Everything was dreamy, from the smell of the grass in the wind to the hazy colors dotting the landscape. The mountains were luxurious in the background with little caps of snow at its peaks, giving him the feeling that he was in the middle of a wild pasture.

There was a young girl wearing a sundress and hat in front of him, picking flowers in the vast fields of color and sweet scents. Either she hadn't seen him or had already acknowledged his presence quite some time ago when he had first stumbled into the scenery. Finding nothing else to do, he had sat down on the grass and had watched her pick more flowers. Every once in a while he would help the girl by handing her an empty basket from his right when her current one became too full.

Hours had passed by in this fashion, but he wasn't bored like what most people would presume. In fact, this activity was very calming and peaceful – something he had not had the chance to experience under recent circumstances. The little girl reminded him of someone he had known during childhood – his earlier years, that is. After all, twelve wouldn't be considered as that old of an age in his current society.

"I'm sorry," the girl said after quite some time, brushing her hair behind her ears as he handed her another basket. "Am I troubling you too much?"

He dismissed her thoughts with a wave of his hand. "Of course not! What makes you think that?"

She giggled as she took the empty straw object while handing him a full one. There were many more baskets to fill – so many that he couldn't count them all, but the girl had already amassed quite a few loads of flowers that were sitting together on his left side.

"Aren't you getting tired?" she asked as she sat down next to him, rolling up her sleeves and daintily snipping the stems from a chrysanthemum nearby. Her small fingers worked quickly at getting rid of unwanted dirt and strings clinging to the green body, nimbly picking brushing the excess grass that had been cut alongside with the flower.

He rubbed his eyes blearily and swatted a few lazy bugs out of his face. "Not really."

"Why don't you take a nap?" she insisted as she gently placed the chrysanthemum into the basket and found another plant to her fancy from her vantage point. Taking her fingers and making a scissor motion, she neatly cut the stem in two and began grooming the flower in the same fashion before moving on to the next one. (1)

"I don't need a nap," he said as he tried to cover up his yawn. The wind picked up a bit and the girl paused her work to keep her hat from flying away. He could tell that she wasn't convinced with his last statement even though he couldn't really see her face under that hat of hers. She was frowning slightly, and he could imagine that her eyebrows were pressed together in displeasure.

"What color is this?" she asked, holding out a flower towards him. He couldn't tell, which was really strange, because everything around him was colorful – or so it seemed. As soon as he tried to focus his attention to one object, his senses would evade him. There was a patch of yellow flowers next to him, but when he would stare at them, they wouldn't look so yellow anymore. And the sky was blue, or at least what he thought was blue.

"What's going on?" he asked, now slightly confused. She smiled gently, holding his hand in a reassuring manner.

"You need to wake up," she said, pressing a daffodil into his hand. He tried grabbing the flower, but found that his muscles were reacting sluggishly. She nodded at him in an encouraging manner. "Go on, wake up."

"Wake up."

In Way of Trouble

Chapter 10: "Un Fortunate"

By Hikagi

"Wake up."

"Wake up, Uzumaki," he heard someone say, now in a male voice. The image of the girl was superimposed and then replaced by a familiar blond person standing over his bed. Naruto blinked a few times, shaking his head as if to chase the dream away.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Naruto proclaimed, jumping to his feet. The big field of flowers slowly changed until they settled on maintaining the appearance of the Slytherin dorm rooms. The trees were gone to be replaced by the draperies, lush green grass turned into the carpets, and the baskets of flowers were now posing as random articles of clothes lying about.

Draco sighed exasperatedly and rubbed his head tiredly, not unlike that of his biggest rival as the whirlwind known as Slytherin's international student swept into the bathroom.

"You're going to miss breakfast at this rate," he called. "Hurry up and get dressed so that we can go down to eat. I'm not going to let you wander around by yourself while you're still trying to adjust to this school." 'Even if it had already been nearly a month into term,' he added as an afterthought. "Besides, you're going to be late for class if you keep this up. It's still only Friday after all."

"Mrai bou bhat," Naruto's muffled voice came through the door as he started brushing his teeth. There was the sound of running water and someone spitting followed by a lot of splash noises and the squeaks that indicated the faucet knobs being closed. Naruto emerged, face shining clean as his trademark smile and hair dripping wet.

"Do something about the mop on your head," Draco growled, now not caring one way or another. He was hungry, dammit, and if the 'new' kid was going to keep him any longer, then he was going to leave by himself! Storming out of the dorms, the prefect grabbed his robe and made his way to the Common Room, grumbling about his charge.

Shrugging as if this were a normal occurrence, Naruto set about to change into his Hogwarts uniform, pulling on the socks and slipping on his vest. He made a face at the tie, but put it on anyway even though he hated things that restricted his breathing. It was impractical for shinobi in the style of dress, but at least it went well with the rest of the drab clothing that the wizards embraced.

He looked down for his shoes to see that there was a spare Sickle at his feet. Naruto bent down to pick it up, smiling as he did so.

Today was going to be a good day – he could feel it in his bones. He couldn't wait to go outside.

Today was going to be a horrible day – he could feel it in his bones. He couldn't wait to go back inside.

It was starting to get a little windy now that school was taking up a good portion of their time. Shikamaru breathed out a puff of air and noted that it was visible. He stuffed his arms further into his robe pockets and wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck, tripping on an invisible tree root in the process.

Damn European weather. It was always cloudy in the gloomy sense and so unreasonable to boot. He couldn't understand why people choose to spend the time outside when it was more comfortable to just hole up in their dormitories all day. The rest of his team fit into that category as well.

"C'mon, Shikamaru! We have to go outside! Today's Saturday!"

"Yeah! Let's have some fun! We've been cooped up in here too long."

"Plus we can squeeze in some training if we're careful enough."

He didn't know if it was genuine interest in going outside when there was still daylight around, or whether it was to look inconspicuous when all of the other students were frolicking around while possible. He supposed it was both. But that didn't mean that they had to drag him with them on their little meetings all the time when the only thing they did was train, train, and train some more. He enjoyed sleeping in, thank you very much.

So here he was, traipsing around the school grounds, stumbling over nonexistent hindrances along the way while his senses adjusted to the early morning. The others had gone ahead of him after bursting into his dorm room and creating a ruckus.

Wait a minute… How did a Slytherin, a Ravenclaw, and a Gryffindor female find the way into his room? It sounded like the start of some corny joke.

After snagging his robes for the millionth time since he exited the castle, he was just about ready to burst. His veins were ticking with that ever so familiar sense of being pissed off, and his patience was wearing thin.

"Hey, are you here for the Quidditch tryouts?"

Shikamaru turned to face the voice. A tall Sixth Year Hufflepuff was walking up to him, broom in one hand and a…(struggling?) box in the other.

"Not really," he shrugged, still not paying full attention to his senior. "I'm not interested." Truth be told, he was interested in anything that would make him stop feeling like he had to strangle something, but he didn't want to change the general public opinion about himself anytime soon.

The other boy's face fell and became visibly gloomy. His shoulders sagged a little in defeat as if he had had his hope crushed more than a few times during the past hour or so.

"Oh. I see…"

Shikamaru stopped his efforts to locate his teammate's new meeting place (they insisted on new locations every time to make it hard for outsiders to track them down) and instead looked back at the forlorn student with a hint of dread at what he knew was coming up next.

"Why do you ask?" he asked, hoping against hope that he wouldn't be dragged into something he would later regret. If this guy thought anything alike a certain blond teammate back at home, then there was no way he would be able to wriggle out of whatever the Sixth Year had in mind.

"Well, ever since Cedric Diggory died (God bless him)," the older boy began, "we've been having a hard time finding replacements. Nobody was any good, and our new captain's about to pull out her hair." He looked dejectedly at the box in his arms. "We don't have a chance in the world for the Quidditch Cup this year."

Shikamaru sighed before coming to a decision; he gestured to the broom and the box.

"Fine, I'll give it a try."

His team would understand if he skipped out on a meeting just this once…

A few hours later, Shikamaru stormed into the study session located in the library, startling some of the younger students (not that the shinobi were older by that many months or years) and upsetting the librarian in the process. Sasuke and a few other Ravenclaws were gathered around towards the back of the room, going over the past week's Transfiguration and Charms notes. They looked up when the chuunin slumped down at their table with a deeper frown than usual.

"Next time they ask me to ride a broom," Shikamaru scowled, "I'm going to break it in half and hand it back to them."

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked; he was interested in the reason as to why their platoon leader had missed their morning meeting.

Shikamaru gave him an uncharacteristic glare.

"I'll tell you what's freakin' wrong: It tried to kill me the minute I left the ground. And then I couldn't gain control back over it, and they expected me to catch the ball all the while!"

The Ravenclaws sat in silence, not understanding what the Hufflepuff was talking about. Madam Prince was shooting daggers at them as well.

"You mean," the boy on the right of Sasuke piped up, "you've just come back from the Hufflepuff Quidditch tryouts?" Shikamaru didn't answer him.

"I heard that their captain's looking for players this year," another said.

"But half the students are afraid to tryout because of the bad luck they think is hanging over the Teams' heads."

'Bad luck?'

"Or the high casualty percentages."

'Casualties?'

"But to go through the trouble to try to recruit the new student? Isn't that just asking for disaster?"

Shikamaru sank further into his chair and tried to forget the last few hours' worth of torture. Those Bullshit-whatevers had been aiming for his face, gawddammit!

'Just what did I sign up for?'

There was a sudden hush in the library as the door opened and emitted the Hufflepuff captain from before.

'Please don't walk this way, please don't walk this way, please don't walk this way,' Shikamaru repeated over in his head, praying to the gods above in desperation that someone would hear him.

"Hey, Nara!" he whispered, walking up to the chuunin. Shikamaru changed his mantra to something else instead.

'This had better not be about my horrible flying, this had better not be about the flying, not the flying, not the flying…'

The Sixth Year stood next to him with a huge grin on his face as if he'd just struck a big pot of gold.

"I'm here about your performance earlier this morning," he said, still smiling. Shikamaru mentally glared at the heavens as if blaming the forces for not answering his pleas.

'Thanks a lot.'

"You're in, Nara," the captain said, delivering a few hard pats to the shinobi's back. "Congrats. Practices are on late Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday afternoons when we can book the field. Our first game's against Gryffindor in November. The Slytherins and Ravenclaws had some sort of issue with their team players so they requested some time to recuperate…"

Shikamaru sat there, stunned. He vaguely heard the older boy telling him a few more things about flying tips and such before the librarian ushered him out of the room, but the severity of those words had yet to fully register in his brain.

'I'm… in…'

He blinked up, finally realizing just what exactly he had just been accepted into. Soft, muffled sounds shook him out of his thoughts and it took him a moment or so to identify them as snickers.

Kami-sama, no. He did not just hear what he thought he heard. Frantically looking around, his eyes settled on his fellow teammate.

"Where is he?" Shikamaru heard himself ask.

"He left just now while you were spaced out," Sasuke smirked.

"Which direction?"

The other boy shrugged in response. Shikamaru sank further into his chair, feeling overwhelmed at the turn of events. Just how was he supposed to juggle the mission, school, and an extracurricular activity? The first took up a tremendous amount of time, the second was a bit of a nuisance because he had supposedly already graduated out of the only schooling he'd ever need, and the third was a waste of energy because he didn't feel like looking like an ass while being suspended in the air, dammit!

"Good luck, mate. If you're really as bad as you say, then they must be really desperate this year."

A growl escaped from his throat as Shikamaru let his head slam into the table and left it there.

'I am going to kill whoever's responsible!'

When Hermione had asked Sakura what one of her favorite traditional dishes was, she was surprised to hear that it wasn't something like sushi, dango, onigiri, rice cake, or sashimi. Instead, she had liked something called ox-tail stew, which Hermione was sure couldn't be found conveniently in Japan. It was not a dish that an island nation could produce naturally or in abundant amounts, as a matter of fact. Heck, was it even native to Japan? (2)

"Something's strange about that girl," she muttered to herself as she began planning ahead for everyone's Christmas presents even though she had nearly two months until then.

"Indeed," Ginny responded, settling further into the squishy chair in the Gryffindor common room. She was the closest to the fire and was currently reading a novel she had picked up at Florish and Botts before term had begun.

"I asked her what her hometown was," Hermione continued, "and she said it was Tokyo."

"Well, that's a pretty big town. I'm sure there are a lot of Japanese people living in that area. Even I've heard of it." Of course she had. It was like asking any other person where the Pyramids were located, or where Panda Bears were from.

"The funny thing is that she started describing her house and everything, but the structure of the building doesn't sound like anything that could be found in that city. The foundations are all off for an architect to come up with considering the components of the ground and the regular earthquakes that hit Japan…"

"Mmhmm," Ginny replied as she turned a page, totally engrossed with the text.

"I asked for her address and she replied that she lived on Haruno Lane which was named after her family."

"So?"

"There is no street called Haruno in Tokyo," Hermione said in the tone of voice that suggested that that bit of information was obvious.

Ginny's eyes were still glued to the words in front of her. "Uh huh. That's interesting."

"Did you hear me?" the prefect asked, arching an eyebrow skeptically. She snuck up in front of the redhead and peered over the top of the book, trying to gain eye contact.

"I did," Ginny acknowledged without looking up, not falling for Hermione's game. "And it sounds like you're overreacting. Maybe you're just irritated that there's something you actually don't know about. Besides, I'd think that someone living in Tokyo would know more about their streets than someone who had never been there."

Hermione ignored that last statement and started pacing around the room. "Sakura's not from Tokyo. Something is up with our international student and the w– and just what are you reading?" She stopped pacing.

Ginny noticed that the continuous rambling stopped and looked to see what had caught the prefect's attention. "Oh this?"

Ginny held up the book title for Hermione to see. It read, "Wandless Magic: How to Practice and Master Using Magic With Only Your Hands."

"Sakura was interested in learning about how to use wandless magic, so I ordered it. It says some interesting things, like how to control the flow of magic by meditating daily and doing physical exercise. I haven't shown it to her yet."

"That's a load of rubbish," Hermione said. "Everyone knows that it's nearly impossible to work magic unless you have a wand as a focus. Wandless magic is extremely difficult to do and dangerous without a wand core, which is why there are so few Animagi in the world. Wordless magic is hard enough already."

"So what?" Ginny shrugged. "I think it's amusing. They say here that if you do these things, you can learn how to stick to walls and walk on water."

"We have charms for that," she replied, bristling. "Those things are not entirely impossible – I just haven't figured out how to perform them yet."

"Sure, sure," Ginny said with humor evident in her voice, turning her attention back to the book.

Hermione stormed back into her room to work on that three-foot essay Professor Binns had asked for regarding the unsuccessful invasion Giant Brundel had lead in his conquest to take over Siberia. (3)

Naruto was running down the halls at a remarkably slow pace – which was still faster than any of his classmates could ever hope to accomplish. His excitement was barely containable as he skipped through the crowds of people, weaving in and out of the masses of bodies that filled the school.

He rushed into the Great Hall smiling from ear to ear. He said good morning to the nearest person, which so happened to be the sleep-deprived Ronald Weasley. Weasley, of course, returned the greeting with an enthusiastic response that was equivalent to that of Shikamaru's.

"What's wrong with him? Why is he so bloody cheerful at this time?" Ron grumbled as the energy rolling off the Sixth Year Slytherin reached him.

Harry inwardly laughed. "Not everyone is as grumpy as you in the morning." But that didn't stop Ron from mumbling anyway. After seeing that the Gryffindors (Sakura-chan included) didn't share his mood, Naruto casually waltzed to the Slytherin tables where he joined the rest of his classmates in munching on their meals.

"Not many of them are morning people," Draco stated as the Kyuubi vessel sat down.

Naruto made a face as he grabbed for some toast. "But breakfast is later than usual on Sundays."

"How'd you do that anyway?" Draco asked, waving a spoon full of jam in the Gryffindors' direction. "Normally I'd attract too much attention exchanging words with that lot, but you make it seem so easy."

"Eh?" Naruto squinted, confused. "I didn't try to make him mad on purpose."

"Whatever you say," the Sixth Year replied, shrugging. "Besides, why are you in such a good mood?"

"Because today's a special day!" Naruto proclaimed.

Because today was the day he turned thirteen years old. But he couldn't just go around announcing it to everyone. Despite his love for attention, it felt strange to offer up that information without some sort of prompting. Besides, he might accidentally reveal something in the process.

They spent the next few minutes in silence, in which Naruto gulped down the remainder of his food. He quickly swallowed and wiped his face on a napkin before drinking the rest of the contents of his cup.

"Leaving already?" Draco asked, still spreading jam on his slice of toast.

"Something's come up," he replied. "I have some personal business to attend to."

Draco nodded. Naruto was glad that at least the Slytherins weren't as prying or suspicious about secrecy as some of the other Houses – they all had something to hide. He had a much easier time explaining his absences than his teammates, granted that he was sure they were trying to keep tabs on him.

A few minutes later, he was running to the Forbidden Forest in his usual orange jumpsuit – the black suits were only for patrolling or during the night. His Hogwarts robes were safely tucked under his arm for a quick retreat back. When he reached the meeting place, he was surprised to see that the other three were dressed in all white and not their usual attire.

"Hey guys," he called out cheerfully. "What's going on today?" Sakura visibly stiffened and Naruto flinched at the punch that was sure to follow. But oddly enough, the kunoichi lowered her arm and chose to say nothing. Naruto arched an eyebrow.

"Today is the day that the Yondaime died, Dead Last," Sasuke said after a while. "Or were you so stupid that you forgot about that already?"

Naruto felt like he had been delivered a critical blow to his gut. Although he hadn't really forgotten about today, he also hadn't really told anyone how his birth date coincided with the sealing of the Kyuubi and the Yondaime's consequent death. When they had been younger, he had announced it to as many people as possible, handing birthday invitations to all of his classmates. No one had shown up and he had spent the whole day singing by himself to himself for himself.

When people had ignored him after a few years, he had stopped reminding them. Once he had gone out to investigate why his invitations had been ignored only to find families kneeling in front of a small alter through what windows he was tall enough to see through.

The only birthday present he had ever gotten had been before he graduated the academy. Someone had left him a package on his doorstep with a pair of goggles and an unsigned card. The next day when he wore them to class, he had been pleased to see that his good mood was contagious as the normally shy girl with weird eyes (back then he didn't know her name was Hinata) was smiling more than usual. (4)

He had been touched and treasured his goggles like his most prized possession. That had only been replaced with his hitai-ate, but the goggles had been proudly showcased in his bedroom next to the mirror during the short time he kept it afterwards.

Thinking back to those times when he would buy a slice of over-priced cake to celebrate, Naruto hung his head in shame. Of course – how could he have forgotten? No one was willing to acknowledge the Kyuubi brat in comparison to the magnificent Yondaime. In retrospect, they had probably also figured his brash announcements to be a particularily cruel joke on a day of mourning.

Naruto turned to his teammates, watching from the sidelines as they offered up a small offering to their deceased Hokage. Sakura lead the ritual of setting aside the bowl of rice and the burning sticks in the clearing. She wrote a few words of prayer on white sheet of paper and set all of the objects in a makeshift shrine.

They spent the meeting paying their respects to the Yondaime and all the people who had passed away from the Kyuubi attack. Naruto hung back and witnessed this, fidgeting under the irony of it all.

He decided not to remind him what else this day was known for. His teammates would probably also take it as a poorly executed joke.

"Here," Hermione said a few weeks later in the Gryffindor Common Room, placing an object in front of her friend.

"What's this?" Sakura asked as she set her book down on her lap, marking the page by folding a corner.

"You didn't know?" the witch said, surprised. "It's a candy from Tokyo. I specially placed an order through owl just for you. I heard it was quite popular."

"Oh," she said, eyeing the Animal Candy with uncertainty.

There it was. That look. The look that had been increasing in number ever since Hermione had started becoming suspicious about her international Japanese friend. It was a look of surprise and slight nervousness that was quickly replaced by another that masked her emotions by placing a fake one on top. Hermione had been surprised at first at how suddenly her friend could shift through emotions in a split second.

"What about that package?" Sakura asked, pointing at the box that was still in Hermione's arms.

"Oh," Hermione said. "I forgot to tell you! The real reason why I ordered candy in the first place was because it came with a special item. Here!" She opened the box and took out a piece of cloth, tossing it at the pink-haired kunoichi.

Sakura looked confused as she fingered the object in front of her, feeling the fabric in her hands. "What is it?"

"We're going to wear it to the costume party tonight, of course!" she grinned with a sparkle in her eyes.

"What party?" Sakura asked, now wary of the undertone of malicious glee in her friend's voice.

"Why, the Halloween Festival," Hermione replied, as-a-matter-of-factly. "This is the first time Dumbledore's letting us wear something other than our robes to a Festival!"

"Hal-lo-ween?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you don't know about that?"

"Eh heh," Sakura laughed uncomfortably. "I don't know that much about English customs or anything."

"I see. Well, Halloween was originally called All Hallow's Eve…"

"Is this really necessary?"

"Of course! They say that this is a popular costume in Tokyo nowadays."

Sakura was starting to feel nervous. It seemed that Hermione was trying to make her feel more comfortable by referring to a lot of things from her hometown (or what was supposed to be her hometown). But she didn't know the first thing about mainstream pop culture in Tokyo! Shinobi villages weren't anything like modern day cities!

She never should have mentioned the first city that came to her mind that was located in Japan. But that was what everyone else had been told, and she couldn't let them think otherwise. She sighed, brushing a stray lock of hair back into place.

"I can't help but feel slightly exposed in this…" Sakura said, examining her costume.

"Oh, come off it! It can't be that bad! Besides, you probably wore something like this while going to school! I heard from one of the International Relations wizards that wizards and witches in Japan attend normal school during the day and magic school during cram-session hours."

"…"

Sakura couldn't help but fidget as she tugged at the decent-length (thank God) skirt. At least it wasn't short to the point where it bordered on perversion at Jiraya's level. It wasn't the most practical of all outfits, but she wasn't about to complain. At least her costume wasn't as outrageous as some of the things she had seen other shinobi wear.

But still… Her hair was tied in two clumps, making her feel like the much younger version of Tsunade and Tenten put together. It made her head feel heavier as all of the weight was now concentrated into the ponytails in comparison to before.

"What did you call this?" Sakura asked, tugging at the skirt again.

'And how in the seven hells did she manage to drag me into this mess?'

"I believe it was called the Seira Fuku… And if I remember correctly, your style is that of…. Tsukino Usagi the second, also known as Sailor Chibi Moon. Your hair color matches, after all."

Three hours ago, Hermione had given her a full rundown of 'Sailor Moon' that she had read from a magazine abstract. She had seen the outfit and immediately ordered the one that had pink hair.

While it had been done with good intentions, Sakura couldn't help but feel tainted wearing the nauseously cute school uniform to the party. At least she had been able to convince Naruko to do the same by posing in a 'Tsukino Usagi the first' uniform, aka Sailor Moon. He/she had been enthusiastic about it after Sakura had explained that everyone was coming in costume and wouldn't be recognized. She had also mentioned that it would be the ideal time to play pranks on others.

And by the looks of it, he was getting really into it. As in really, really into it…

"And in the name of the Moon, I shall (coughkickyourassescough) punish you!"

… With ninja hand seals and all (Naruko had decided that she would do half seals on each hand, the Ox for the left and the Tiger for the right), even if it were slightly different than what the magazine articles had depicted…

There was a big poof of insubstantial smoke after that little speech, making the others clap at Naruko's amazing display of smoke charms. Sakura sighed. At least Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu was being put to a better use than before…

"Oi, Chibi Usa-chan," Naruko called, waving a hand in her direction.

'Oh…' she glowered. 'He did not just call me that…'

Cho Chang had immediately liked his costume, never mind the fact that he wasn't really wearing one in the first place. He had come clothed in his 'Muggle' attire which had equated to just his regular blue-fan shirt and khaki pants. Of course, he still maintained his sixteen-year old form. There would be too many questions if people figured that he had somehow managed to concoct a Reverse Aging potion.

"Oh, Uchiha! What are you supposed to be?" she asked, batting her eyelashes in her bat-like costume.

"A ninja," he replied with his deadpanned voice. Kami-sama, didn't she know when to drop it?

"I know a little bit about ninjas from the stories my grandfather told me about his travels in China. His father used to be a traveling merchant and hired them on occasion. I think you look really good in it," she said, clasping one of her arms around his. "Oh, is that a ninja star pouch?"

"They're called shuriken," Sasuke replied. "And I don't like clingy girls." With that said, he untangled himself and walked away.

--

He was trying to blend into the wall by using a slight genjutsu to make the people around him glaze over his figure. As long as no one was actively seeking him out, he would remain hidden in the open.

"Enjoying yourself?" a voice asked above him.

"Hn. As if," he replied.

The figure dropped down from the wall and landed with grace which made it evident that his genjutsu was strong enough to support two people. "Ha ha. You're too stiff as usual. Just relax a little."

He changed the subject. "And what sort of bishoujo are you supposed to be?" He pointed to the skirt and ponytails.

Naruto grinned and blew him a raspberry. "Just to inform you, I'm the Senshi of the Moon! And I can kick your ninja-wannabe ass any day with my spectacular lovey-dovey moves!"

They both smirked at this.

"You should get going. I'll make sure nothing happens," Sasuke said, all jokes aside.

"Thanks. I'll be leaving soon."

There was a slight shift in the wind as Naruto created two kage-bushin and sent them into the crowds. Sakura saw the clones and excused herself to go use the restrooms. Upon leaving the Great Hall, she and Naruto changed into their patrol uniforms separately in the broom closet. They handed their costumes to Sasuke, who stashed it away somewhere by using a genjutsu to hide them.

"Well be back in about four hours."

"Shikamaru and I will be waiting at the Main Doors to switch off with you guys."

"Good. Make sure that the bushin don't get clobbered."

"Hn."

Nodding to each other, they left in separate directions, Sasuke going back to 'enjoy' the party and the other two towards the Forest to check the grounds.

A middle-aged man with brown hair walked out from behind a row of graves, adjusting his robes and making sure that his disguise was in place. A big black dog followed closely behind him, wagging his tail in excitement and anticipation.

The man stooped down to his companion's eye-level and placed a hand on the dog's head, petting the animal and scratching it behind the ears. His eyes were half closed with weariness and the wrinkles in his skin seemed more evident under the light of the setting sun.

"Whatever you do," he said in the softest of whispers, staring straight into the dog's gaze as if it could understand, "don't get caught. If something happens to me, get out and contact the rest of the pack and the Order. Albus would know what to do, so head straight for him."

The dog gave a small whine as if begging for the man to reconsider the orders he had given.

"I know, I know," the man said. "I would have had Pakkun do the job, but he's busy elsewhere." The dog gave another whine, earning a rare slight smile from his human friend. "Don't worry, you'll do just fine. I have faith in your abilities, just like I do for all of my Nin-dogs."

The man gave the dog a few last scratches.

"It's time for me to go. Remember what I told you before."

The man stood up, adjusting his robes one last time before putting on his hood. He reached into one of his inner pockets and took out a white mask, placing it over his face so that it fit snuggly. He waved goodbye to his companion and made his way towards the manor on top of the hill.

"See you later."

To Be Continued…

Author's Notes:

1. The girl was cutting the flowers with her bare hands, using her fingers as scissors. Who this girl is, I can't tell you. You're more than welcome to guess, however.

2. No, Sakura's favorite food is not ox-tail soup. She was just spouting the first thing that came up to mind. Urm, it's actually something that my grandmother loves to make for the family. She called it kori-kongtang. I think it's funny how a few people bring up something that's been bothering them, and it just so happens to be touched upon in the next chapter. That is, someone was asking about why I said that they were from both China and Japan. Hopefully things will become clearer in the future.

3. You guys should know me by now. I make things up that are convenient for me.

4. Thanks to lackey H for letting me use his idea about Naruto's birthday.

… Don't ask where the Halloween costume ideas came from – I swear I was tired and delirious when I was writing that part. And for Sailor Moon fans, I'm sorry for the minor bashing. Well, I guess I was inspired by watching the entire Live Action series of Bishoujo Sailor Moon along with its Kirari Super Live Concert…

Please visit my forums for updates and other information/spoilers. There's a link in my profile.

One last notice -- IWoT has reached over 20 thousand hits! W00t! That means a) a lot of people have been reading it, b) I should work harder to update more, c) this story has received more attention than all of my other works put together, and d) approximately only one in about 150 people bother reviewing… XD

But anyway, thank you all so much for your reviews, comments, favs and alerts! Makes me so happy! X3

Yatsuka Hikagi

May 02, 2006