Tomorrow's update may be late-- I have to work early. But never fear, even if I don't update it in the morning, you'll get it around 5:30pm MST. For those of you who don't run on mountain standard time, that's about... 7:30 EST, I believe.
For Your Dream
Part Thirteen
The Itch
Time seemed to fly by-- well, as much as it could for the four teens using a time-turner to get the most out of every day. For in reality, they were taking two days in one-- one of magical schooling, and one of ninja training. At the beginning of January, the twins and Hermione had been dead on their feet by the time they were finally allowed to rest-- and they only recieved about eight hours sleep to cover twenty hours awake. It had not been pleasant, but they had grown used to it. By February first, it was their normal sleeping pattern, in order to keep up with Haku and Zabuza's ideas of 'training'.
To Haku's continual amazement, it was Fred who had the Bloodline Limit. How a doll could have one, while the human brother-- the human twin-- did not was a mystery to him, but not one he questioned frequently. The little doll had such love for his ability-- generating electricity, and occassionally summoning lightning bolts down on the heads of his opponents.
It was hard fighting a doll that could fry you.
George, on the other hand, was amazingly skilled with mana strings-- Haku's idea of an equivalent to the chakra threads used to move a puppet. The assumption that a pureblood wizard-- one who had both parents being of wizarding stock-- meant that one couldn't actively used chakra had proven quite true. So George had been taught to use his inner stores of mana as one would use their chakra-- although his mana seemed many times more powerful than the chakra that Zabuza or even Haku used. Despite this, George couldn't seem to use it to do anything else but make the mana strings.
But that was okay, as the garrotte-wire was a weapon of the ninja-- and one that could be easily taught to George.
While the ninjas were training new ninjas, the rest of the world still moved on. Remus had tried, and tried, and tried again to get a moment alone with Albus to talk to him about Sirius, and yet somehow, everytime, something came up that forced Albus to take care of it. Or Remus to deal with this little thing or that little thing. Scarecrow still wandered Hogwarts freely, although he did his best to avoid Remus. There was no telling what the werewolf would do to the man he thought guilty of his friends' murders.
Dumbledore, of course, found himself trying harder and harder to break the bond between Haku and Zabuza-- something he was finding nearly impossible. How could it be that the products of a family of Dark Wizards, and a family of Light Wizards could produce two children so loyal to one another? Albus had finally noticed Zabuza's over protective streak, when a group of Hufflepuffs came to him about the fact that the man was sleeping in the fifth year dorms instead of his own room.
So the man had started to try and win over Momochi, which was easier said than done. Much easier, as Zabuza seemed to be able to completely vanish from Albus' sight, even if the men had been exchanging a few brief words only seconds earlier. Dumbledore didn't understand what kind of magic Zabuza used, which made him nervous. It also excited him, because here was the idea that a squib could learn magic. All he had to do was figure out what the hell Momochi had done to teach himself.
As it was, the month had progressed quickly, as had Hermione and George's physical skills and fitness. Training the equivalent of all day every day tended to help.
Fred and Haku taken to fighting each other with only their Bloodline Limits-- lighting against ice. It was truly a spectacular event-- especially the few times Fred accidentally electrocuted himself, or the time Haku got stuck in his mirrors due to Fred dumping water all around them and then proceeding to dump enough electricity into the water to light up New York City for a week.
Zabuza was still watching the mutt warily, but the idea of him being an animagus had quickly worn off. Why would someone want to stay in that form for so long? Not to mention the whole 'why the hell would you want to be a summons?' issue, for which Momochi decided gave him a good reason for not believing Scarecrow to be an animagus. He was still too damned smart, but then, he was one of Kakashi's dogs. And Kakashi was known for being or having something he wasn't supposed to be. Like having that Sharingan eye.
Magic had not been a big factor in Haku's life before coming to Hogwarts. Now that he was there, he was seeing it everywhere, and he could not believe the extravagent waste. These people powered everything with their mana-- they were continually draining themselves to make their belongings do things that they could have done with electricity. Oh, sure, the muggle world was far from having moving, talking paintings or photographs, but who needed them? The way they constantly moved was disturbing-- he kept catching it out of the corner of his eye, and in true ninja fashion, would have unleashed a couple of senbon at the pictures. Thankfully, his Bloodline Limit let him dissolve the ice needles even after they were thrown. He didn't need to be getting in any more trouble with the teachers.
That was another thing-- Haku was constantly getting into trouble. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know-- or didn't want to know, in some cases-- how to do something. He was taking fifth year Transfigurations, though he still couldn't transfigure items into what he was supposed to. It was always weapons or bandages, or something related to being useful in his life as a ninja. His fifth year charms class was no better-- he had an amazing grip on charms that could be considered useful, such as Nox, but other charms escaped him completely.
Potions and History of Magic were a royal pain, both being first year courses. History was a completely useless attempt at learning-- Binns couldn't keep any of the students' attention on him. Haku had taken to using that class to try and perfect his transfiguration skills. And Potions... well, he wasn't quite sure what Professor Snape's problem was, only that he had one.
In fact, it seemed that most Slytherins had issues with him, though more often than not they failed to bring them up. 'Harry Potter the Hufflepuff' was so pathetic a moniker that the Slytherins didn't do much more than sneer 'hufflepuff' at him, like it was some great insult. Haku tended to ignore them, even the blonde haired one who seemed to be attempting to make his life a living hell. It wasn't working out all that well-- the blonde was a pureblood, and obviously didn't understand that Haku could survive without magic.
Or that Haku could react without it. There had been a few times where the blonde had been 'put in his place' via ninja and simple muggle methods. Of course the obvious suspect would be "Harry"-- but he was a Hufflepuff. Certainly Hufflepuffs would never do such a thing...
It was a nice cover, it seemed. But a cover worked only as well as it could when it's secret wasn't all that secret. Ronald Weasley had tried, day in and day out, to convince the rest of the school that there was no way in hell that Harry Potter and Haku were the same person. He actually had a surprisingly large group following him, though Ron was the only one who seemed to be mouthing off on a constant basis. Haku had attempted to ignore him. He'd attempted to retaliate. Nothing seemed to get rid of the redhead.
It was rather frustrating.
Which explained why the dark haired shinobi was crouched in the snow at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, staring intently into his mirror shard. The world of the ninja had continued moving on without him, which while depressing could only be expected. What could he have done there? He was dead, after all.
"Hi Haku," Hermione dropped into the snow beside him, sending a cloud of it up into the air. With barely a thought directed at it, the snow froze, gathering into a larger mirror and just hovered above their heads, "What are you doing?"
Haku, of course, was unsurprised by the visit of his second favorite sparing partner. Despite the fact that she had never been able to access the Sharingan, Hermione was becoming very skilled with the Byakugan-- it was becoming harder and harder for her to banish it so that she could take her classes without trouble. He was still looking into the glass when he responded, "Just... looking in on an old friend."
"Oh? Who?" leaning over, she was surprised to find a familiar blonde reflected in the glass, "Hey! I know him!"
"You do?" Haku was surprised; Hermione had never mentioned being able to see the ninja world through her mirror shard...
Hermione nodded, "Yeah, he was fighting this hot redheaded guy..."
"You mean the one who turned into a demon?" Fred's voice came from above them, and Haku had to force himself not to react. That damned doll could go anywhere, and Haku couldn't sense him. All because of the fact that he had no chakra of his own. He had mana to spare, but no identifying chakra. Looking up, Haku could see George headed towards them from the school, prepared for another long day of training.
"Yeah, the sand-guy," Granger nodded with a soft smile, "He's so handsome..."
The teenager and the doll just stared at her, and finally Fred spoke, "You are nuts, Granger. That guy is a lunatic!"
"Who's a lunatic?" George wanted to know as he joined the group.
"The redhead we saw fighting Naruto," Haku answered. Neither Fred nor George had their own mirror shard, but Potter had infrequently given them use of his.
"The one with the black kohl around his eyes?"
"That's him," Hermione sighed dreamily, while the twins made faces and Haku shook his head. He would never understand females.
"If you're done," Momochi's voice came from behind them, startling all four of them, "We have a mission."
"A mission?" Haku looked surprised, "from who? Who would know that we are still alive?"
"Apparently the Godaime of Konoha," Zabuza frowned, pulling a scroll from his pants pocket, "It was attached to Scarecrow's hitae-ate when I woke this morning. We have much to do."
"Like what?" George wanted to know-- he'd never been on a mission before. Then again, neither had Hermione or Fred.
"Like being prepared to leave by eight tonight; Kakashi will be summoning Scarecrow, and we are to be with him when summoned," Momochi's frown lightened slightly, "According to Godaime, we will be well paid for breaking our 'deaths' and returning to being active ninjas. Despite Haku and I being missing-nin, apparently Godaime is willing to ignore that in favor of having powerful allies."
Haku let his mind race, trying to figure out why the leader of Konoha would be asking for them-- he ignored how Godaime even knew that they were still alive. It probably had to do with Scarecrow, not that that matter. What mattered was that they were being hired despite their status, in order to do... what? What was it they were doing, "Does this have to do with Uchiha?"
He'd watched the younger of the two Uchiha try to abandon his own village. That had been an unpleasant thing to witness-- both Haku and Zabuza had abandoned the Mist and look where it had landed them. And the mere thought that Uchiha would give up his freedom in Konoha to become a pet of the leader of the Sound... certainly not a nice one.
"Yes and no," Zabuza had begun to pace, Hermione shifting away from him as he kicked up clumps of snow, "No, because we are being hired to protect Konoha. Yes, because I want you three to enter the chuunin exam."
"Uh, Boss, the chuunin exam is over, remember?" that was Fred.
"Yeah Boss, it's been over for awhile now," and that was George.
Zabuza smirked at them, and Hermione's hand lifted to the magical device around her neck. He nodded to her as understanding dawned, "You want us to use the Time Turner?"
"Of course."
"But..." George looked a little panicked, Fred mimicking his expression exactly.
"We're not ready for--"
"--the Chuunin Exam, Boss. We could get--"
"--killed or worse!"
"You'll just have to chance it," the jounin snapped, "We don't have time for this. Be ready in two hours, or you're remaining here at Hogwarts to explain to Dumbledore where the rest of us are."
"Yes sir," came the mumbled reply from the twins. Zabuza vanished, presumably to deal with his own belongings.
Hermione turned to look at her teammates, "What do you think will happen?"
"We'll get our asses kicked," George grumbled. Fred nodded his agreement, before climbing onto his brother's head. For the moment before George let the illusion of his brother having a true physical form vanish, it was truly an odd sight. But then the illusion was gone, and he had a little doll on top of his head.
The lightning thrower crossed his fabric arms, "What the hell are we going to call Haku? I mean, he's supposed to be dead, right?"
"I am," Haku nodded, "But somehow I doubt that will be an issue. What will be an issue is if word gets back to your parents about this little adventure of ours, Fred."
The twins eeped, and George rubbed his hands together nervously, "So how do we avoid--"
"--that particular issue?" his brother finished.
"Code names, of course," Hermione rolled her eyes, "You two can be Ito and Hiraishin."
"Er..."
"Who's who?"
"Fred is Hiraishin and George is Ito," Hermione explained not-so-patiently.
"Somehow, I doubt Fred wants to be called 'Lightning Rod'. Denkou or Raikou would be better," Haku chuckled softly.
Hermione looked confused, "Uhm... I don't know what those two mean."
"I thought you were--
"--the Queen of Japanese."
"Hmph, my japanese isn't the greatest, and both of you know that," a thought struck her, "Ack! Haku! Neither of the twins can speak Japanese! You only taught me because I begged you! How are we going to communicate?!"
"You're a witch," Haku laughed, "You have two hours to find a translation spell. It shouldn't be /that/ hard, should it?"
"Oh, right," Granger placed her hand over her heart, trying not to panic, before getting back to the topic at hand, "So... what does denkou and raikou mean."
"Both translate as lightning," Haku chuckled, "But really, you don't have to use a name that relates to your bloodline. In fact, a real japanese name might be better. What do you say, Fred?"
"Real name please," he was wincing, "Preferably starting with an 'F'."
"Very well..." Haku tipped his head back as he tried to remember all the names he knew that started with said letter, "Let's see, there's Fujimaro, Fujio, Fukusaburu, Fumiaki, Fumihiko, Fumihiro, Fumimaro, Fu--"
"Are there any that--"
"--don't start with Fu?" George finished for his brother. The thought of exchanging a 'fre' for a 'fu' was just weird.
"Not that I can think of. I take it you would prefer a different name, Fred?" Haku looked far to amused. Fred nodded slowly. After about ten minutes of Haku giving out completely random names that he could remember coming across during his travels, Fred threw his hands into the air.
"George! You name me!"
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to be pretending to be "Ito's" puppet," he grumbled, "So what would--"
"--I name a doll? Well, I liked one Haku's already said."
"And that would be...?
"Sen!" George was grinning proudly, "It's short and easy to remember, just like my new name!"
Hermione and Haku shook their heads as Fred and George got into an argument over whether or not 'Sen' was a good name. The ninja turned to his teammate, "And what name will you be going by?"
"Yaone," at his inquiring glance, she shrugged, "I don't remember where I heard it, but it's close enough to that horrid nickname their brother gave me that I'll be able to remember it. Are you going to take up another alias? Because I was thinking that you could be Hyoushin after your mirrors and--"
Haku placed his hand over her mouth and shook his head, "I will continue to use the name I've used for ten years. Hakuhyou."
That brought two extra heads around to stare at him, "I thought--"
"--That your name--"
"--was just Haku!"
Haku shrugged, "Zabuza-san gave me the name of Hakuhyou as a joke. Haku is merely a nickname, despite how I use it. I will be registered as Hakuhyou for the exam."
Hermione frowned, "Wait, haven't you already taken this exam?"
Haku's eyes twinkled, "So I have. That, of course, was under the name Haku-- using the 'white' kanji. Hakuhyou uses different kanji."
A wide grin crossed George's face, "You sly bastard, you."
Haku smiled, "Come on you three. We need to get ready. I'm sure the Chuunin Exam will be hard-- especially since the two of you have only been training for a month."
Fred and George looked at each other, the elation of knowing that they had one team member who could carry them through the exam abruptly wearing off. The pair wailed together, "We're doomed!"
End Part Thirteen
Mwaha. Bet none of you saw that one coming.
Ran - Many thanks for the fic link. As you can see, George can't use chakra, but he's using mana to mimic it. And Dumbledore, despite the fact that idiot is his name-o, has clued in. Sorta. Now he's after both of them. Jeez, does this guy never stop?
May - Hehe, twice you say? Cool! My little Ninja and Ninjas-in-training are certainly... amusing, are they not? ...why are you hyper?
Zosa - snickers Grown-up school. That's a cute one. It's a blast being able to use the computers and the internet while at college, isn't it? Why thankyou, my ideas amuse me so. I hope you continue to see what I've done to Fred and George as a masterpiece. He'll find his place soon enough. Probably when the trio get back from the chuunin exam-- because hey, look! They have another month to train in there, before they have to go back to Hogwarts. Albus won't know what hit him. Aw... hugs I hope your internet straightens itself out so that you can be on.
gaul1 - ...died? uh... no one died.
Irihi - Lets respond to both in one! Hehe, I wrote this chapter before I saw your second review, so obviously I couldn't incorperate it in. And it's very nice to know that you still love me after my massive vanishing act with BS. Hehe, I took a little bit of your advice, and a little bit of the advice of others, and made... this! Do you think it covers what's been going on nicely enough?
Nytingale - His schemes are just... not fun, are they? Oh well, we're talking about someone who's had a 'falling out' in the public eye since Hermione's first year, since he tried to tell everyone that Voldemort was back, and he didn't do anything.
Akua - Mmm, I skipped the month, but I did try to give an overview of everything that happened. I just really wanted to leap into the first half of the plot. All this filler was getting to me Like I told Nytingale, Dumbledore's had a rough few years, and is trying to get the trust of the populace again. Having been "proven" wrong that Voldemort wasn't back ((he is)), the poor old man has been losing the status he needs to be a very public figure of hope. That's why he's so nutters. As for the Naruto gang... well, this chapter should give you some insight into how I plan to do that. Mwaha. chuckles I suppose I could do a flashback to Haku killing his family. It'll probably be when he's trying to explain to Naruto just how, exactly, he's still alive. I haven't read your stories yet, but when I do, I'll review with whatever critiques/ideas I come up with.
Xyverz - Nah, I don't think Fred will be a doll forever. Just until they can figure out what the hell they'd done to him-- the reason why he's a doll is because whatever trick they were making up absorbed Fred's chakra. He's living off of George's and they have to figure out how to fix that. Sirius and Remus will make up... eventually. Not yet though.
Kaaera - Yay for the jump! I can get into plot and out of filler! waves victory fans Seven and a half years? Now there's a jump I don't normally do outside of Prologue/Chapter One.
Yami no Kaze - possibly.
Kanashii - Aw... I would have liked to have seen that review. I think I scared a bunch of people at the mall yesterday when I abruptly cried, "Dammit! There are no orange leg-warmers!" in one of those trendy girl store things. Haku-blankies are cute. I should make one ((I'm planning on making a Rock Lee shirt-- it involves making Rock Lee's face out of beads and sewing it to the back of a shirt. A blanket would be easier, and it's Haku!)) Well, Remus has been staying close to Dumbledore since Sirius escaped, trying to get inside information. Who knows, he might actually be trying to... manipulate the manipulator. gasp, shock, awe Okay, I'm done. flashes a Rock Lee grin with thumbs up
maleficus-lupus - throws her head back and howls with laughter I'm a kage now, am I? How delightful. And because of you, my deviantart account now reads "Souyoukage-sama" under my user name. Itch-kage indeed... continues laughing
Chibi-Naru - Yeah, I know some plots need them, but they're so boring! ((Unless it's a Rock Lee-type training session, then I'm happy to read it. I think it's my addiction to Rock Lee...))
Strata - I'd say I wouldn't have counted your vote anyway, but I'd be lying. I think it was closer to thirty people on that bridge. And then there was that entire graduating class he killed without having any sort of training... hehehe. The only person who beats Gaara in coolness is Rock Lee. But I'm not going there because people tell me I'm not supposed to call him "teh sex" anymore. smirks Is Dumbledore /ever/ happy in this fic? Or any of my others for that matter?