Ikazuchi Chapter 8

Disclaimer- I don't want to admit it, that Harry Potter, and Naruto do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners

THIS STORY HAS HAD OVER 6,000 HITS, 29 ALERTS, 36 FAVS, AND 26 C2'S!!!!

I'm sorry that it has taken so long. I've had a lot of things to do lately. I wrote most of this story in two days, yesterday, and the day before that. Long breaks rock. Thanks for reading this, I promise to update as soon as I possibly can! The next chapter (The one after this in any ways), by the way, is going to be all at Konoha. I'm currently writing it. This chapter was just too long to keep the two together. We're going to have some fuuuuun!

And to answer a question that was asked of me, yes, not only do I read all the reviews I am sent, I try to reply to them, and I use them in my writing.

ALSO!!! I made Harry a girl because of one specific factor. At first she was a guy, but after I posted the first chapter I learned that with the pairing I wanted, it would be a guyxguy thing. I have nothing against gays, I just don't personally believe in it, and since I can't understand it, I can't really write it. Because of this, I was forced to change Harry's gender. Nothing against any gay people, I swear!

IMPORTANT NEWS!!!! I AM LOOKING FOR AN EDITOR!!!!

Chan – Little; It's usually used for little girls, close female friends, and as an insult to males.

Kun – Close male friends. You do not address females with this suffix unless you are demeaning and insulting them. Thank you for this correction Chosha Kurenai. I literally copied it from some web page instead of taking the time to write it. Then I literally just copied it from the last chapter and so on… Thank you again!

Sensei – Teacher

Sama – Term of great respect

Nii-san– Older brother.

Okaa-san – Mother

Ojii-san – Grandpa; Old Man

Obaa-san – Grandma; Old Hag

(O)nii-san – Older Brother

(O)tou-san – Papa; Father

Otouto-san – Little Brother

Imouto-san – Little Sister


Kakashi – age 24

Itachi – age 19

Iruka – age 23

Kiyoko – age 15

Naruto – age 12

Dumbledore, Snape, and Minerva stumbled slightly as the phoenix flame that transported them to where ever they were at, dissipated. Dumbledore righted himself effortlessly, and looked up. He blinked at the sight of an old man in robes and an odd hat sitting behind the desk a few feet away. He opened his mouth to speak to man and froze as puffs of smoke filled the air. The air in his lungs escaped as he hit the ground hard, his arms held behind his back, and a knee pressing into his back.

The old Headmaster grunted slightly. "What in the world?" His face was slammed to the floor, and he turned his head to the side quickly to avoid having his nose broken. He stared into his Deputy Headmistress's face, where she was lying, frightened, but obviously handled with more consideration. Fawkes squawked in pure indignation, before he found his wings, claws, and beak bound.

Snapes voice cut through the air silkily. "So, dear Headmaster, are you going to tell them why we are here, or are we just going to lay here?"

The sarcasm went straight over the old fool's head. "Why, what a wonderful idea!" he said cheerfully. He continued. "Now, who is in charge here?"

Snape dropped his head against the floor slightly, and Minerva closed her eyes in consternation. Dumbledore continued to smile happily, even as he ignored the Potion Master's comment of, "Even I could have done that…"

The man behind the desk finally spoke in English. "Am I correct in assuming that you are from the Outside?"

Minerva sighed slightly. "The Outside?" There was a loud whoosh of air as her captor pressed her more firmly into the ground. She winced, partly from the pain, and partly from the fear that her old body would never be the same.

The man at the desk said something in an obviously foreign language, and the ones holding the three Hogwarts professors hauled them to their feet. Minerva stumbled, her body clearly protesting the movement.

Snapes eyes widened. 'Japanese?'

The three captives got their first glimpse of their captors. There were five of them. One stood in a guarding position in front of the old mans desk, while the remaining four held the wizards, and the phoenix, captive. Snape stiffened at the sight of black cloaks and masks, before relaxing once he realized that the masks were in the shape of animals. The three raised an eyebrow at the strange swords the one guarding the desk held, and the white cloak he wore. Minerva curled her lips slightly at the sight of a swirling tattoo that they all had on their arms.

Snapes eyes narrowed. 'Must be a way to tell rank,' he thought to himself. 'The tattoo's must be some way to tell what group they're in, while the white cloak must signify some type of captain. The black tattoo with the red outline must be a rank… I suppose the masks are to be able to tell them apart…' His thoughts tapered off as he waited for some action.

The old man finally spoke.

"I am Sarutobi, the Hokage of Konohagekure. Who are you, and why are you here?"

Dumbledore smiled cheerfully. "I have absolutely no idea."

The white cloaked guard in front of him snarled, and punched him harshly in the stomach. "Watch your attitude, old fool!"

Snape snorted. "Guess they won't take your crap, will they Albus?"

Dumbledore wheezed and ignored Snape. "I apologize. My name is–" He was punched again. "We don't care who you are, why are you here?"

A female voice interrupted whatever answers he might have given. "What's going on here?"

The one guarding the Hokage's desk snapped into attention, his hand over his heart. "Fox-sama! Weasel-sama! I thought you were both on a three day mission?" They saluted, and the three teachers were soon able to see the two who the others seemed to respect so much. Minerva swallowed a gasp of absolute shock.

Two intimidating figures wearing white cloaks and crimson tattoo's stood side by side, one easily dwarfing the other, while eight more of the strange black-cloaked warriors and a large black wolf stood behind them.

The taller of the two was a male wearing a mask that appeared to be some sort of snarling rodent, obviously a weasel from what the others had said. His skin was incredibly pale, almost vampiric, and her was incredibly muscular and fit. He had soft, spiky black hair that almost touched his shoulders, and, through the eyeholes of the mask, crimson eyes were easily seen. Crimson eyes that were currently glaring at them. Snape shuddered as a memory of his torture at the hand of his Lord, flashed through his mind. He quickly pushed he picture away in a practiced occlumenced movement.

Beside the man, with his arm wrapped around her middle, was a short girl. Slender, and wearing the uniform that the rest were wearing, she stood out purely for her face. With soft creamy skin, she had long black curly hair that fell in waves down her back, offsetting her pale skin even more. Thin feral emerald pools stood out from her Fox mask, which was far more amazing then the others around her. While the others around her had crimson swirls decorating their mask, hers had thick black whiskers, and three thin crimson stripes adorning each cheek. Around her neck was a black silk collar with gold studs, and a beautiful gold ring hung from it.

The man, Weasel, nodded in acknowledgement at the masked warrior's remark. "We were sent on the mission. We managed to get there at full speed after half a day, and exterminated the target easily. We fled far enough, before settling down for the night. We spent the past day coming here. Mission accomplished."

Minerva looked sickened at the thought of such easy brutality.

The woman, Fox, seemed to tire at the looks the three teachers were covering her with. She spoke again. "I said, what's going on here?"

The first white-cloaked warrior, (Who had a cat mask) spoke again. "Fox-sama, these intruders appeared in a column of flame with this bird, and started to attack the Hokage. We were about to start interrogating them, when you appeared."

The woman nodded in approval. "Good work. But next time, remember not to be so soft on them. They attacked our Hokage. Don't just ask. Threaten to behead them with a dull shuriken, and then actually do it when they hesitate." Cat nodded enthusiastically, apparently happy about getting advice from someone of so high a rank, while Snape and Dumbledore paled. Instead of paling like her peers, Minerva turned a horrible shade of puce. "Still, good work. Dismissed!"

The captives stumbled as they were released when the five saluted and vanished in a puff of smoke. Dumbledore tried to make peace with the two people obviously in power. "I apologize, but we weren't–" He cut off his sentence when he found himself pinned to the wall by both the man, and the large wolf. The white cloaked male spoke in a cold deep voice. "I don't believe telling you that you could speak yet. Stay silent, or die."

Dumbledore stared at the crimson eyes glaring down at him and nodded, trembling slightly. The Weasel mask nodded, before it's owner stepped back.

Fawkes squaked in indignation, before falling silent at another of the masked man's glares. The Phoenix primly fluttered to the desk, and perched on top, beak high in the air.

Dumbledore glared at the masked-mans back, and found himself gasping for air as the wolf pinning him to the wall increased her pressure. Weasel turned towards Snape. "You, speak."

Snape bowed slightly. "My name is Severus Snape, or, I believe in your language, Snape Severus." Dumbledore sent him a slightly shocked look. "Oh don't give me that look Albus, it's obvious that they were speaking Japanese. How did I know? Simple." He snorted slightly. "I'm observant." He turned once again to the man who now seemed to be giving off a feeling of amusement. "Like I said, I am Severus Snape, and this is Minerva McGonagall, and Albus Dumbledore."

Fox gave an impression of having raised an eyebrow. "Such odd names… Now why are you here from the Outside?"

Snape looked at her in confusing. "I don't know what you're talking about when you say Outside. We are professors from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am the Potions Master, Minerva is the Transfiguration teacher and Deputy Headmistress, while Albus is the Headmaster. We came because we were searching for a girl that was lost. Fifteen years ago, a man who I was spying upon came across a prophecy that spoke of his downfall. Incredibly evil and wanting to conquer the world, he decided to stop the prophecy from possibly coming to past."

He ignored the murmur of, "What else is new," when he spoke of conquering the world and continued. "He came to a certain house to murder its occupants. The owners of the house were part of a secret group called the Order of Phoenix, which was based upon an effort to fight the Dark Lord. He murdered the parents, and when he sent a spell to murder the child, something happened and he was destroyed. The baby girl, named Arianna Potter, disappeared with only the clue of an intricate burn mark with silver strands fading above it. Since that time, we have been searching for her, and finally found a clue. We asked Fawkes, the phoenix, the transport us to where she was, and we appeared here. Albus was about to speak to your, Hokage," He stumbled over the word, "when we were pinned down." He shrugged. "Then you appeared." He looked at the man shrewdly. "I have to give my commends. No matter how painful, they did very well with their promptness."

Weasel gave a sarcastic bow of thanks. "Why thank you," he answered dryly, "That comment just made the highlight of my day."

The woman who he had been holding onto before rolled her eyes slightly. "Why would you think that you would find the girl here? And why would you not have given up?"

Minerva spoke up, her eyes shimmering with tears. "I can't say the same with Albus," She sent a watery glare towards the aforementioned man, "but Severus and I made an oath with Lily, her mother, swearing that we would protect her daughter. It almost broke us when she vanished. She was like the granddaughter I never had, and Severus almost believed her his Goddaughter, or daughter. I would do anything to find her again. We thought that Fawkes would flame us to wherever she was." She gave a sad shrug. "Obviously that failed.

The Hokage, who had been staying silent, spoke up. "No other reasons why you did not give up? Most would have given up after fifteen years of not finding her."

Snape spoke up. "Normally, we would agree. However this is different. Not only is this the Girl-Who-Lived, a silly name derived from her being the only one to survive the spell that was placed upon her, but she is a witch. She has magic in her, and if that magic is not trained or harnessed properly, dangerous things could happen. People could die from the magical accidents that could occur."

One of the other eight warriors spoke up. "Why did you not use your, Phoenix I believe you called it, to come here before?"

Dumbledore spoke. "I believe I am the only one who can answer that." He was given a glare for his efforts, and the wolf pinning him to the wall snarled dangerously. He ignored them with effort and continued to speak. "Fawkes needed a signal to hone in on. We sent numerous letters, but none of them were delivered. It was only when I sent a magically enhanced owl that the letter went through, and Fawkes was able to get the signal necessary."

Fox jerked slightly. "Hold on, an owl letter? With a strange emblem? The one that I know Ibiki sent back with a trap even though he was trying to hide it from me? That letter?"

Albus looked up hopefully. "You know who received it?"

"I received it."

Albus froze in shock as his dreams of an abused, easily manipulated orphan were single handedly destroyed by what seemed as a hardened killer. He finally gathered his wits together. "I don't believe it! Prove it!"

"How?"

"Remove your mask! Arianna Potter would obviously resemble Lily and James."

Fox looked towards the Hokage, who had been sitting patiently, questioningly. He nodded, and spoke. "You and Weasel may remove your masks and introduce yourselves, properly this time."

The tense and cold atmosphere of an interrogation receded immediately at the command. Snape breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that they were now going to be treated more like guests then captives.

The woman nodded, before turning to the wolf, still pinning the Headmaster to the wall. "Down Akina."

The wolf grunted, and lowered herself to all fours before speaking. Snape did a double-take. Speaking? Obviously it was purely magical… "Be that way Fox. See if I talk to you again."

"And see if I let you eat our enemies again."

"Don't be cruel."

"You want to see how cruel I can get?"

"Fox, stop stalling and get on with it."

Slowly both the woman and the man removed their masks. All the professors gaped in shock. Snape stared at both, dazed from his shock. 'How could a man be described as beautiful?' His mind froze at that thought.

They were as beautiful as Snape had though. The man had an elegant, almost feminine face framed by dark hair, crimson eyes, and high cheekbones. His eyes not only seemed intimidating and feral, but also brought forward the sense of cold calculation. But the woman… She was the one who captured their attention purely for her beauty.

Her emerald feral eyes seemed to peer through their souls, and brought to mind the thought of barely restrained passion. Set in a thin, purely feminine face, she had high elegant cheekbones like her peer. Crimson slashes that matched her mask seemed to spring from underneath her ear and jaw. While nothing else about her petite body changed, her whole outfit now seemed to define her beauty, instead of hide it. Obvious scars ran down her arms and neck, yet, between her eyes, on her forehead, lay a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt, a light mark almost hidden against her pale skin and dark hair. While obviously different then expected, she was obviously the daughter of the deceased Lily and James Potter.

She, being the long lost daughter of Lily and James Potter, glared at them in annoyance. "Happy yet? Good."

The man beside her, Weasel, smirked at her remark before sliding his arm around her waist possessively. He began to speak in that cold voice devoid of all emotion. "Allow me to introduce ourselves. We are Shinobi, and one of the highest ranks. We," He gestured to himself and the other robed warriors behind him, "are two of the many teams of the Anbu. Fox and I are the captains of both teams. I am Uchiha Itachi, or in your language, Itachi Uchiha, and this is Fox, also known as Morino-Inuzuka-Hyuuga-Kazama Kiyoko," his voice softened marginally. "My fiancée."

Minerva stumbled back slightly in shock. "Fiancée? She is only fifteen!"

The Hokage laughed softly. "It is incredibly dangerous here, so people tend to marry incredibly young. Fifteen is the age most people are actually engaged. Why, I was married when I turned fifteen!"

Kiyoko crinkled her nose slightly. "Yea, and how many years ago was this now? Eighty? Ninety? A hundred?"

Sarutobi glared at her. "Watch yourself, or I might have you doing D rank missions for a year!"

Kiyoko flipped her hair slightly, before hugging Itachi close. "Don't be foolish. You can't do that. If I were doing D rank missions, there wouldn't be enough for the Genins. Besides, you can't demote your personal guard."

Akina gave a bark of laughter. "Yes he can, he's done it before."

Kiyoko wagged her finger at her companion. "Ah yes, but you forget the fact that I had my revenge."

Itachi interrupted Akina before she could answer. "As amusing as this is, we need to stay on topic."

Dumbledore smiled grandfatherly at her. "Arianna, my girl! How wonderful it is to–" A whoosh of air escaped his lungs as he was punched in the stomach for a fourth time.

"Don't call me Arianna, nor 'Your girl'. I don't know you, and I don't want to know you. And I don't need to go to this school of yours, as I am perfectly trained in my Chakra."

Snape tried to hide his smirk at the sight of the gasping Headmaster on the floor. "What do you mean, Chakra? And what did you mean earlier when you spoke of the Outside?"

"Chakra is what you call magic, only more potent, if the records are correct. Byakugan!" Snape swallowed a choke, and Minerva stumbled back as Kiyoko's eyes, iris, pupil and sclera, all turned a bright pool of emerald, and as the veins about the eye bulged. "Yes… It's as it is recorded. Wizards are able to use Chakra, which is what you call magic. However, most of your Chakra points are closed, so you are much weaker then shinobi. Oddly enough, it's only the chakra points in one of your hands that remain open."

Minerva nodded at that explanation. "It makes sense. We use wands to harness magic."

One of the ninja waiting for a decision concerning their leaders snorted. "Wand-waving and everything. Weaklings. Exactly like those stories we're told at bedtime."

Snape smirked in agreement. "Some of us are able to use our hands only, but it is significantly harder. It is believed by the " he sneered the word, "general populace that it is impossible. Back to my question. I am currently researching a way for wizards to not be forced to use a tool. What do you mean by Outside?"

Sarutobi interrupted. "I believe I can answer that. You see, we are currently in the Elemental countries, in the Land of Fire, in the ninja village of Konoha. The Elemental Countries are in believed to be a pocket universe, a rip in the fabric of reality if you will, located in what I believe you call the Bermuda Triangle." He interpreted the looks sent to him by his captains easily. "Don't look at me like that, I dug it all out from the Hokage archives."

Kiyoko snorted. "Amazing… Seeing how the Hokage archives are still a mess. I suppose we now know who made it." Akina snickered.

Sarutobi looked down his nose at her in mock annoyance. "As I was saying, Konoha is a pocket universe in a rip of the fabric of time and reality. Time moves much faster there, then here. There is, I believe a text that I read that might explain the owl problems. It spoke of how a great firebird would appear in a pillar of flame, bearing those of Wands to come and plead for help. The text then went on a great spiel about the weakness of the wizards, and how pathetic they were, before it continued to something useful. It then spoke about how in times of great need, as I mentioned, wizards would come and hire Shinobi to come and do certain missions. Most of the missions were, I believe I should mention, B rank and above. Anything below was considered an insult, and the perpetrator was promptly killed."

Dumbledore gulped.

Akina stared at the man blankly before questioning parts of the sudden lecture. "If only firebirds could come here, then how did that owl come?"

"It was a magically enhanced owl, as the Hogwarts Headmaster stated."

"Ah…"

Minerva stared at him blankly. "What do you mean, B rank?"

"The Shinobi system is divided into several groups. From lowest to highest, they are; Civilian, Academy Student, Genin, Chuunin, Tokubetsu Jounin, Jounin, Anbu, Hokage, and Sannin. Hokage is the title for the leader of the village, who tends to be the strongest. There are only three Sannin at a time, and one was known as the Snake Sannin."

He spat out the word, and Kiyoko continued the explanation. "The Slug Sannin and the Toad Sannin were the other two. Toad beats Slug beats Snake and back to the beginning. It's supposed to show that while all three have their strengths and weakness's, all three make up a whole and are, in the end equal."

Snape blinked. "That's amazingly fair."

Kiyoko smirked. "The ranks refer to the level of missions, D rank being the lowest. D rank missions are lowly menial tasks like cleaning up garbage, walking pets, and doing other such tasks that generally help promote teamwork but occasionally, in my case anyway, destroy it. When we mess up, ninja of any level tend to be punished with D rank missions for periods of time." She smirked. "Not me, as I tend to get my revenge."

Sarutobi glared at her. "Continue."

She bristled at his tone. "Ubi fans and dancing girls!"

He fells silent and she continued. "The highest class is believed to be S class, but there is the unspecified class above it. That class is only for the most detrimental mission that affects the safety and lives of all in the Ninja village, Fire country, or our allied countries as a whole. You don't really need to understand the specifics seeing as you are not Konoha Shinobi."

Minerva nodded in understanding. "It's amazingly straightforward."

"Indeed it is."

Dumbledore interrupted the conversation, having completed the complicated process of deciding that Kiyoko, or Arianna as he insisted on calling her, was too hard to manipulate face to face. "What will it cost for me to hire Arianna to come and guard my school?"

"How dangerous is it? And she did ask to be called Kiyoko, by the way. You would be forced to hire both Kiyoko and Itachi, as Hyuuga tradition dictates that I cannot separate the two of them from each other for longer then a week or two."

Itachi and Kiyoko snorted simultaneously at the straight-faced lie.

"It would be incredibly dangerous, admittedly, as Lord Voldemort has returned, and has started sending his armies towards Hogwarts."

"Lord Voldemort?"

Snape interrupted. "The man who tried to kill Kiyoko when she was a baby."

"Ahh…"

Itachi's eyes suddenly gleamed. He pulled out a small gold necklace that held a shard of a small stone embedded in the medallion from his pocket, and held it out for them to see. "Do you have any stones like this in your world?"

Kiyoko squealed. "That's so pretty! Where did you get something like that?!"

Itachi smirked at her fondly. "I actually found it when I was a child on a mission. I showed it to my sensei because its beauty impressed me, and I was told of its significance. I have kept it ever since then, and I mounted it on a medallion a little while ago."

The others leaned forward to see the small blue stone, attempting to ignore the loving byplay. Snape shook his head. "I don't recognize it. But then again, unless it's useful in Potions, I never saw the use of remembering the names, uses, and appearances of anything."

Dumbledore shook his head in agreement. "I have never in all my many years seen such a stone as this one."

"I have. I currently own two."

Both of the wizards almost got whiplash as they looked at Minerva, who blushed. "When I was younger I was obsessed with gemstones, and diamonds and such. Much like the other girls now that I think of it. The other girls and myself did a large research so that we could decide on what stones our future dream wedding ring would have. This stone was actually the one I chose. Magical stones were so fascinating to me at the time. It's actually nameless to us, us being both the magical world, and the non-magical world. It's a rare stone, but there are around 40 of the stones floating around for those rich people to grab when they wish to show off their prestige. One of these stones could buy you a place in the Malfoy and Potter vaults combined." There was silence as the information was absorbed.

Itachi ignored her as he clasped the medallion onto the collar, behind the ring. He smirked at Kiyoko and leaned close to her ear. "Cute. Especially with the squeal yesterday about how you were going to marry me."

Kiyoko turned crimson. "I thought only Ibiki saw that!!!" Ibiki would never let her live it down, especially after all those years trying to feminize her. And now, apparently, her team never would either.

He smirked and kissed the tip of her ear slightly. "I followed you home to make sure you got there safely."

Kiyoko melted into his arms, and the two assembled teams behind them "aww"ed at the cuteness of the scene. They were ignored.

Sarutobi, (Who had, once again, been ignoring the by-play), smirked suddenly. "Pay us two of these stones, and I will send Kiyoko, Itachi, and Akina on an S class priority mission to protect your school."

Akina started to protest, "Wha–?!"

Dumbledore perked up immediately. "Deal."

Minerva stepped forward and brought out a small sack. She pulled out the two stones. "Like I said, I was wanting those stones for the rings. I sold fifteen years of my transfiguration abilities to the Potters to be able to pay for one of them. I am now, literally, a Potter servant. Anything that a Potter, or a Potter spouse, tells me to do, I must do. The stones were going to be on my wedding ring, but I never got married. It's a small price to pay to be near a Potter again. The Potters gave me the second one for being such a loyal servant. They gave it to me in their will." She handed the stones trustingly to the old Hokage, who nodded at her in understanding. She stepped back and put the sack back into her pocket, before turning to Dumbledore. "Albus, I want a full refund. The school will be paying me back."

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well, very well…"

Behind them, a conversation of a different kind was going on.

"That's not fair! I don't want to go to a school where pathetic children will pull my fur!"

"Suck it up, and shut up."

"I refuse!"

There was a shing of drawn shuriken. "Shut up."

"Bite me!"

"That's your job, puppy."

"Don't call me puppy!"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm superior!"

There was a swish of a katana. "Say that again? I didn't hear you."

"Shutting up."

"Finally."

"That's not nice!"

"Shut up!"

"NEVER!!!"

"Hey Itachi, do you wanna see what the inside of a wolf looks like?"

"WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALOOOONE!!!!" The last word was drawn out to a long howl.

Crash

"Why Akina, it's so obvious!"

"Wha?" There was a momentary pause.

"Your so much fun to bug!" Insert upside down U Eyes, sparkles and flowers

"MEANIE!!!"

"Shut up."

"Sorry Itachi."

There was a pause, then a snicker. "SHUT UP!"

The three foreigners gaped at the odd play by play between the Shinobi. They finally noticed Sarutobi's attempts, and tried to mimic him.

Sarutobi attempted to ignore by-play between wolf and girl, and continued. "There are several stipulations that I should mention though."

Dumbledores eyes gleamed as his attention turned back to the topic at hand, hoping to find a loophole.

"As I mentioned, Itachi goes as well."

"Done."

"They are to be given free reign to do anything they choose to do, and to administer any punishments that they see fit."

Dumbledore frowned slightly. "They must not go overboard, and they must have at least one teacher agree to the punishments if they are higher then removing 15 points. Should the punishment be more severe and the teacher find that the student did not deserve it, the student will be given twice as many points as what was taken, and publicly apologized to."

"I believe that's fair."

"Also, anything I say is to be followed to a 't'. I can overrule anything else that is said."

"That's acceptable. Also, to satisfy your need to know about your future guard, and to allow Kiyoko and Itachi a chance to learn about your school, one of you is to stay here."

Snape frowned, even as Dumbledore fought it, still caught off guard from the quick agreement to his last stipulation. "That's not quite fair is it? They have classes to prepare-"

"-And they can prepare them here. One of you either stays, or there is no contract."

"Minerva could stay. I need Severus to brew some potions, and he is needed as a spy more then Minerva as a Deputy Headmistress."

Kiyoko nodded immediately, having finished tying up Akina. "Agreed." Akina whimpered pathetically from her bound position on the floor.

Dumbledore nodded to Minerva, grabbed Severus, and vanished with Fawkes in a pillar of fire. Minerva stared at the column of vanishing flame for a moment before huffing. "How rude!"

Itachi smirked. "You must agree however with his need to flee from us as quickly as possibly."

Sarutobi smirked. "Yes, I suppose he was wanting to avoid getting punched in the stomach again."

Minerva huffed again. "He's lucky he left so soon. I would transfigured him into a dung beetle had I had the chance! No offence to you of course," she hurried to assure, "But I did not agree to be bartered for!"

One of the Anbu behind Kiyoko laughed silently. Itachi ignored the interruption and nodded at her politely. "None taken. May I ask why you stay with him?"

Minerva stared at him slightly, before twisting her lips in a sad smile. "I must stay with him. You see, it was only until Arianna,-I apologize- Kiyoko vanished that I realized that he was manipulating Severus and I. I still believed at the time that he was doing it for the best but it was only until recently that I learned how deep his manipulations ran. I stayed, even when I suspected him, so that I could help Severus to his freedom, and I could find out things about Ari– I apologize again- Kiyoko."

Kiyoko leaned forward slightly. "Why would Severus need his freedom? Is he a slave? A servant?"

Minerva shook her head. "No. Albus took advantage of Severus's guilt at being a Death Eater, that's the servant of the Dark Lord, and managed to have Severus make an Unbreakable Oath of loyalty. Severus only became a Death Eater because of pressure from his family, his father, and his anger at being rejected by Lily, your mother. Really, it's an oath of silence, and obedience rather then of loyalty. Severus can only escape the Oath through either Albus's death, or his own. Should Severus tell any of Albus's secrets to anyone other then myself, and only after having found it out for myself, he will die. I have to stay to help Severus, he does not deserve the suffering his lot in life has inflicted upon him."

Kiyoko nodded in acceptance of the explanation, her eyes far away in thought. She suddenly smirked. "I suppose Dumbledore will find it harder to manipulate me?"

The group behind her snickered. One of them, a female with a mask of a fish, spoke up. "Yes. Anbu are like that, aren't we? Especially since he only verbally agreed to the contract, and he neglected to sign on the line. After all, Anbu can become very forgetful folk. We forget our promises very quickly."

Another piped up. "Especially since Shinobi are trained to be able to lie to their mothers!"

"Some of us do!"

"You would know that, wouldn't you!"

"Don't talk about my mother like that!"

"I didn't but you did!"

There was a surge of laughter, and Itachi rolled his crimson eyes at the comment. "Anbu 6, replenish your supplies, and put everything in sealing scrolls. We are going to go on a mission in two days, and we don't want any last second packing because they forgot to pack." He glared at a man who had a monkey mask. "A thousand, one fingered pushups, and a training session with Kiyoko and I for the person who's late because they had last second packing to do." There was a group shudder, as Kiyoko and Itachi grinned like a shark who had scented blood. "Anbu 6, Dismissed!"

"Anbu 5, Dismissed!"

The two team saluted in unison, and vanished in large puffs of smoke. Kiyoko coughed slightly, and waved away the smoke. "Stupid smoke. Either that, or leaves, and frankly, both are annoying."

Minerva looked interested. "They can vanish in a swirl of leaves as well?"

Kiyoko smirked. "It's something you learn as a Chuunin traditionally. Itachi learned it in the Academy. The smoke is annoying, as it irritates your lungs, and blinds your sense of sight and smell, but the leaves leave a large mess. I'm currently working on one that will cause you to vanish in a pillar of wind. I'm thinking the intimidation factor will rise greatly."

Sarutobi leaned forward. "I should probably interrupt before you corrupt the woman. Kiyoko, Itachi, bring Minerva," He stumbled over the name slightly, "To your home, and then return for an assassination."

Itachi's attention snapped to the old Hokage. "Who, where, and how."

"I'll leave the how to you, but you are to assassinate a Katenaga Kuro, at the Earth Country borders. I don't care on the how, but you are to blame the death on Rain." He tossed a folder over to Kiyoko, who caught it in a simple practiced movement.

The Deputy Headmistress looked horrified. "How can you be so at ease with murder?!"

Itachi rolled his eyes slightly. "We are the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, or in simplified terms, Anbu. In your language we are the Special Assassination and Tactics Squad. We are trained to kill. The very motto of one of our Anbu groups, is, as directly quoted, "There are no names. There are no feelings... There is no past... There is no future. There is only the mission..." Of course, the Root is always far too extreme, and it was disbanded a little while ago because we believe it's leader meant to take over and destroy Konoha, but that is beyond the point. We are the harbingers of death. We are Anbu. We are death personified. That is who we are."

Kiyoko touched Itachi's shoulder softly, and he subsided with a last glare towards Minerva. She turned back to the shocked woman. "We are trained to kill. Our land is far more dangerous then yours is. In your world, you only have large wars once after many decades have passed. In our world, people die all the time. The Elemental Countries is a blood-filled world. We must to kill to survive. We have not yet achieved that peace that your world has. The Anbu is a group made up of the best, a group that is used as a weapon to combat the enemy in secret, and to protect the village. We are a type of army, or police. It's our way of living."

Minerva subsided slightly, still obviously unhappy with the blatant murder. "I still don't believe it's right…" she muttered under her breath.

"Dismissed."

Kiyoko and Itachi saluted like the others who had left before them, before turning on their heel, and walking through the door. Minerva looked lost. Sarutobi looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Go! Follow them. They will bring you to where you will be sleeping for the next few nights."

Minerva nodded, and started to turn before she paused. "How do you speak English?" She quickly continued when she spotted Sarutobi's slightly confused look. "You say we are in a pocket universe, but you are able to speak English. I thought Severus said you were Japanese."

The Third Hokage smiled in understanding and mild indulgance. "I know how to speak English, because all the records kept in the Hokage archives are in English. To become Hokage, one must learn the language, or they will not know the secrets kept by their predecessors: Secrets that need to be known by one person alone. My Anbu know because they have a jutsu on them. A jutsu would be what you call a spell, by the way. It's a translator jutsu, but it only lasts for three months before it must be renewed. If I recall correctly, the Anbu have around two weeks before they must refresh the jutsu."

Minerva thanked him, before turning and leaving the room, rushing to get to where Itachi and Kiyoko had waited. Behind her, in the room, Sarutobi smirked before smoking on his pipe. "How interesting… How very interesting… I can just see the interesting times that will soon be following this sudden merge of culture…"


I know you don't believe me,

But I feel it must be said,

Reviews are really awesome,

Since with school I'm sick with dread.

My tests are coming up soon,

I must not fail to get that "A"

I'll graduate with honors,

Or flowers on my grave you'll lay.

I've so much work to complete,

And Huckleberry Finn to read (The angst!)…

I've karate, and college, and pets, and home,

I've got enough on my plate to taste!

But I take the time away you see,

From all the stuff I do,

Just to take a moment and write,

And wait for a review.

The (reviews), they really perk me up,

As each add to my sad day,

They cheer me up, and help me write,

It helps in every way.

Flames will help amuse me,

While critics help me laugh,

While, "the story is pwnfull's" helps,

It's not really worth ev'n half.

All I need are some suggestions,

Points that I forgot to fix,

Thoughts about the work I wrote,

And happy thoughts of tricks!

Phrases that may-haps be cute,

And suggestions for the plot,

Reviews are a wonderful world of art,

Or plots would soon be ploots!

So press that lovely button,

Just thank me for the hours,

I spent freezing off my fingers,

…Come on, its not that hard.

It's just a little button,

Tell me you aren't that pathetic…

Heck, you could even thank me for the poem

That I wrote when school was hectic!

Bows Thank you! And don't forget to review!


Also, you might find it interesting, but a bunch of the birthday gifts come into play in the next chapter. Just a little teaser.