Chapter 7:
By the next morning, Naruto was wondering why he was even chosen for this mission at all. When he learned that it would be a year long body guard mission for a boy who was supposedly in mortal danger, he thought there would be life threatening battles everyday. Instead, he attended class every day with people who did things he still did not quite understand. Although these witches and wizards were supposed to be 'magic' he hadn't seen anything that could be deemed magical except for the table in the Great Hall. The only bright spot was that he happened to like Harry Potter and his friend Ron Weasley although he didn't like the latter quite as much.
Kakashi's class was being held outside with the Slytherins so Naruto, Sakura and the wizarding trio made their way out onto the grounds after lunch.
"I'm so excited!" Said Naruto. "I wonder what he'll teach... now I can finally be taught by Kakashi-sensei!"
Sakura hit him, but lightly so he wouldn't attract attention when he flew back 10 ft. "Baka, didn't you hear Dumbledore-sama? He said the class was called Battle Tatics and Ancient Weaponry. It'll probably be just the basics." Naruto was dismayed, but still excited all the same.
"I'm so eager to take this class!" Said Hermione. "It's so rare to get opportunities to learn what they do at other schools. Do they place emphasis on self-defense and weapons tactics in Japan?"
"Yes," Said Sakura, "A really big emphasis."
They found students sitting around in the field when they got to the area.
Naruto spun around. "Huh, where's Kakashi-sensei?"
"Probably late." Muttered Sakura.
"I bet the guy wimped out, probably couldn't teach a proper class." Said Malfoy.
"Just our luck to have this class with the Slytherins." Ron muttered.
Suddenly there was a poof and Kakashi appeared. "Yo." He said, his hand up by way of greeting.
Everyone looked at him shocked. "Did this guy just Apparate?" The students whispered.
Hermione looked the most shocked. "Impossible. In Hogwarts, A History…"
"YOU'RE LATE!" Yelled Naruto, disrupting any tirade Hermione had planned.
"Yes, but I was…"
"Save your speeches." Said Naruto crossing his arms. Kakashi smiled. It was the same Naruto.
Kakashi held up his hand and smiled, or at least looked like it from what the students could tell under his mask. "Konnichiwa, I am Kakashi Hatake, or Professor Hatake to you..."
"I bet he's dreamy under that mask." Whispered Lavander Brown to her friend Parvati Patel. They both giggled.
Kakashi heard this and secretly sighed. "Welcome to Battle Tactics and Ancient Weaponry. Today is our first day of class so we are going to start with the basics. Everyone take a seat in front of me." He said, gesturing in front of him.
The Gryffindor and Slytherin students dutifully grouped themselves on the ground in front of Kakashi with Naruto, Sakura, Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting in the front row.
"Ok, so first things first. This is a kunai, this is a shuriken." Kakashi held up two objects in his hands as the students murmured to themselves.
"Are those knives?" Said Parvati Patil loudly.
"Yes they are." Said Kakashi.
"The kunai knife is a very basic and multifunctional tool." Kakashi began, pocketing the shuriken as he swung the kunai around on his finger, to the amazement of the students. "Although it originally was used as a garden tool, today, the kunai can be used as both a long range and short range weapon."
Draco Malfoy raised his hand, much to the surprise of everyone, even Kakashi. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" He asked.
"Do you people only use gardening tools as weapons or do you use kitchen appliances too? I'd love to see what you could do with a spoon."
The Slytherins broke into a round of laughter, with Pansy Parkinson's being the loudest as the other Gryffindors just looked on in annoyance. Sakura had her hands clenched and stood up only to get pulled back down by Naruto.
"Anything can be used as a weapon." Said Sai from his place among the Slytherins once the laughter died down. "It just depends on whose hands its in."
This earned a dour expression from Malfoy and his cronies who subtly scooted away from Sai.
"Thank you, Sai." Said Kakashi, "Now if I may continue..."
Kakashi went onto explain the uses of the kunai before demonstrating its use as both a long range weapon and a short range weapon which managed to impress all the students, even Malfoy although he wouldn't admit it. After explaining the shuriken, Kakashi had the students lined up in front of the trees to practice throwing each. After a quick tutorial on throwing each, Kakashi divided Naruto, Sakura and Sai up amongst the students to help them practice.
"How are you doing that?" Asked Ron as Sakura threw the shuriken all in a straight row at the tree.
"It's real easy actually…" Sakura shrugged. "Once you get the hang of it."
"And this type of...hands on weapons practice is typical of your school?" Asked Hermione, totally missing the tree.
"Of course." Said Sakura smugly. It gave her satisfaction to beat Hermione.
Hermione was secretly suspicious.
Trouble began however, when Draco flung his kunai toward an unsuspecting Harry. He had been busy joking and laughing with Ron and a few other Gryffindors while Sakura showed Hermione how to properly handle a shuriken. Sakura turned her head a second too late to see the kunai whizzing toward Harry.
"Harry!" Sakura screamed, shoving past Hermione as the class quickly quieted and turned toward her.
Harry and Ron turned, the smiles faltering on their faces as they saw the kunai. There was no time to react as the kunai struck Harry in the arm...and Harry exploded into a cloud of smoke before a large branch with a kunai embedded in it dropped to the ground.
There were gasps and looks of disbelief as the students stared at the branch before Kakashi popped back into their midst, a dazed Harry in tow. Sakura blew out a sigh of relief as Kakashi let go of Harry.
Ron and Hermione ran toward Harry. "That was crazy!" Ron exclaimed. "How the bloody hell did you do that?" He asked, turning to Kakashi.
"Ron!" Hermione quietly chastised. But she too looked curious.
"It's like one minute I was there...and then I was with Professor Hatake." Said Harry dumbfoundedly. The rest of the Gryffindors were beginning to crowd around them, eager for explanations while the Slytherins were looking toward Malfoy, some almost guiltily.
"I just executed a simple...replacement spell." Said Kakashi shrugging. "It might be something that we discuss during battle tactics."
"Replacement spell...I've never heard of it." Murmured Hermione, furrowing her eyebrows as she turned away.
"Sensei, I'm sorry." Said Sakura, bowing her head to Kakashi. "I should have been playing closer attention to Harry..."
"It's alright, Sakura." Kakashi said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Now did anyone see who threw that kunai?"
Everyone remained silent although a few guilty eyes shifted to Malfoy.
"Well, I don't have the power to take away House points." Said Kakashi, "So there will be no punishment. However," Kakashi turned, looking directly at Malfoy whose eyes widened. "Mr. Malfoy, it seems we need to discuss the proper uses of the kunai during class time."
Malfoy colored instantly. "It was an accident!" He quickly cried. "The kunai slipped from my fingers!"
"Yes well, perhaps you can work on your grip while you pick up all these kunai and shuriken for me." Said Kakashi cheerily, dropping the bag on the ground. "For everyone else, class is dismissed."
There were smirks from the Gryffindors as the dropped their tools on the ground for Malfoy to pick up while the Slytherins looked at him sympathetically.
