGonagall, and Sirius, who had been upstairs feeding Buckbeak when Harry had returned, otherwise he would have joined in with the twins' and Ginny's chanting. Dumbledore conjured up extra chairs and an especially soft arm chair for Gaara who had the misfortune of holding a sleeping blonde. He took the seat gratefully, sinking into the soft cushions as Naruto shifted slightly in his lap. When everyone was seated, Dumbledore began to explain things.
"There will be sixteen transfer students at Hogwarts this year. They are new to the Wizarding world since there was a barrier around their village that hid their magic until just recently. If they can learn four years worth of magic in the next month, then they will start as fifth years and will be sorted with the first years at the start of school feast. Since school starts in two weeks, they will only be placed with the fifth years if they are starting to learn third year material. I will need your help in teaching them everything they need to know. As Naruto told me earlier, the sixteen of you will require wands. We might as well get all of your school supplies tomorrow. I am sure that Mrs. Weasley will be kind enough to help you since she has experience. It would be so much easier to explain things if Naruto was awake, but since he is not it cannot be helped. Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall will tutor you, as will Lupin and Moody. Now, if you would introduce yourselves. Just your first names will be fine, we can do full introductions later."
The shinobi nodded. First names were safe enough to give.
"Sakura, nice to meet you."
"Lee. The flames of youth burn..." Sakura slapped him on the head to shut him up so Neji could introduce himself.
"Neji, a pleasure to meet you."
"Tenten."
"Hinata, Neji is my cousin."
"Kiba, and this is Akamaru." Akamaru yipped his greeting.
"Troublesome. Shikamaru." Shikamaru yawned before laying his head back on the table.
"Temari."
Chouji stopped eating his chips long enough to give his name. "Chouji."
Ino glared at her boyfriend before smiling brightly. "I'm Ino."
"Sasuke."
"Haku. Nice to make your acquaintance."
"..."
Kankurou sighed.
"Mr. Silent is Shino and I'm Kankurou. One of Temari's younger brothers."
"Gaara, Kankurou's and Temari's younger brother. The blonde..." Naruto cut him off as he sat up and leaned back into Gaara's chest.
"Naruto. Now, before we finish introductions, let me get a few things straight. The old man filled you in on the magic blocking barrier thing that surrounds our village, right? Good, we'll skip the whole boring part of learning four years worth of magic in the next four weeks, two weeks here and then during the first two weeks of school. Tomorrow we go shopping for all of our school supplies along with the other Hogwart's students that are here. I have a vault there with a mountain of gold collecting dust, so I'm paying for all of the supplies, for every student here, no arguments or you might find your hair an interesting new color. Ask the old man what happened to his hair when he tried to pay for a present that I had picked out for him. Our first stop when we get to Diagon Alley will be Gringotts. Then our chaperon will decide where we go next. Our last stop will be the wand shop since I don't want to be tempted by mischief and cause trouble. Oh, and if you have a crush and need help to confess, I'm the guy to turn to. Ask the couples here, I set them all up and I have plans for the five guys that are single. I'll probably have played matchmaker for at least a few of the students by the end of the school year. Now, I'll stay awake for your introductions, but as soon as you're done I'm going back to sleep."
"Then, would you be kind enough to remove yourself from my lap?" Gaara kept his voice as pleasant as he could.
"Nope, I already told you, you're my new Mr. Cuddles. Unless you can find me another replacement, you're stuck with me."
Gaara looked like he was ready to kill. Dumbledore stifled a chuckle as he stared at the blonde, remembering the small blonde boy that he used to be. He certainly could have kept even the Marauders on their toes.
"You already know me, but I'll introduce myself again. Mad-eye Moody. Call me Mad-eye or Moody don't really care."
"Tonks. Naruto, what did you do to Dumbledore's hair?"
Naruto gave her a grin as he said in a stage whisper. "I think you should ask what he did to my hair in response."
Tonks turned to Dumbledore, but he was whistling softly and staring at the ceiling. She gave a disappointed sigh as a plump red-headed woman introduced herself and her family.
"I'm Molly, but you can call me Mrs. Weasley. These are my sons, Fred, George, and Ron. And this is my daughter Ginny."
Naruto gave the twins an evil smile which they returned with one full mischief. They would either be great friends or bitter enemies caught in a prank war that Hogwarts may not survive. Only time would tell.
"I'm Hermione."
"Harry."
"Harry's godfather, Sirius."
"Severus Snape, but you will address me as Professor Snape."
"Professor McGonagall, I'll be your Transfiguration teacher."
"Remus Lupin, but you can just call me Lupin."
"And I am ..."
"Old man. Legendary nut. Weird guy with the twinkling eyes. Expert extraordinaire at ignoring questions. The one, the only, Albus too many names to remember Dumbledore. Yeah, I think we know who you are. If Baa-chan is still here, she'll probably have a word with you in a more appropriate setting. Don't worry if she threatens you with extreme torture if something bad were to happen to me. She's weird like that. Don't know why since I annoy her all the time." Dumbledore chuckled.
"I am Albus Dumbledore, but you can call me Dumbledore-sensei if you are more comfortable with that. Now, I hope you do not mind sharing rooms. As you can probably tell, this house has not been lived in for a while and many of the rooms are uninhabitable until we can clean them out."
Naruto gave a huge yawn.
"Old man, give us a room and some sleeping bags and we'll be set for the night. As comfortable as Gaara's lap is, I'm pretty sure he'd kill me in my sleep if I stayed in his lap all night. I'm also pretty sure we've all had worse sleeping conditions than some sleeping bags. I remember one time I fell asleep while sitting under a waterfall. Man talk about wrinkled skin. It was winter too, the only reason I remember that is cause I had to stay in bed for two weeks because I had pneumonia. What time do we have to be up tomorrow? If it isn't too early then I'll make breakfast for everyone. Doesn't matter what you have, I'll whip something up."
Dumbledore chuckled as everyone sweatdropped at the blonde's words. Naruto was still the same as he remembered.
"You will leave for Diagon Alley at eight, so you should be up and ready by at least 7:30 if you want to eat breakfast before you go. Now, you will also need to buy..."
"We need to buy the books that were required for the first four years of school. Yeah, yeah. Give me some credit old man, I'm not so stupid that you have to point out the obvious. Ah screw it. Gaara, tuck me in would ya. Night people."
Naruto instantly went back to sleep as everyone but Gaara face-faulted. Gaara sighed, stood up and dumped the slumbering blonde into Sasuke's lap. Sasuke didn't even flinch as the blonde hugged him and buried his face into his chest. He smirked at Sasuke as Naruto started to drool mumbling about dancing ramen bowls. Sasuke glared at the red-head, not willing to show even the slightest sign of thankfulness to his rival. He would win Naruto in the end.
Turning to Dumbledore, he decided that being polite would be the best course of action.
"Can you please show us to our rooms? As Naruto said, we have all had worse sleeping conditions than a hard floor and sleeping bags. Naruto though, is the only idiot that would fall asleep under a waterfall in the dead of winter."
"Ah, but of course. I forgot to factor in the time difference. You all must be tired. If you will follow me, then I will show you to your rooms. Please be quiet when you enter the hall."
Sasuke stood up and followed the old wizard into the hallway, the others trailing behind him with their things, including Naruto's bag. He was shocked at how light Naruto was, he was probably lighter than all of the girls. He highly doubted that it was healthy either. He would need to rectify that as soon as possible.
The girls were given a room, a bit on the small side, but it would be fine given that there were only four of them. Dumbledore conjured up bright purple sleeping bags for them before bidding them good night. He led the boys to a larger room further down the hall, conjuring the same bright purple sleeping bags that he had for the girls. He bade them good night as well, ruffling Naruto's blonde spikes before he left.
Sasuke had some difficulty pulling the blonde off of him, but with Haku's help they finally managed to wrestle the boy into a sleeping bag. Gaara sat on the sleeping bag on Naruto's left and Sasuke was quick to grab the one on the right, not willing to lose to Gaara even in the slightest.
With one final look at his secret love, and a vow to win his heart, Sasuke slipped into a peaceful sleep.
A/N: Well, that was chapter four. I hope that it is as well recieved as the original version. In any case, you'll be seeing chapter five in the next day or three. Reviews are love, and as always, cookies to my readers. Until next time.
Blackfang8 ^.^