Chapter 14:
Harry felt like he was missing something.
He couldn't account for what was missing - all of his memories seemed to be intact, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. His immense guilt over the Arthur Weasley situation didn't help and Harry spent much of the day after visiting Arthur at St. Mungo's brooding over whether or not he was the weapon Voldermort wanted.
Additional surprise came when Naruto, Sai and Sakura arrived the next day, packs in hand.
"What the bloody hell?" Ron had exclaimed upon seeing them.
"We were worried about Harry." Sakura explained. "So Dumbledore-sama explained to us that you would be staying here for holiday and encouraged us to come visit...if it isn't too much trouble." She said, bowing her head.
"Well, now that you mention it..." Ron began.
Ginny smacked him in the arm. "Don't be daft." She hissed. "It's really nice that you came all the way out here. I'm sure Mum and Sirius would love for you to stay."
Indeed Sirius was exuberant about their presence so while Sirius took the shinobi up to one of the spare bedrooms, Ron, Fred, George and Ginny quietly convened.
"Dumbledore must really trust them, to tell them about this place." Said Ginny rationally. "And since when do we not trust Dumbledore?"
"But don't you think it's suspicious?" Ron pressed. "What if Dumbledore didn't tell them? What if they followed us? Or...what if they coerced it out of him?"
George gave Ron a pointed look. "Coerced? Dumbledore?"
Ginny eyed Ron skeptically. "You really are being a prat, Ron."
Meanwhile, the shinobi were preoccupied with Sirius.
"Thank you," Said Sirius as he closed the bedroom door, "For protecting Harry. I'm Harry's godfather, Dumbledore told me everything."
Sai, who had been staying at Grimmauld Place incognito since the wizards had arrived a day ago was already well acquainted with Sirius. "Harry isn't in any danger here." He confirmed. "Although it would appear that Voldermort is more concerned with finding this...weapon than making any attempts on Harry's life."
Sirius glanced at Sai, almost alarmed. "You heard about that?" He asked.
"What weapon?" Sakura quickly asked.
"We don't know exactly." Sirius explained. "But the Order is doing everything it can to keep it from his hands."
"Order?" Said Naruto furrowing his eyebrows.
"The Order of the Phoenix." Said Sirius. "Dumbledore created the organization to fight against Voldermort when he first came to power."
"Harry and the others are in this organization?" Sakura asked.
"Well...er...no." Said Sirius. "This isn't something Dumbledore or the others want to involve the children in, especially Harry. At least not until they are old enough. They already have a tendency of getting involved when they shouldn't."
"Hmmm..." Said Sakura.
"You? In the Order of the Phoenix? Blimey, who made that decision?" Grumbled Ron.
"Shut up, Ron." Said Hermione, giving him a glare. She had just arrived at Grimmauld Place via the Knight Bus. "You know you aren't being very friendly."
"Whatever." Ron grumbled.
"Feh, you've just got a rock up your ass because Sirius let us join." Said Naruto smugly.
Hermione shot Ron a glare, preventing him from responding as they knocked on Harry's bedroom door. When Harry refused to respond, Naruto ended up busting the door down, startling everyone and causing Sakura to smack her head. When Harry finally confessed his fears that he was the weapon Voldermort was looking for, Hermione sighed.
"When will you ever read Hogwarts, A History? There can be no Apparating or Disapparating inside school grounds! And I doubt You Know Who has found a way around that." She said. "Although...I'm not quite sure how Professor Hatake does it..."
Harry had a feeling that Kakashi wasn't the only one capable but he was too preoccupied with other thoughts.
"Yeah, and mate?" Said Ron. "You were in bed the whole time, just thrashing around."
"You mean...I'm not the weapon? I'm not being possessed or anything?" Harry asked, his voice hopeful.
"It seems quite unlikely." Said Sakura. "But maybe we should send for a Yamanaka just in case?" She said, turning to Naruto.
Naruto didn't answer. He was staring out Harry's bedroom window, certain that he had seen a figure in a red and black cloak...
Gaara was patrolling around Grimmauld Place, his senses alert for anything out of the ordinary. With Naruto accompanying Harry for Grimmauld Place for the holidays, Kakashi reasoned it would be best for Gaara to follow. With Naruto outside of the protection of Hogwarts, it was likely Uchiha Itachi would make his move.
Luckily, Grimmauld Place was only visible to those who knew it was there. Even if Itachi suspected he knew where Naruto was, he would never be able to breach the magic to get inside.
There was a saying in Suna: speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Gaara turned, hand reaching out as the sand obeyed his command, pelting out bullets.
Itachi disappeared, reappearing only a few feet from Gaara. "Gaara-kun." He said. "You look remarkably well, all things considering."
Gaara didn't answer. The sand began to swirl around him before appearing in a massive cloud above Itachi's head. Itachi hardly glanced at it. His hand blurred through a series of seals before he brought his hand to his mouth.
Gaara didn't see nor feel the fire as his sand moved around him, creating a dense shield. When the sand fell away, Itachi was no where to be scene. Gaara formed his Third Eye before it hovered to scan the street. He moved, sliding out of the way on a wave of sand, as a fiery kunai that was aimed for his heart sailed past. Gaara felt a blow to his cheek as the sand of his second armor fell away, exposing him. He enveloped the last of the fiery kunai in sand before discarding them when suddenly, Itachi was before him.
His Sharingan was spinning and he pointed a finger at Gaara. The world froze and melted away, leaving only Itachi surrounded by darkness.
"You are a good friend, Gaara-kun. Tell Naruto-kun that this is nothing personal. Tell him to be ready for me. Madara grows anxious." Itachi disappeared in a flock of crows.