Chapter 6

Remus sighed as he entered the small cottage he called home. Once more, he had been turned down for a job because of his werewolf status. Angrily, he threw his coat on the floor.

"I don't remember you having such a temper."

Remus spun around to find Sirius Black himself sitting at his table.

"What did that poor coat ever do to you?" Sirius said with a grin.

Remus drew and pointed his wand at the escaped fugitive. "YOU!" he snarled. "I should kill you where you sit, you traitorous bastard."

Sirius smiled sadly and looked down. "You won't get any argument from me." He looked back up at Remus. "Except," he raised his hand in front of him, revealing a wand which had no doubt been stolen. "I, Sirius Orion Black, do swear upon my life and magic that I did not tell Voldemort the location of James, Lily, and Harley Potter. Nor have I ever served anyone called Lord Voldemort or killed anyone named Peter Pettigrew. So I say it, so may it be."

Remus watched as the wand flared blue, signaling that the oath was taken. Then Sirius pointed the wand at a pillow and muttered, "Wingardium Leviosa." The pillow began to float up into the air, before Sirius made it fall again.

The werewolf looked at Sirius in shock.

"I was never the secret-keeper. We acted as though I was, to protect the true secret-keeper," Sirius said solemnly.

"Who was it?" Remus asked.

"Peter," Sirius spat. "I tracked down the little rat, intending to turn him to the aurors for his treachery. But he shouted that I was the traitor, before casting a blasting hex behind his back, killing those thirteen muggles, and cutting off his own finger before turning into the rat he was and fleeing. The reason I was laughing when the aurors got there, was that I was hysteric. I had underestimated him, and he framed me for the worst thing I could possibly think off short of doing the deed myself."

The two men sat in silence for several moments before Remus spoke. "How did you escape? Why now?"

Sirius chuckled. "Azkaban was not designed to hold a dog Moony. And for why now, Fudge came to visit the prison on an inspection. He gave me the paper, the one that said Harley was missing and the search had been called off. I intend to find her, but I need your help." He gave Remus a pleading look.

Remus smiled enthusiastically. "Can you access your money in Gringotts?"

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"So," Saki began as he filled paperwork out, "will you tell me why you told Donovan who Karai was?"

Sakura smiled. "I intended to register Karai for their school, as per your orders. Unfortunately, while Karai may be the girls legal name in the normal world, in the magical, it is still Harley Potter. And so that was the name that appeared in the book Donovan has to tell him of every student that has or is to walk the halls of his school."

Saki growled, "Is there no way to change that?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, but we can't do it without her magical guardian. I've looked into it. Legally, her magical guardian is Albus Dumbledore, technically, it's a man named Sirius Black. In order to change her name in the magical world, we need Mr. Black."

Saki thought for a moment before replying, "May I inquire as to why Black is only her magical guardian?"

"He is the man suspected of betraying Karai's parents. He has been imprisoned until recently."

Saki's eyes sharpened. "Recently?"

"He broke out of prison last week. No one knows where he is, and a massive search is taking place in Britain"

"We need to find him first."

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Remus smiled as the dog beside him stumbled. Apparently, the rules of port-key travel changed when one was an animal. Tugging lightly on the leash around the wolfhound's neck, Remus cheerfully said, "Come on boy."

The look Sirius gave him promised retribution later.

Remus smiled as he handed the port-key to the attendant and stepped out of the port-key station to make room for the next traveler. But he groaned when he saw the customs line. "This is going to take forever," he mumbled.

Sirius snorted.

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Karai looked at the sharpened katana once, as if ensuring that it was real, before placing it on her back. After her birthday party, Saki had given her the new, sharpened, katana. It was almost identical to her practice katana, except for the black hilt and lack of the Foot Clan's symbol, should it be lost.

Dressed in a black ninja uniform, Karai took a look at herself in the mirror. Unlike the Foot's ninja's, her outfit was formfitting and she didn't have a mask. A belt around her waist held smoke-bombs and a grappling line. The finishing touch was the black hooded cape that Sakura had provided. The hood could not be removed, and only those who knew who she was would be able to see anything other than her mouth when the hood was up, all others would just see black shadow.

She smirked as she pulled up the hood and most of her face disappeared. Sakura explained that unless she wished to, she would not see through the charms, just to make sure that the hood was working.

Smiling, she made her way out the window. She'd been stuck in the tower to long.

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Leonardo chased his brother, Raphael, across the rooftops. "We shouldn't be out here Raph!" he shouted to his brother. "Master Splinter forbade us from coming to the surface."

Raphael rolled his eyes. "You know Leo, you didn't have to follow me," the red-masked turtle reminded Leo.

"Someone has to watch your shell," Leo muttered under his breath.

Raph stopped and turned to his brother. "What was that?" he demanded.

"Nothing."

Raph smirked. "If it was nothing, then you wouldn't mind a little sparring session," he said, drawing his sai.

"Now?" Leo asked.

The other turtle shrugged. "Why not?" he said with a smirk.

Leo sighed. "Fine, on one condition. If I win, we go back to the lair."

Raph smirked. "And if I win, you quit complaining."

"Fine," Leo said, drawing his two katanas.

The two turtles assumed ready positions. After a few moments, Raphael attacked.

Sai and katana clashed as the two turtles sought an opening in their brother's defense. Blows where held back, as neither brother wished to truly harm the other.

As the two turtles fought, they failed to notice the figure watching them.

Karai had spotted the turtles a while ago and had been following them out of curiosity. Now that she saw them fighting with the weapons of a ninja, she was even more intrigued. She knew they were holding back, as she'd noticed the one with the katana's turn his blade at the last second so as not to risk harming the other. But she also knew that they still had some learning to do, as she stood not twenty feet away and the turtles had yet to notice her.

Finally, Raph caught Leo's katana's with the the fork of his sai and twisted the swords out of his brothers hands, before bringing the point of the sai up to his brothers throat, signaling the end of the match.

The red-masked turtle grinned. "Geez Leo, you fight like a girl," he said mockingly.

"I don't think he's that good yet," Karai spoke, drawing the two turtles attention to her. "But then again, neither are you Raph," she added, examining her gloved fingers.

"Splinter's going to kill us," Leo mumbled.

Raph glared at his brother before turning to the girl. She couldn't be any older than the two turtles were, and was probably a year or two younger if her height was any indication. "You think you can beat me little girl?" Raph asked.

"Raph, I don't think..." Leo began but was interrupted by the girl.

"Of course." She drew her own katana, and held it in a relaxed position. "I'll even let you have the first first move."

Raphael smirked, and Leo just slapped his own forehead in dismay as Raph charged the girl.

The blue-masked turtle, as a student of the katana, had known that while the girl appeared relaxed, she was in a ready position that he hadn't even mastered using yet. The girl was truly probably more skilled than himself if she was using that position.

Raph was shocked when he was suddenly surrounded by smoke. But he stopped moving when he felt a blade at his neck.

Leo watched as the smoke cleared to reveal the girl behind his brother, holding her sword at his throat.

With a smirk on her face, Karai asked, "Do you yield?"

Raph growled but said, "Yeah, I yield."

With a smile Karai released the turtle. "As I said, neither of you fights as well as a girl yet." She walked over to the edge of the roof. "Well it's been fun, but I've been out too late already. Toodles," she added as she stepped up onto the edge of the roof.

"Wait," Leo called. "Who are you?"

The girl smirked at them. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she said, right before she jumped off the roof.

The two turtles ran to the edge, only to find that the girl had disappeared.

"Well that was interesting," Leo said, looking over at his brother.

Raph snorted. "Interesting? I had my shell handed to me, and all you can say is interesting?"

Leo smirked. "She didn't hurt you did she?"

Raph scowled at his brother, but declined to answer. "Come on, let's head back to the lair."

Leo chuckled. "I thought you wanted to explore some more?"

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Karai smiled as she entered her room. Meeting the two humanoid turtle creatures had been fun, as had using her training.

Idly, she wondered if she'd see them again.

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Sirius and Remus walked down the streets of New York. After a shower, haircut, a few good meal and nights of sleep, and a custom tailored outfit had made sure that he was hardly recognizable as the man that escaped Azkaban.

"So any idea's about where to start looking?" Sirius asked.

Remus smiled as he spotted a newspaper stand. "I've always found that a good place to start is the news."

"The news?" Sirius asked. "The prophet is hardly accurate in case you've forgotten."

"Yes," Remus said as he picked out a couple of papers, and one or tabloids from the stand. "But in the muggle world, especially here in America, the paper is much more accurate. And sometimes, if examine the articles carefully, you can find a hint of what your looking for."

After paying for the papers, they found a small cafe' and ordered coffee. Remus then handed Sirius a couple papers. "Start looking," he ordered.

Sirius sighed, but began to look through the papers. After fifteen minutes, he spoke up, "Moony?"

"Yes Padfoot?"

Sirius sat a paper down in front of him, one with a picture of an Asian man and a young girl. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but does that girl have a lightning-bolt scar on her forehead."

Remus picked up the paper. "Yes she does. What section is this?"

"The lifestyle section. Apparently Oroku Saki, a wealthy businessman, held a birthday party for his adopted daughter Oroku Karai. And one of the reporters was able to get inside. Remus, her birthday was the same day as Harley's, plus she appears to have the scar on her forehead."

Remus smiled. "It looks like we may have found her." He then frowned. "But how are we going to get to her?"

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