A/N: Okay, and so this chapter is when the Naruto Shippuden story line gets fucked up. Why? 'Cause I can. (And because I haven't read the manga much. At all. I read a bit in the beginning and I'm reading it now, but what I know of what happened for 500+ chapters has come from the Naruto wikia and, to be honest, I don't feel like reading into the part that I'm going to mess with and that I know next to nothing about.)
I'm following the HBP story line as closely as possible, and that should be good enough for you :p
And I just realized I forgot to post their pottermore accounts for you all! Sakura: ChaserWolfsbane15066, Naruto: SnitchCastle1735, and Hinata: PurpleAvis1219.
(And I apologize for horribly writing Hagrid's speech patterns.)
Unknown Hero
Tenten
It was completely unexpected. All shinobi from every mission had been recalled. Except Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata.
Tsunade absolutely refused to recall them, even though they were three of the most powerful shinobi in the village and they were sorely needed.
Suna shinobi were on their way as back-up and in the meantime, she and Ino were back-to-back, fending off Oto shinobi and Root members, both under the control of Danzou.
One of Ino's new techniques involved the bell that now hung off the long end of her skirt. Infused with chakra, it created a genjutsu to those who heard it but were unaware of how to cancel it. It wasn't very strong yet and didn't last too long, but it was long enough for Tenten to mow down those caught in it with a barrage of kunai and shuriken.
With both of their best friends gone, they found this new combination to be killer.
But, apparently, not good enough.
Shinobi were still coming at them, a seemingly endless wave that wouldn't relent.
Shino burst past them, bugs fluttering from his jacket with Kiba and Akamaru a few feet behind, taking out opponents rapidly. A stream of sand barely missed them, crushing Oto shinobi in its wake.
Nearly everyone was here. Nearly everyone was fighting for Konoha.
They just hoped that nearly everyone was enough.
Sakura took a seat next to Luna during lunch, noticing how empty the hall seemed.
"Homework," A girl explained, and Sakura noticed it was the same girl from earlier, the girl who sat next to the girl with 'SNEAK' on her forehead. Green eyes narrowed at her before turning back to her lunch, which she nearly stuffed into her mouth.
She knew Draco was in the hall before she sensed the alarms go off, mostly because of hearing Pansy's voice. Apparently, she had just tripped an already nervous first year and laughed to Draco's other friends while he solemnly took his seat.
She watched as Pansy danced around the first year she had just tripped and to a pair that sat off to the side, both taking no interest to what was around them until the girl was in front of them.
"Yes?" One with jet-black hair drawled, her purple nails tapping on her cheek.
Pansy seemed to falter for a second, before visibly getting ready to shriek something. In an instant, the girl who had spoken was on her feet, golden-brown eyes narrowed.
"Oh, I dare you to call me a mudblood, Parkinson." After Pansy thrusted her nose in the air and calmly walked back to her posse, it was Sakura's turn to approach the two.
Except, in her case, she came bearing a smirk and an outstretched hand.
"It's nice to see someone in this place has that nice of a glare. I feel like we could be great friends." Sensing the girl's suspicion, she paused, then sighed. "And while I guess I belong in Ravenclaw, most of them aren't very fun."
The second girl of the pair spoke up. "I saw you half an hour ago, with Malfoy." The dark-haired girl's eyes narrowed.
Sakura's brow raised at her reaction and decided that, since Draco was well within hearing range and she wanted to befriend both of them, she would play it off. "He was just interested in hearing about Japan." She shrugged, and the two girls looked at each other before the tan, modelesque one grinned up at her.
"Well, sweetie, it's nice to meet you. I'm Tory,"
"Ophelia,"
"And you're…Sakura, I assume? One of the exchange students?" She nodded, taking a seat across from them before flaring her nostrils.
"Honestly, I've never heard of these rifts between wizards just based on blood purity. Where I come from, you either use magic or you don't. It's that simple." She shrugged. It was true, in a sense.
You were either a shinobi or a citizen. Sure, one gained special treatment if from a prominent shinobi family, but if one had citizen parents and wanted to become a shinobi, there was very little teasing. Well, unless you were a horrible shinobi with no promise.
Before they could talk any further, Hinata placed a delicate hand on Sakura's shoulder.
"S-Sakura-chan?"
"Hey, Hinata! What's up?" The petite girl's expression turned dark, white eyes narrowing into slits.
"I have Care of Magical Creatures next. You'll pay." Sakura shrunk back at both her tone and her ability to say a sentence without stuttering – and in front of strangers – as Hinata walked out of the hall.
Her earlier anger at Sakura quickly faded once Naruto caught up to her on the way to class. It was a mostly one-sided conversation, but Hinata still listened intently to every word, no matter how silly.
The mood changed, however, once they approached Hagrid's hut.
Like Dumbledore had said, they were the only ones taking the class. But apparently, no one had told Hagrid.
"Now don' git me wrong, you lot are good, but you two are the only ones in the class?!" They meekly nodded.
Slapping a giant hand onto his face, Hagrid made a noise between a grunt and a groan before raising his head to them. "Well, this class might's well be a sorta 'crash course' in creatures, since you don' know a t'ing!"
Within the first ten minutes, they both understood why they were the only ones in the class. Hinata enjoyed it more than Naruto, but only marginally, due to her adoration of animals, but even she had limits.
And these slimy things were definitely crossing the line.
Sakura was walking to Potions with both Tory and Ophelia when she saw both of her teammates all but sprinting to class. She nodded to her newfound friends and they walked ahead, leaving the trio.
"No wonder we're the only ones in that horrible class…" Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "Whatever it was we were touching and squeezing-" Sakura made a face.
"Yeah, I don't really need a visual." Naruto looked to the two Slytherins.
"Who're they?"
"Ophelia and Tory. They're really cool, and they're kind of at odds with Draco, but moreso Pansy, that annoying girl with him all the time." She then lowered her voice. "I'm pretty sure Draco is taking Potions as well. And so is Harry and them." She gave Naruto a pointed look, to which he nodded and the three then continued walking down the dungeons and trying not to smile satisfactorily when they felt Draco pass through the trap, letting them know he wasn't very far behind them.
A minute or two after they reached the classroom, Slughorn gracelessly opened the door, his wide smile seemed to only be aimed at the shinobi trio, Harry, and Blaise.
Blaise and Draco were the only other Slytherins besides Sakura's new friends, so they beckoned her over to their table, and after a few complicated moments, Hinata and Naruto ended up with Draco and Blaise. At first, Draco sat at the edge, but with the exchange students at the table, he switched with Blaise, claiming that he was too close to the door – and Blaise only agreed so that he didn't have to listen to his whining.
"Now then, now then, now then; scales out, everyone, and potion kits, and don't forget your copies of Advanced Potion-Making…" While Harry raised his hand to ask a question, Hinata could tell that Sakura was getting visibly excited. After all, medicine and poisons were her specialty, so she was obviously curious as to what other things could be brewed up.
"Now then, I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of thing you ought to be able to make after completing you N.E.W.T.s. You ought to have heard of 'em, even if you haven't made 'em yet. Anyone tell me what this one is?" He pointed to the one that was very close to Naruto, which Hermione pointed out as Veritaserum which could force the drinker to tell the truth. He exchanged a look with Hinata and then Sakura.
Well, well…this mission would be even better than they thought. If they could figure out how to make that and bring it back to Konoha, interrogations would be much easier, although Anko would complain that it was much less fun-
"This one here is pretty well known… Featured in a few Ministry leaflets lately too… Who can-?" Polyjuice potion. Not the best, but it could be useful. The drinker had to have a lock of hair from the target and could only turn into someone and not simply change their appearance. It wasn't the best, but the perk was it didn't require chakra and couldn't be sensed by shinobi. Though it did need to be drunk very often-
"It's Amortentia!" Hermione answered yet again, before explaining that it was the most powerful love potion. Sakura cast a glance over her shoulder to Hinata at that, who glowered back at the girl. Sakura had to suppress a laugh.
As Slughorn and Hermione chatted about one thing or another, Hinata heard Draco whisper something to Blaise and they both chuckled. She glared at him from the corner of her eye, not liking what was said whatsoever.
"Amortentia doesn't really create love, of course. It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. It is probably the most dangerous and powerful potion in this room – oh yes. When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love…"
Naruto sniggered at that, thinking of Sakura and Sasuke, and the old Team 7. Naruto's slightly obsessive love for Sakura, Sakura's highly obsessive love for Sasuke – though, to her credit, it wasn't as blind as every other fangirl – and Sasuke's obsessive love for revenge. And, not to leave out their beloved sensei, Kakashi's incredibly obsessive love for pornographic novels.
"Oho," He was brought back to earth when Slughorn addressed the last potion in the room. It was a small, curious thing, and Slughorn beamed at it. "Yes. That. Well, that one, ladies and gentlemen, is a most curious little potion called Felix Felicis. I take it that you know what Felix Felicis does, Miss Granger?" Hermione seemed to be nearly bouncing off the walls.
At her saying that Felix Felicis, or liquid luck, made one lucky, Draco's attention snapped forward, finally paying attention to Slughorn.
All three of them noticed that.
"Desperately trick to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavors tend to succeed…at least until the effects wear off."
"Why don't people drink it all the time, sir?" Excellent question, Sakura had just been wondering that herself. If she could get her hands on how to make it properly and distribute it amongst the shinobi and make it readily available in the hospital…
"Because if taken in excess, it causes giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence. Too much of a good thing, you know…highly toxic in large quantities. But taken sparingly, and very occasionally…" Sakura frowned, but the idea didn't completely vanish. Okay, so only for the hardest missions and most daunting surgeries… Yeah, that would do.
"And that is what I shall be offering as a prize in this lesson." Everyone seemed to freeze. Draco especially, who didn't even breathe. "One tiny bottle of Felix Felicis. Enough for twelve hours' luck. From dawn till dusk, you will be lucky in everything you attempt." The three shinobi could practically hear Draco's heart beating in his chest, so fast they were surprised he didn't collapse. Slughorn went on to explain that it was banned from tests, sports, etc., which seemed to be quite obvious.
"So, how are you to win my fabulous prize? Well, by turning to page ten of Advanced Potion-Making. We have a little over an hour left to us, which should be time for you to make a decent attempt at the Draught of Living Death. I know it is more complex than anything you have attempted before, and I do not expect a perfect potion from anybody. The person who does best, however, will win little Felix here. Off you go!"
Everyone sped off to make said potion, and it became completely silent. Having studied potion ingredients during the week of summer they were here, they were able to recognize what the potion called for.
However, they had never attempted an actual potion before. They were clearly behind all of the other students at first, but they quickly caught up. Draco, who was beside Hinata, kept sending half-hearted glares her way as she reached the same stage his potion was at.
When the time came to cut up the sopophorous bean, Sakura felt her anger increase. How could something so small not be cut so easily?! Eyes narrowed, she looked around to make sure no one was looking before making the smallest chakra scalpel she could manage and cut the bean. She gave a loud, palpable sigh of relief and held her knife for effect. Hinata and Naruto caught on quickly, using their own means to cut the bean, which was difficult considering they were sitting next to the one person in the room who seemed to want it most.
"And time's…up! Stop stirring, please!" All three of the shinobi's potions were now a pleasant shade of lilac, and Draco was giving his two table mates a clear jealous look. Slughorn went over to their tables first.
"My, my, weapons aren't the only thing you three were taught! They're exceptional! If no one else's is better, we'll have a three-way tie on our hands!"
He then praised Hermione's –which wasn't as light as theirs', but was still better than the rest – and then his face lit up when he reached Harry. "The clear winner!" He then rattled on.
In order to try to start a conversation, Naruto grumbled, "Damn, I would've liked that potion, too."
Blaise pointedly looked away, Hinata said nothing, and only in order to maintain civility Draco was the one to respond. "Yeah, but of course the Chosen One is the only one worthy of it." Blaise raised a brow, most likely remembering the incident on the train, as well as the fact that Naruto was a Gryffindor.
Naruto pressed his lips together. "I'm not sure if I even believe in that crap. If you ask me, it's only to inflate his ego."
This seemed to please Draco, who sat a little bit straighter in his seat and almost smirked at Naruto's words.
"This is a dangerous game," Sakura had her head in her hands as they sat in the Room of Requirement, free of Sakura's bed – at her Head of House, Professor Flitwick's, request. "Trying to play ally to both of them."
"But w-we haven't with H-Harry yet,"
"Yeah, but what happens when we do, and he immediately dismisses us because of our relations with Draco?"
"I got it!" Eyes turned to Naruto. "I'll be the one to befriend Harry and them. We're in the same house, after all, and you two become more focused on Draco. That way, we're only really associated with both of them through each other."
Sakura nodded. "It's a good start, at least. Hopefully we become a special case to them because of our…er, status."
"A-And if we make a lot friends, it'll be l-less suspicious." Naruto clapped his hands together with a grin.
"It's settled, then!"
The boy still hadn't returned to the common room, and in the meantime Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in a close-knit circle, all talk of the potions book gone and instead focused on a new topic: the exchange students.
"I still think we should be wary of them," Hermione said, "sure, they just might be students, but this is just too much. And, so far, they've been in the same classes as you both, and the pink-haired one was in Ancient Runes with me."
"But that's only three classes so far," Ron pointed out.
"I know but-"
"I think you're worrying for nothing, Hermione. No offense." She huffed.
"Harry, what do you think?" Harry paused.
"I dunno. Earlier today, before breakfast, they were in Dumbledore's office with him, and then I checked a few minutes later and they were gone. Completely off the map." Their eyes widened.
"Okay, that's strange." Hermione gave Ron a look of triumph. "But it doesn't mean anything, really. I mean, how could they have just disappeared? It's impossible." Their chatter stopped when the blonde nearly skipped in through the portrait, paying no heed to all the stares he received.
Although, he did send a grin Harry's way before retreating to the dormitories.
"What was that about?"
"We met on the train," Harry explained, "both at Slughorn's and then when they accidentally walked into Draco's compartment."
Hermione looked lost in thought for a moment before looking Harry dead in the eyes. "Try to make friends with him, Harry. And even if nothing is wrong, you'll-"
"Have international relations," Ron rolled his eyes. "Speaking of, how's that working out for you, Hermione?"
She huffed. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" And then stormed off to bed, Ron shortly leaving to his own once she was out of sight.
Harry sighed. This would definitely not be a dull year.
Sakura's large owl swooped over her at breakfast the next morning, dropping the scroll before taking perch on her shoulders as if it was going to carry her away. To any ordinary person, the sheer weight of the owl would have put them horribly off balance and the digging claws would be painful. Sakura simply shrugged off both.
"What'cha got, S?" Her nosey roommate Anastasia, who had taken to calling her 'S' because she couldn't pronounce her actual name, began to hop out of her seat to take a look at what she got.
At Sakura's glare, she sat back on the bench, stealing looks at Sakura whenever she could, hoping to decipher what it was.
As she unrolled it, she noticed the hastily written kanji, paired with smudges, and a mix of drops that looked to be blood, sweat, and tears. Her frozen features garnered her teammate's attention, and they rushed to her side, ignoring the odd looks the Ravenclaws gave them.
Sakura,
It's…it's horrible…
Tsunade won't pull you from your mission, but everyone else is here, fighting. Even Suna.
Pein threatened to attack. It didn't end up happening, but his body was brought to us as proof by…
By Uchiha Itachi.
Danzou attacked. He's trying to kill Tsunade, to become Hokage. All of his Root agents are fighting us, besides Sai. We have him locked up so he doesn't get caught in the fray.
Many of Orochimaru's old subordinates are under Danzou's control as well. All these horrible experiments are running around…many are very skilled.
Tsunade made sure the villagers are safe.
We don't know his plan yet. Jiraiya left us some clues about Pein and warnings about Danzou but…
They all had to squint after that. The last few kanji were in the worst condition – horribly smudged and barely legible.
And when Hinata figured it out, she squeaked and, on a whim, gripped Naruto's hand.
"Jiraiya is dead."
Tenten