Ahhh! I'm so sorry this update it so late! I actually had half of the chapter written in March, but I got writers block, and then had to focus on AP's and two extremely stressful, long papers at the same time. Actually, I finally turned in the final draft for one of them yesterday, and the final draft for the second one is due in two weeks, so sorry if my update schedule is kind of terrible during that time. I will try to have another chapter out soon, but like for this one, I don't want to give you half-baked chapters. Also, this next chapter has parts from the book at the end, but I took some stuff out and put some stuff in, so it's still important to read to catch some details. I tried to change it up enough that it wasn't straight copying.

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or Harry Potter.

Chapter 10

The next morning, the golden trio were acting oddly subdued. They ate their breakfast in silence, with Ron even pushing his sausage around his plate before scarfing it down. Hermione had retreated back in her books now more than ever. Harry glanced up to the staff table, and froze when he locked eyes with a certain ninja. Sasuke's one visible eye burrowed into his own, made even more ominous by the shinobi's impassive face. For a quick second, Harry swore he caught a flash of red before he ripped his gaze back to his plate. He flinch as a hand was placed on his own.

"You alright Harry?" Hermione asked, her brows furrowed in concern. Ron had stopped eating and was staring at him with eyes widened slightly.

"Blimey mate, calm down." Harry realized he was panting. He took a deep breath in and calmed his racing heart.

"Yeah, I'm okay now." Ron glanced up at the staff table as well, but the shinobi were all either wrapped in conversation or eating in silence.

"Do you reckon they know?" He asked, but jerked his hands up in surrender at Hermione's face.

"Do you remember the first day? Naruto said he could hear us from the table!"

"Okay, okay! Blimey Hermione. I get it. Later." Hermione shot him one last warning glare before returning to her book.

"What are you reading?" Harry asked hesitantly. Ron shot him a glance that said 'don't get her started!' Instead of answering, their friend raised her book so they could see the title. The History of the Elemental Nations. It was a surprisingly thin book.

"Really 'Mione?" Ron asked. The girl rolled her eyes and began packing up.

"Come on. We can talk about this later. We're going to be late for class." They nodded and followed her out, Ron scooping up one more mouthful of eggs.

After breakfast, all of the guards met up in team seven's room. When the other two teams entered, they found new doorways had appeared, leading to two other rooms laid out similarly to the original room. They explored a bit and found that each of the other rooms also led to the hallway themselves, protected by paintings of their own Kage's. Naruto and Temari stared at the painting of Gaara, their eyes glued to his frowning face, before suddenly doubling over in laughter.

"Oh! Kami!" Temari choked out in between breaths.

"How are you liking your new friends Gaara?" Naruto laughed. The other paintings had taken interest in their new neighbor, and had made their way towards him. Currently, he was being squashed against the ample chests of a couple women, and a small knight on a horse was poking him in the arm with a javelin. The pale green eye lined eyes glared out at the hysteric pair.

"I hate friends." He ground out in his deep monotonous voice, only succeeding in causing more laughter. Sakura poked her head out of the painting-door.

"Be quiet, would ya!" She reprimanded, then caught a glance at the young Kazekage's dilemma. She covered her mouth, but failed to contain her laughter. Before Gaara's glare could center on her, she collapsed back through the entrance. Apparently, once inside, she let loose, as they could hear her out in the hall. Temari wiped her eyes and began to calm down, and soon Naruto calmed down as well. They went back into the room for their meeting, meeting up with the rest of the guards, who had finished settling in. They paid no attention to the growls of anger coming from the Kazekage.

They went back to team sevens room, and settled into comfortable positions.

"So, first things first. Have you two gotten over your differences last night?" Maki asked, staring pointedly at Sasuke and Kiyoi. Sasuke fixed her with his impassive face, and she quickly looked at Kiyoi, who stared at the floor.

"I will be able to complete this mission with my full ability." The Cloud ninja vowed, finally looking at her. He pointedly avoided looking at Sasuke. Maki sighed. Well, at least it was better than nothing. Samui turned to Sakura.

"And Kiyoi is fully healed?" Sakura nodded.

"He still has a few flesh wounds, but nothing life threatening or even debilitating." Sen side glanced her.

"If Sakura was the one tending him, then no doubt he's all better." Sakura blushed, but Sen continued, turning her entire body to face her.

"I think we took the chunin exams together. My team ran into team Gai and were defeated, but I wish we could've ran into each other at some point." She smiled and Sakura blushed some more, smiling back.

"Thanks! I would've liked to run into you as well! I hope we can find a time to get to know each other more during this mission." She turned to the rest of the group. "That goes for everyone. I know most of you, but it was during a time of war and hostility, and situations were different. This is likely one of the first major missions in which teams from three different villages are working together since the war, and I think it would be in the best interest of all of us and our villages to get along and make friends." There were a few moments of silence before Naruto jumped in.

"Yeah! What she said, but in less diplomatic terms! And just so everyone knows, I don't hold blame on anyone for doing something bad to me in the past. I also hope that everyone else can settle their issues with one another in more peaceful ways than fighting, although we do need to find a time and place to continue training." He trailed off, lost in his own mind. Sasuke nudged him in the side.

"Dobe, I don't need you to fight my own battles for me." Naruto grinned at him uncaringly, and Sasuke looked away.

"Anyway, what happened with those three fourth years you mentioned earlier?" Temari asked. Sasuke nodded.

"While I Kiyoi and I battled last night, I thought I sensed the presence of others watching, but it seemed to be muffled somehow. Naruto and I did some investigating later, and our best guess was it was Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger. They meant no ill intent, just the usual curiosity they and the other students display normally. I am sure all of you also experienced this at your own schools." Heads nodded, and he let Sakura take over.

"Be careful around those three though. While I'm sure most of you have heard your own fair share about Harry, Hermione is one of the brightest witches in the school and also the most curious. No doubt it was her idea to spy on us last night, aided by the penchant for mischief influenced by Harry and Ron. Other than that, they are rather nice students, as are many of the students here." Everyone nodded. Naruto finished off the report for Hogwarts.

"I'm not sure how they do things at your schools, but at Hogwarts the students are divided into four Houses…" He explained the system at Hogwarts, and who was friendlier and who were the people to look out for. "I also want to warn you about a couple professors. Moody, the professor of Defense against the Dark Arts has a magical eye that can see through solid objects and 360 degrees. We did background checks of all the professors and his seemed rather impressive, but there is something about him that seems...off. Snape, the potions professor in also vouched for by Professor Dumbledore, even more so than Moody, but he's very strict, biased towards his House, and even mean to students of the other Houses. Don't interfere with him unless the circumstance is necessary. Oh yeah! And the Weasley twins are famous around here for their pranks, so be wary." He blinked as his eyes roamed the deadpanning faces of the shinobi before him. "What?" Temari surged forward and grabbed him by his shirt, startling him.

"Who are you and where has the real irresponsible, bratty, prankster, annoying Naruto gone!" She demanded. Behind her, everyone except Sasuke, and Sakura nodded their heads. Sakura just giggled and watched on. Naruto waved his arms in surrender.

"I'm me! I'm me!" Temari narrowed her eyes, but then let go of him.

"It's true, it's really him." Sakura assured them, still grinning. "He's the captain of the team, so he's been doing a lot of paperwork and decision making since we've been here, so I think he's slowing becoming more responsible." Naruto nodded vigorously.

"Yep! See? I'm still the real me, just more mature!" Sakura lightly punched him on the head(well, lightly for her. He still slammed against the floor).

"Idiot! I said slowly becoming more responsible! I didn't say anything about you being more mature!"

"Owwww!..." The other ninja exchanged glances, then burst out laughing.

After classes the golden trio made their way down to the library, trying to avoid any of the guards. When they finally got there, they scurried over to the farthest and most concealed table to talk.

"So...what do you think?" Ron asked. The boys turned to Hermione, who was already taking out a notebook and leafing through it.

"Well, I've been keeping note of everything odd about them since they've been here, and any other details we've managed to find out." Harry coughed into his hand, thinking that some stronger words could have been used to describe their investigative process. Hermione continued. "So first, they are rather young, only a year older than the seventh years. Despite their assurances they are talented, they haven't displayed too much and aren't wizards." Ron interjected.

"Yeah, how could they defend us all from anything if they aren't wizards?" Hermione nodded.

"That brings me to the next point. There are only three of them. Well, really there's nine of them now, but they said they were sufficient with only the three of them. Then, apparently they are among the best in their village, which considering their age is rather unlikely. Naruto is the captain, despite him seeming the least serious and he seems to be everywhere in the castle; Sakura is a medic who heals with glowing green hands and is apparently extremely strong(though we have yet to see exactly how strong); and Sasuke is the most anti-social and mysterious one, who apparently has no arm. Judging from the other shinobi's reactions when they first met in the great hall, I've deduced that something happened in the past with Sasuke-something bad. Though the tense and negative atmosphere at dinner could have been mainly due to village rivalries, I highly doubt it. Nearly everyone seemed on edge because of Sasuke, yet they treated Naruto and Sakura with respect and familiarity. Except for Omoi, thought that seems to merely be his personality. Then, when we," she lowered her voice, "spied on them last night, I tried to piece together some information. The were talking as if Sasuke had some dark past where he did bad things, specifically to Kiyoi. He called him a monster, then said something about Sasuke being some sort of hero. Naruto also stuck up for him and is obviously quite close with Sasuke, as is Sakura, and it seems Sasuke is attempting to repent for his actions. Obviously they are all rather strong, seeing those craters, but Sasuke is stronger than Kiyoi. Extremely strong. Kiyoi called him...a second generation legendary sanin, I believe." Hermione took a deep breath and then let it out again. Harry and Ron stared at her.

"What?" She asked defensively. They shook their heads.

"Um...bloody hell, 'Mione! That was both bloody brilliant and...I don't know the word for it. That was like you were barfing up information!" Hermione glared at Ron, who suddenly shrunk, waving his arms in surrender. Harry intervened.

"Hermione, what you came up with was great, but what are you trying to accomplish with everything?" Hermione's cheeks turned pink.

"Umm...well, y-you know...they seem rather suspicious and all...and they could put us in even more danger...and- oh I don't know, Harry!" She burst out.

"Your investigative work is quite impressive, Granger-san." The three spun around but saw no one. When they turned back, they nearly leaped in the air. Temari was leaning back in the fourth chair at their table, watching their reactions with calm amusement.

"Wh-what are you doing here?!" Ron squeaked out. She barked a laugh and leaned in.

"Oh, I was listening in on a very interesting report. I must say, Granger-san, with the right training, you would make an excellent shinobi." The three calmed their breathing enough, but they were all still on edge. Hermione turned pink again, but managed to try and squeeze more information out of the guard.

"You're Temari, right?" The ninja nodded. "What do you mean I would be an excellent shinobi?"

"Well, you are very intelligent and an amazing information gatherer." The boys knew that although Hermione soaked up the praise, she was already soaking up the new information about shinobi's.

"How...how do you all know each other?" Harry asked. "I mean, uh, it seemed all of you knew each other but you're from other villages, right?" Temari rolled her eyes.

"Nice try, even though I heard everything you were just whispering about." The three gulped. "It is true we are all from different villages, but that doesn't mean we haven't interacted before. And not all of us know each other- I just happen to be closer to Sakura and Naruto because we met a while ago and became close friends, and also thanks to mutual friends." It could have been the lighting, but her cheeks suddenly seemed a bit pinker than normal. She suddenly stood up from the table. "Well, I believe I should be going now. We have to prepare for the choosing ceremony after all." She winked at them and then flickered into thin air.

Hermione sighed, closing her mouth, her attempt to get more information out of the shinobi thwarted.

"Well, that was no help at all," Ron stated. His friends nodded in agreement.

"Come on, it's almost time for dinner to start, and then after, we have the choosing." Harry reminded them.

"You guys go along; I'm going to stay here and learn what I can from this book." Hermione waved her hand at them, her nose already stuck in her book. The boys rolled their eyes and then headed out of the library.

It was finally the time of the choosing ceremony from the Goblet of Fire. Naruto was still feeling a little sick from the rich food he'd stuffed down his throat during the feast. His face must have been a little green because Sakura rolled her eyes at him and then discreetly channeled a bit of healing chakra into him.

"Can't have our most powerful sensory ninja being distracted during the choosing, now can we?" She whispered to him. He gave her a small smile in return, before they both turned back to pay attention to what Dumbledore was saying.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The shinobi tensed in the new light, trying to get their bearings. It didn't take very long. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting...A few people kept checking their watches…

All of the shinobi that had been hired had been in the war, therefore they were a lot more sensitive to waves of energy than the shinobi who had not joined the fight. This automatically gave them some sensory abilities even when they generally wouldn't have had any previously. That's why all of them in the Grand Hall felt the wave of energy that suddenly swelled from the goblet. Naruto- and he knew Sasuke, Maki, and Kiyoi as well (those with the strongest sensory abilities)- felt the surge even stronger than the rest, and was almost left reeling.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped. Naruto rolled his eyes at the theatrics, and he was sure the rest of the shinobi did as well.

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

Viktor turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber. Naruto saw out of the corner of his eyes that Samui motioned for Omoi to follow him.

"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chatting died down, much to Naruto's relief. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

The girl who so resembled a veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

Temari snorted behind Naruto, and when he turned to see what she was snorting at, he mentally sweat dropped. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.

When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, Sen following close behind, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement Naruto could taste it. He smiled, enjoying the light atmosphere, before focussing on the cup once more. The Hogwarts champion next…

And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Naruto made eye contact with Sasuke, and they came to a silent decision. Sakura interpreted their decision and followed after Cedric, glancing back at the rest of them one more time. The applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again. During this time, Naruto and Sasuke briefly signed to the rest of the guards their suspicions. They nodded back, having come up with the same misgivings. Something was about to happen. Naruto, Sasuke, Maki, and Kiyoi stilled, focusing on their sensory abilities, reaching out to cover the entire Grand Hall. Naruto closed his eyes so the students couldn't see the change in his pupils.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real -"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment. A flare of negative emotions drew Naruto's attention. He briefly opened his eyes to try and catch the offender- it came from the staff table. Now just who was it! He continued to try and narrow down the flare to determine the specific person.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment.

He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. Everyone excluding the shinobi. Temari and Samui had caught on and turned their attention to the staff table as well, hoping to find clues in their posture and facial expressions.

And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out -

"Harry Potter."

For that moment, Harry couldn't do anything. Couldn't feel, think, or move. He was too shocked.

Suddenly, he had a weird impulse to look up towards the guards. His eyes drifted away from Dumbledore and suddenly he caught eye contact with Naruto. Another type of shock rippled through Harry's body- this time arousing every sense in his body as adrenaline pumped through his veins.

The guard's eyes had changed. They were no longer brilliant blue. They were now yellow-pinkish and his pupils had changed to form crosses.

Just what was Naruto?

So, what did y'all think? I hoped the copied section was changed up enough. Review! I take praise and constructive criticism; no flames (although thankfully that hasn't been too much of a problem. Thanks guys!) . Preferably worshipping at my feet :-)

Ttyl! (As a wise *cough* person once told me- never say good bye, especially on text)