Song of the Caged Blackbird
Abby Ebon
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Disclaimer: I do not own 'Harry Potter' or 'Naruto'; heck, I don't even own the idea behind this – it is a Challenge from Serpent in the Shadows.
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Between Leaf and Sand
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You should go make sure he doesn't kill himself. Shakaku told Gaara mentally, who jerked, though no one was there to see that he had been surprised by his bijuu's sudden presence in his mind.
Why? Gaara asked shortly, annoyed at Shakaku – didn't the bijuu remember that Harry had handled himself just fine in the battle with the snake-demons?
Why else, to make sure you don't die. Shakaku prodded, and Gaara frowned, confused.
Explain. The red haired youth ordered, eerie green eyes flicking to where the underground arena was located.
Oh, because, besides sharing pain – you'll not be able to help feeling whatever injures he takes. Despite being the perfect killer, Gaara, you have never suffered physical harm, the shock to your body might kill you – and, in turn, Harry…'sides, if Houkou thinks Harry is dying, he will kill me, and, in turn, kill you. Shakaku explained rather frantically, and Gaara drew his lip up in disgust. He hated that because of Shakaku, he could not train his body – the sand not allowing it.
Gaara's fingers clenched into a fist, the shell of sand – as clear as glass, which surrounded his body, only cracking a little under the pressure; it was a constant weakness to his father and Baki, that unlike other ninjas, Gaara only had one defense and attack – his sand.
Harry could get past it. Shakaku told him, having heard Gaara's thoughts echoing in his own mind.
How? Gaara asked, glancing at the crack on the glassy surface of his hand, and by past experiences, he knew it surrounded the rest of his body. It was unnoticeable, most of the time, and did not activate until threatened – otherwise it was a constant dripping drain on his charka. When threatened – it was like the drip became a flow of water spiraling down a drain.
Gaara looked at the glass of the window – at his reflection, his eyes trailing to his forehead, and the kanji for 'love' that was tattooed there.
He knew as well as Shakaku what had caused the sand to originally do this – it had only reacted subconsciously, but when Yashamaru, his uncle, had died - he had only been a little boy.
In his hatred for himself, he had turned the sand against him, trying to kill himself by carving the kanji for 'love' into his skull. The result had been a tattoo, mocking him, and the inability to touch anything directly, merely feeling the impressions of it through the sand, becoming a true shell of him self.
You trust him.
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Kiba vs. Kankuro
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"Okay so we're clear boy?" Kiba asked of Akamaru, who woofed softly, wagging his tail enthusiastically – making Kiba grin, then turn his attention to Kankuro. Kankuro, seeing his enthusiasm, rolled his eyes, shifting the wrapped body-shaped pack off his back.
"I really hate brats like you. I'll go easy on you dog-boy, but only because this will be over so painfully quick." Kankuro told him, and Kiba sneered, while little Akamaru growled at him.
"We'll see about that!" Kiba retorted, Kankuro paid them no mind as he started to unwrap the pack – Kiba, seeing this, reached into his coat and threw a small pebble sized pill it to Akamaru, who jumped up to eat it. Kiba grinned, pulling out another pill from his coat, Kankuro merely raised an eyebrow – unimpressed, yet curious.
"My sister gave me these, it's called a food pill, and it'll increase Akamaru's charka." Akamaru's white coat suddenly flared reddish crimson and he began growling deeply at Kankuro. The second food pill, Kiba swallowed – his eyes flaring red, and then fading to normal.
"And mine." Kiba said, fangs flashing as he grinned.
"Big whoop, you increased your charka, real ninjas don't need to resort to such desperate measures in their first spar," Kankuro told him altogether unenthusiastic with Kiba's food pills, with a flare of charka he unwrapped the rest of the package, "if you can use your mutt in a fight, I see no reason I can't use my puppet – brat, meet Karasu, Karasu meet dog-boy, and his mutt." Kankuro finished, smirking slightly.
"You can insult me all you want, Kankuro, but don't you dare call Akamaru a mutt!" Kiba growled at the older teenager, who snorted, dismissing Kiba's words.
Kiba's temper flared, he snarled, and started to run toward Kankuro recklessly. Akamaru loyally running beside him, Kiba jumped up – seeing through a red haze that Kankuro hadn't made a movement – but his puppet did. Shaking off the puppets sudden life, Kiba made to tackle Kankuro.
Kiba's hand went into 'Kankuro's' chest – and his mouth into 'Kankuro's' neck, only to find woodchips and a purplish liquid splashed onto him. Akamaru had bit into 'Kankuro's' ankle. Kiba's eyes widened, finding themselves with a mouthful of bitter-sweet liquid, somehow, they'd mistaken the puppet for Kankuro. Finding that out, they quickly spit it out – but too late, for it was already taking effect.
"Shit! How'd he do that?" Kiba growled, whipping his mouth with his coat sleeve, Akamaru whined softly walking wobbly over to Kiba's side and curling against Kiba, licking Kiba's hand.
"Akamaru! Akamaru? Are you okay boy?" Kiba asked, even as his vision blurred, he blinked it away, trying to think but finding his mind drifting. When his vision came to focus again, a shadow had fallen over them – it was Kankuro and his puppet – though Kiba didn't know which was which. They both looked like Kankuro.
"Heh, typical brat, can't keep your temper." Kankuro mocked him, Kiba tried to narrow his eyes and snarl, but he couldn't keep his eyes from falling shut.
"You asshole, what did you do to Akamaru?" Kiba slurred, vision and body wavering.
"Oh, nothing too bad, just some poison – the non-fatal sort. You'll both be 'fine' in the morning…if knowing what a hangover is before drinking." Kankuro told him before he faded to unconsciousness, gesturing for his puppet to pick up the two and carry them out of the arena.
Kankuro paused by Kurenai, his arms folded, examining her. Kurenai had stiffened, her eyes going to Kankuro – to the puppet which held her student and his dog.
"The dog-boy and his mutt have potential. Make sure to bring it out of them. I'll take them back to the mansion; they should be awake by tomorrow morning." Kankuro told her, and his eyes turned to Temari and Hinata.
"Good luck," Kankuro sighed and his arms crossed behind his head he left, calling over his shoulder for his puppet, "come on Karasu, got to get Kiba home before he gets sick or something." Karasu jerked to life, following his master.
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Hinata vs. Temari
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"You know the strange thing?" Temari asked aloud while watching Kankuro walk out of the arena with his puppet loaded down with Kiba and Akamaru. Baki turned to her, raising an eyebrow.
"That Kankuro, for being Kankuro, was being nice to someone younger then he is? Or that you didn't think Kankuro really cared to know Kiba's name?" Baki asked, and Temari shook her head to both, eyes going to Hinata's small frame.
"No, neither, Kankuro had never wished me good luck; he just knows I can win." Temari answered, and Baki nodded thoughtfully, Temari sighed shaking off her younger brother's odd moods, her concentration on the wary Hinata.
"Come on girly, I promise I won't hurt you too bad." Temari teased, and Hinata gulped, her silvery eyes going to Harry, who, while tensed, nodded encouragement.
"O-okay." Hinata whimpered and followed Temari down into the arena. Hinata looked around when she got to the bottom – it was more intimidating then she had thought possible.
All around her were hundreds of underground seats going toward the cavern that covered the arena. Atop it, was only a flag and barren desert, Hinata would have never guessed it would be so large underground.
"Guess you aren't used to it yet, I've heard that Leaf's main building product is wood. Here we build underground, into the earth using the natural underground caverns that form around water to our advantage." Temari explained, looking at Hinata's open amazement with proud dignity.
"So, I g-guess, it's like the tip of a t-tree. Y-you never know how much is beneath it until your under it." Hinata said, and Temari smiled at her encouragingly, liking her, even if she did have to spar with the kid.
"Yeah, I guess you can look at it that way. You're pretty clever, under all that shyness." Temari complemented, while nodding her agreement to the similarity – Hinata blushed and looked to the side.
"Well let's see if you have any talent at being a ninja, eh?" Temari mused softly, bringing forward the giant iron fan that had been on her back, it was long and rectangular, and Hinata looked wide eyed at it. It was a distance weapon.
"Let us begin." Temari murmured, and Hinata fell into a fighting stance Temari didn't recognize. None the less, Temari flicked open the fan, the first of three purple dots appearing. With a swirl of it, charka-wind controlled by Temari was released kicking up a small sand cloud, when it cleared; Temari frowned, not seeing Hinata.
"Where'd you go?" Temari wondered aloud, her eyes glancing around the stadium.
"Behind you!" Hinata yelled, and Temari swung around, blocking Hinata's attack with her iron fan.
"Close, but you shouldn't have told me where you were." Temari informed her, safely out of Hinata's reach. Hinata glanced aside – subconsciously making sure her sparring partner wouldn't read her next move in her eyes, as another Hyuuga would have, and Temari recognizing the movement for what it was, felt her eyes widened a fraction.
Suddenly, Hinata attacked again, rushing foreword, seeing this, Temari dodged away, weaving out of the younger girls way, finding the way Hinata fought impossible to predict. Predicting correctly at seeing an opening, Temari, using her iron fan to glide on, got a good distance away.
"You're a Hyuuga!" Temari exclaimed, once she was settled down on the ground. Hinata nodded abruptly, causing Temari to grin, plainly enjoying the thought of sparring with someone worthy of her.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Temari demanded a bit of a hurt note in her voice, Hinata blushed, keeping her eyes steady this time.
"Y-you didn't a-ask." Hinata answered stuttering a bit, used to her father questioning or putting down her movements while pausing in a spar, and finding Temari compliments and suggestions disjointing – naturally, Temari merely shrugged it aside.
"I've got to warn you though, Hyuuga or not, you won't be able to go up against my fan when the third star is revealed." Temari told the younger girl with a smirk. Hinata glanced at it uneasily, sensing the power of it growing – suddenly Temari flicking the fan open a second time, revealing the second of three evenly spaced purple dots.
Hinata frowned concentrating on her Byakugan on Temari, the blood vessels around her eyes bulging as she searched for a charka-point that would cut off Temari's charka. There! Hinata thought, rushing foreword, in turn Temari shoved a burst of charka into her fan, and held it aloft for an attack.
"Wind Release: Severing Pressure" Temari hissed, taking the handle with two hands and swiping it in front of her. A cyclone rose up from the sand, quickly heading toward Hinata, with her Byakugan still active, she rushed foreword into the cyclone's weakest point.
The wind, sharpened to knife points from Temari's attack, cut into her – but pressing on, she escaped it, appearing from beneath the cyclone, where Temari least expected her, she got a hit on Temari's charka-point. With the Hyuuga Clan's Gentle Fist, one precise hit to an opposite's chakra circulatory system was all that was needed to down them.
Hinata, while being trained in the technique by her father – and having excellent charka control, had never hit him in fear of hurting him. She hadn't expected to hit Temari – let alone disable her with one blow.
Temari fell to the arena floor, gasping for breath – her Byakugan still activated Hinata was the only one to see that she had nearly killed Temari as she quickly reversed the effect, allowing Temari to breathe. Hinata was too terrified at what she had nearly done to hear Temari congratulate her on her victory in their spar.
Kurenai led her student away, thinking it just a minor shock for Hinata at having won. Not knowing how much Hinata now feared injuring – or killing, someone with her family's fighting style technique.
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AN: So that's my 'answer' for why Hinata, although powerful in her own right, won't use that power to defend herself later on. As to why Kiba is so weak, well, like Kankuro said - the potential is there, untapped. You can bet Kiba will work his butt off to be stronger.
And you may be wondering – why fight before the Chunin Exam? There are a couple of reasons, one you'll find out in the next chapter...If you haven't already.
In any case; the lovely Serpent in the Shadows, who started my Naruto/Harry crossover is issuing challenges for another…-whimpers- Please take them, before I get distracted?
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I took the Challenge #1 (you can find it on the first chapter or this fic) hence the numbering.
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CHALLENGE #2
-Harry Potter/Naruto crossover
-Slash (Itachi/Harry)
-Brief summary: (Set after the 6th book)
Six months before Snape killed Dumbledore, something set the wards off at
Hogwarts, alerting the Headmaster. Without telling anyone, he went to
investigate and found a young man about 17/18 yrs old at the edge of the
Forest, beaten and bloody. Concerned, Albus checked the body, over since the
wards had been set off (the same as with Death Eaters). Seeing no mark on
his arm, he searched the rest of the coconscious body and found a strange
mark (like Sasuke's) near the person's neck. Not knowing what it was but
unable to just leave a 'child' hurt, he takes him inside Hogwarts and to the
care of Madam Pomfrey. Once healed, the boy comes around but is unable to
be controlled as strange marks flare up and begin to take over the boy's
body. So, with no choice, they give him the Draught of the Living Death
until Albus can find a way to help him and hides him away, telling Pomfrey
to speak to no one about the stranger. Soon though, events happen quickly
and Dumbledore loses his life and the stranger is forgotten until Harry is
called to a reading of Albus' will. In the will, it states that Harry is the
'inheritor' of one comatose Itachi Uchiha and asked to look after him and
try to help him. He explains the 'mark' he had found and says that while it
doesn't believe it's the work of Voldemort, it does have the same 'feel' to
it.
Requirements:
-Harry must NOT be a scared, little uke. He MUST be self-assured, strong and
powerful (but NOT super powerful)
- Slash between Harry and Itachi is a must...do not care who you place in
the 'uke/bottom' role but brownie points for anyone who can make Harry a
'seme/top' without making Itachi OOC.
-Parseltongue is the key to helping Itachi with the Seal - what, how and why
I will leave up to you
-Snape can be good or bad
-Itachi can have killed his clan because of the 'to measure my capacity'
deal or something else if you want him to be 'good'
-Itachi can NOT be the one to kill Voldemort
-NO Deathly Hollows SPOILERS!!
(Message from Serpent in the Shadows)
If you choose to take up this challenge, please contact me. I want to be
able to read the story, add it to my C2 and post the link up here for
others. Thanks.
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CHALLENGE #3
No 'summary' on this one, just things I would like to see.
Requirements:
-Naruto/Harry Potter crossover
- Sirius/Harry pairing - already established
-Remus/Severus pairing - already established
-Harry and Sirius must adopt a 3 to 5 yr old Naruto
-Remus and Severus must adopt Haku
-Harry must be a werewolf and alpha of his 'pack' - so please make sure he
has the 'mentality' of one!
-Naruto and Haku must grow up in the wizarding world first before they
return to their birth land.
(Message from Serpent in the Shadows)
If you choose to take up this challenge, please contact me. I want to read
it, add it to my C2 and post the link here for others. Thanks.
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