Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto and J K Rowling respectively.

I am making no profit from this story, it is only for entertainment.

Thank you to all those who reviewed, favourited and followed this story.

So it's been a while and all I can really say about that is life. Life happened.

I hope you all enjoy.

*Bold = Japanese

Chapter 14: Bare

Harry crept down into the common room with Ron yawning behind him. Hermione wanted to talk to them about something she had found out about Hatake and he'd agreed it'd be a good idea to pool what they had gathered about the stoic shinobi so far. The early hours of the morning were the perfect time, as Hakate was off doing Merlin knows what.

It wasn't like Harry had been sleeping anyway. Strange nightmares continued to plague him, much like they had at Grimmauld. He spotted the brunette by the fire place and crossed over to sit beside her, Ron slumping into the armchair nearby.

"Do we really have to do this tonight? We got Quidditch tomorrow," Ron whined.

"Yes, it had to be now. You would find an excuse no matter what night it was so we might as well get it over with," Hermione replied.

"Alright, so who wants to go first?" she continued, looking between the pair.

"There's another one in the castle. She was a Slytherin in detention with us this week, but the first day she attacked Hatake with the same kind of knives that he has," Harry said, watching the other two jolt in their seats.

"Bloody hell, another one?" Ron frowned.

"She attacked him?" Hermione repeated. "Wait, the first day? Why didn't you tell us then?"

"It's been a long week," Harry said weakly, avoiding the piercing gazes of his friends. "Anyway, they were talking in that weird language Hatake uses when the dog is around so I didn't understand anything, but she was definitely angry with him. After we got back from that detention, he left again and the dog watched me from the corner. The same night Hatake stole my cloak."

"The invisibility cloak? He's got it?" Ron burst out. "He can't just take your dad's cloak."

"Yeah, probably to make sure I don't go 'wandering off'," Harry scoffed. "He put it in a piece of parchment, though I have no idea how, then the dog disappeared in a puff of smoke."

Hermione was silent for a moment with a thoughtful look across her features.

"On the dog's back, there was a strange symbol that I swear I've seen somewhere before," Harry continued. "He also said that he uses 'jutsus' instead of magic."

He looked towards Hermione, hoping she could make something out of what he had discovered.

"Can you draw the symbol?" she finally asked, pushing a piece of parchment at him.

Harry nodded and drew out the strange leafy thing before hesitating. He then pulled down the collar of his shirt, exposing the mark Hatake had put on his shoulder.

"He put this on me this week too, saying it would help with poisons or something," he said, shrinking back slightly as Hermione loomed over him.

She copied it down onto the parchment, muttering under her breath slightly.

"You know what I've noticed?" Ron piped up, gaining a look from the other two. "He always gets his homework done," he stated, earning a glare from Hermione.

"Wait 'Mione, think about it. He and Harry both are at detention until late at night and Harry either does it at breakfast or walks around like an inferi from finishing it at night. Hatake does neither," he explained.

"Inferus, Ron. Inferi is plural-," Hermione cut in.

"So when does he do it?" Ron continued, as if the brunette had not spoken.

"'How' is another question," Hermione pointed out. "He hasn't been exposed to magic before, judging by his knowledge of Quidditch and the fact he's a muggle, so how does he know the material? How could he learn it all in such a short space of time?"

"Well, I've never seen him sleep," Harry said. "But he has to at some point."

"Have you seen what he eats? Rice and stuff, and not a lot of it, but I've never seen his mask move once," Ron contributed.

"Earlier, I found out that Hatake is in the military," Hermione said, after a moment of scribbling on parchment. The boys' heads snapped to her, loud shouts of 'what' echoing in the empty common room.

"I reckoned he was an assassin or something!"

After shushing them, she continued.

"It wasn't so much that I found out, just put some pieces together," she started.

"We were talking about Quidditch and what kinds of sports he had back home, but he said that sports were generally for 'civilians'. The word choice bothered me and I remembered something Moody said back when Hatake first arrived. Shinobi are soldiers of war."

The two boys fell silent, before Ron spoke up.

"That age line Fred and George did at Grimmauld... Hatake can't be much older than them."

The trio fell silent for a few moments, mulling over what they had shared. Hermione gathered up the parchment with the symbol before turning to the boys.

"I'll look up what I can this weekend since we've probably got enough to make some headway. For now we should go to bed."

The pair nodded and they each headed up to their respective dorms.

Kakashi spent the weekend split between avoiding Granger, finishing his homework and keeping watch over Potter and the castle. After wasting most of Saturday outside watching this 'Quidditch practice' thing, the rest of the day was whiled away in the library by both himself and the trio. Kakashi made sure to sit at a desk just out of their sight.

The trio had obviously shared what they knew with each other as Granger read through some books on foreign types of magic, while the other two just tried to finish what they had been putting off all weekend.

He himself had squared away his work yesterday and had finally found the time to go through material that was not on the curriculum. The books he had chosen were mainly focused history, specifically warfare and politics, as he filled another scroll to be sent back to Konoha. Although he had been hired by the wizards, his village had seen the opportunity to gather information about their culture and traditions, which would be analysed and stored by the Intelligence division as a precautionary measure.

Gathering the half dozen scrolls sprawled across the desk, he put them in his pouch before heading to the history section to place the books back. Quickly sensing the absence of students for the moment, he formed a kage bunshin and henged into a young blue-tied student he knew the trio would not recognise.

As the bunshin turned to pull out more books to take back to the desk, Kakashi headed out the library, aiming straight for the front door. Walking briskly through the castle after dropping his disguise, he ignored the stares of the students he passed as he went to the tower to pack away his scrolls and pick up a small brown bag from his duffel.

A week into the school year, he would have thought the novelty would have worn off; but as he walked past a hushed huddle of yellow-covered students, he shrugged off their curious gazes. Heading out the front door, he started for the edge of the forest he had seen during his patrols, adjusting his scarf along the way. Eventually reaching the edge which was devoid of students, he expanded his senses, satisfied no one would wander his way for now.

Rapidly running through the hand seals, he was surrounded by eight puffs of smoke. As the smoke cleared, Kakashi had only a second to spot the bundles of fur before he was buried beneath the ninken. As he sat back up the tension left his body, the young shinobi coming as close to relaxed as he could ever be outside the village.

Reaching into the small brown bag, he proceeded to throw a treat to each dog and settled with his back against a tree trunk. Breathing in the clear forest air, he was taken back to his home for a brief moment; the scent of trees always on the air even in the centre of the village. He heard the patter of paws and looked down to see Pakkun sat beside him.

"How's it going?" the pug asked, settling into a comfortable position.

"Potter and the academy are both safe, and I am gathering information on Ishihara," Kakashi replied monotonously.

"You know that's not what I'm asking."

Kakashi remained silent, watching each of his dogs finish up their treats.

"Do you want to feel my paws?" Pakkun said, holding out one paw.

The teen was not going to admit anything. Kakashi had always struggled with his emotions; partly due to losing everyone who could have helped him and also due to being trained from the age of four for the shinobi life, being taught to suppress it all.

Pakkun had been the first nin dog, he grew up with Kakashi. He knew more than anyone what the silver-haired teen had lived through. He understood.

His team had helped but he lost them. Even after losing his teammates, Minato-sensei and Kushna-nee had kept him from completely withdrawing from life around the village.

It had been almost a year since he lost them and Pakkun knew his summoner was struggling, even though he never showed anything but a bland exterior. All Pakkun could do was be there and help in any way he could and that meant more to Kakashi than the pug ever knew.

Kakashi's mouth quirked up at the edge, invisible beneath the mask.

"Thanks, Pakkun," he said, his hands remaining in his lap.

A comfortable quiet settled over the group, each for the dogs finishing their treat and crowding around their summoner, finding a spot they could lie down.

Kakashi knew he could not stay out here forever, that he'd have to return for dinner, that the kage bunshin would run out of chakra in a few hours. For now though, for the first time since he had been assigned his mission and arrived in this strange country, he felt comfortable. It was like he was sitting in one of the training grounds back in Konoha, surrounded by nothing but his dogs, the faint rustling of foliage and the taste of nature on the soft breeze.

Sunday morning saw the group of Gryffindors sliding into their benches, chattering away. Kakashi noted that Potter was more cheerful than usual, after his visit to the Owlery the night before. He suspected it had something to do with the girl he had run into, even if Filch had appeared.

"Why're you looking so happy this early?" Ron inquired, surprised at his friend's demeanour.

"Umm, Quidditch...yeah, practice later," Harry chirped, pulling some food towards him.

Kakashi raised a single brow and decided to leave it. Potter's personal life did not matter to him. He tuned out for a moment, locating Ishihara and satisfied she was staying on her table. He then put some eggs and rice on his plate and silently mourned the lack of chopsticks, before grabbing a spoon.

As the post arrived, he inhaled his breakfast, mask back in placed before the newspaper had even hit the table. Granger paid the owl with one of their strange coins and it flew off.

"Anything interesting?" asked Weasley, the words garbled around his mouthful of meat.

"Honestly, Ron, swallow before speaking," scolded Granger before continuing. "Just some guff about the Weird Sisters..."

She trailed off and Kakashi only had a second to consider what the hell a 'weird sister' was before Granger spoke again.

"Sirius!"

"What happened?" demanded Potter immediately, snatching the paper so violently it tore down the centre.

"The Ministry of Magic has received a tip-off from a reliable source that Sirius Black, notorious mass murderer...blah blah blah...is currently hiding in London!" Herminone read out.

An image of a shaggy-haired, dog-like man shot through Kakashi's head. Wait, mass murderer?

"Black-san is a mass murderer?" he asked, unable to imagine the man capable. He was no Demon of the Bloody Mist.

"No, he was framed," Potter snapped, shooting him an angry look.

Kakashi accepted this in silence. Potter looked at his own half of the paper before slapping it on the table.

"Guys, look at this!"

Kakashi frown at the sheet, the foreign characters giving him nothing but a picture of a strange piece of clothing.

"Sturgis Podmore?" Weasley said slowly. "He's one of the Ord-"

"Ron, shh!" Granger hissed, her head darting around.

Kakashi knew he was missing something and grabbed the paper from Potter, tapping his necklace on it. The page converted to katakana and kanji and Kakashi sped through it.

TRESPASS AT MINISTRY

Sturgis Podmore, 38, of number two, Laburnum Gardens, Clapham, has appeared in front of the Wizengamot charged with treason and robbery at the Ministry of Magic on 31st August. Podmore was arrested by Ministry of Magic watchwizard Eric Munch, who found him attempting to force his way through a top-security door at one o'clock in the morning. Podmore, who refused to speak in his own defence, was convicted on both charges and sentenced to six months in Azkaban.

Kakashi turned it back and put it on the table.

"Japanese," Granger muttered beside him, having seen the page.

"It was a frame-up!" declared Ron. "The Ministry thinks he's one of Dumbledore's lot so – I dunno – they lured him there? Maybe they even made something up!"

"Weasley-san is right," Kakashi spoke up, attracting the stares of all three. "It's a common tactic among corrupt councils and no one can prove them otherwise. Especially since Podmore-san has been silenced."

The trio were silent for a moment, all with surprised looks on their faces. Kakashi had not spoken since Friday, when the two had found out he had taken Potter's cloak. Kakashi was fine with this, remaining a silent presence until now.

Granger shot an impressed look at Ron and folded up her newspaper.

"Well, I think we should focus on that essay for Sprout..."

Kakashi tuned out of the resulting complaints as he turned over the article in his head. The Ministry was obviously hiding something but there was not much he could do about it here. That was not his mission; Potter and Hogwarts were, now with the additional concern of Ishihara.

Kakashi sighed internally as he stood from the table, resigned to watching even more pointless sport. Maybe he could get that essay done while he was there.

The next morning when the newspaper came, it caused horror to wash over the Gryffindor table. Kakashi scribbled down the characters of the title onto a napkin and translated it, his face twisting beneath his mask as he read the words.

MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM

DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST EVER HIGH INQUISITOR

He listened to Granger as she read the rest of the article out loud, outrage lining her voice as she reached the end. Potter and Granger exchanged horrified looks, but Kakashi was intrigued by Weasley's grin.

"I can't wait for McGonagall to get inspected," Weasley said happily. "Umbridge won't know what hit her."

Kakashi had only met the woman once but he found himself silently agreeing with the redhead.

There was no sign of Umbridge in their history lesson nor in the potions class. As Snape handed back their moonstone essays he looked as though he was in pain as he handed back Kakashi's.

"Your essays are the only thing keeping you from failing this class, as your potions are abysmal," said Snape snidely.

Kakashi ignored him – he figured he needed 'magic' to get his potions to work and that was not an option – and looked at the 'E' on his paper. Idly he realised he had no idea what that meant but judging by Snape's words it was good. He had not pinpointed why Snape disliked him so much but it was more than the fact he was in Gryffindor. No, it was because he was a shinobi. However, Kakashi was not that invested in finding out why as long as the man did not try anything. He peeked at Potter's paper in the corner of his eyes and spotted the 'D' before it was hidden from sight.

Today's potion was a 'strengthening solution' and Kakashi got the same result as every time he tried to make a potion; he did everything correctly, but his was just lacking something the others had. He noted that Potter had done better this week though.

Kakashi trailed behind the trio as they made their way to lunch, Granger trying to cheer up the boys about their grades. Sitting down on the benches, Granger was still talking.

"I mean, I would have been thrilled if I'd gotten an 'O'-"

"Hermione, if you want to know ours just ask," Weasley interrupted sharply.

"Well, I...I didn't mean...but if-"

"A bloody 'P', alright? I got a 'P'," Weasley grumbled, ladling some soup.

"Well, that not bad Ron," interjected Fred, sitting alongside Potter with his twin and another Gryffindor. Kakashi remembered his name as Jordan.

"Yeah, it stands for 'Poor' but better than 'D' for 'Dreadful' right?" Jordan said.

Kakashi looked at Potter as he faked a coughing fit, obviously trying to hide that he received that. His head snapped to one of the twins as his name was said.

"Kakashi, how'd you do?" George asked, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.

Suppressing the surprise that he was included, Kakashi answered.

"'E'."

Fred whistled.

"Damn, getting that in Snape's class is a miracle," he said.

"So 'O' is the best, for 'Outstanding', but what's 'E'?" Granger asked, frowning.

"'E' is the next one for 'Exceeding Expectations', Fred answered. "George and I should have gotten all 'E''s for our exams since we exceeded expectations by showing up."

Granger ploughed on as they all laughed, barring Kakashi who just listened quietly.

"After 'E' it's 'A' for 'Acceptable', then? And that's the last pass grade?"

"Yep, then 'P' for 'Poor' then 'D' for 'Dreadful'," Weasley grumbled, pumping his fist weakly at the word 'poor'.

"And 'T'," reminded George. "For 'Troll'."

Kakashi could tell he was being serious but how a student could do that badly was beyond him. It appeared though that his essay was good then after all. He would not be sitting the exams at the end of the year since he would not need them, but Kakashi was still required to complete assignments and coursework as part of the 'exchange program'.

The rest continued talking but Kakashi suddenly felt the now familiar glare directed at his back. Turning slightly he spotted Ishihara entering the hall, her hate-filled eyes sticking to him even as she sat. Kakashi turned back to the table, still aware of her and noticed that Potter had caught the exchange.

As lunch finished up, George spoke to Potter.

"Keep your temper, eh? Angelina'll do her nut if you miss anymore practice," he said, patting the younger boy on the shoulder.

They arrived in their next class, Divination, and Kakashi sat, pulling out his blank dream diary. This was his least favourite class but Care of Magical Creatures and DADA weren't far behind. Honestly, Kakashi had thought that he had left all this behind when he graduated the academy ten years ago. To be thrust into classes again was grating on him more that he liked to admit, even to himself. He had not liked the academy when he was four, he did not like it now. It was for the mission though so he would do the work.

But it was hard to dream when he barely slept long enough to function.

He looked up as Umbridge entered the classroom from the trapdoor, his surveillance seal still on the wood, unseen. He had not picked up anything useful from the Divination sensei yet, but he would rather be prepared than surprised so it would stay there for the rest of the month at least.

After announcing herself to Trelawney, Umbridge came over to their table and Potter bristled.

"Mr. Hatake, I have brought up your issues with the uniform with the Foreign Office of the Ministry and they have agreed that for you to fully embrace your time here you must follow all of Hogwarts rules. Including uniform," she announced, beady eyes glowing in triumph.

"Now," she continued. "You are excused for this lesson to go and correct your uniform in time for my lesson."

Kakashi just sat for a moment before shoving his diary into his bag. He could not disobey her; he couldn't risk it. He had not meant be under so much scrutiny and his mismatched uniform had served a purpose. Umbridge was the only one of the entire staff to have a problem with it. But he could detect a threat anywhere and hers was blatant; he had limited power here.

He was halfway to the trapdoor before he stopped, realisation striking him.

His mask. He would have to take his mask off. These wizards would see his face.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Hatake?" Umbridge asked sweetly.

Kakashi shook his head and made his way down the ladder.

No one knew what his face looked like; every single person who had seen it had died. He'd rarely ever taken it off after his father had gifted it to him upon his acceptance to the academy. Now this whole academy was going to see it, see his face.

He could picture Rin and Obito's faces the first time they had seen his face, remembered their words, their friendly teasing. How would people react here? Would they react the same?

He'd never taken it off for a mission or in the village but now he had to, unless he wanted to risk his ability to complete his mission further. Kakashi's thoughts were jumbled and disjointed as he made his way to the Gryffindor tower.

As Harry sat in the DADA classroom, dully wondering if there were enough chapters to bore them until the exams, he heard the door open and joined his classmates in looking back.

He watched in shock as a Gryffindor student walked in and sat. Harry recognised the spiky silver hair and eye-patch, but the rest was foreign to him. Proper shoes, full-length robe, no scarf, no mask. Hatake took out his textbook and stared down at his desk, almost as if refusing to lift his head.

His face was...normal. Strong jaw-line, thin lips, slightly pointed nose. Both his face and neck were pale and his uniform hung slightly loose on him. The first word to appear in Harry's head was 'young'. A lot younger than he had thought. Younger than the twins even. The second thing that Harry noticed was the scar descending from below the eye-patch, a straight line reaching his mouth. There was a small mole beneath the left side of his lower lip..

Despite his curiosity finally being satisfied about what was under the mask, Harry couldn't help but think the shinobi almost looked...naked. He was also showing the first emotion that Harry could clearly identify since meeting him over a month ago.

Discomfort.

Hatake was obviously uncomfortable dressed like this and it was bad enough that the normally stoic shinobi couldn't hide it. Harry felt bad for him, something he wouldn't have ever thought he could feel for the emotionless shinobi. A part of Harry reached out to Hatake, taking on the discomfort as his own.

Umbridge at the front of the class was beaming.

"Well now Mr. Hatake, that wasn't so difficult, was it?" she said, staring at the boy. She glanced disapprovingly at the eye-patch but didn't mention it.

"No, Umbridge-san," Hatake replied, his usual monotone unfaltering.

"That's Professor Umbridge," she corrected, a sharp edge creeping into her voice.

Harry got the feeling Hatake was lying but his face had smoothed out, as blank as his mask. Attention shifted from the shinobi as Hermione debated with Umbridge about jinxes, ending up in docked points.

Anger burned in Harry's stomach as he was assigned more detention for sticking up for Hermione and talking about Lord Voldemort. It was true though. The image of the purple turban unwrapping to reveal the Dark Lord would never leave him and he wasn't about to sit by and let anyone vouch for the twisted professor.

Silence settled over the classes for only a minute before a voice spoke.

"Fuck you."

The whole class as one snapped their heads to the silver-haired boy, still sitting with a blank expression on his face.

"Excuse me?" Umbridge squawked.

"I'm not sure if that's the correct phrase but I wanted to gain your attention," Hatake answered innocently.

Harry would bet his broom that it wasn't a translation error, but intentional.

"Did I say something wrong?" Hatake continued. "I have just been told that it gains people's attention. It worked?"

Umbridge blustered for a bit, opening and closing her mouth much a like a fish. The class just remained silent, unsure of what to do, before giggles broke out through the room, quickly stifled under Umbridge's glare.

"Well, Mr. Hatake," Umbridge finally said. "I think detention would be the best way for you to focus on learning our language properly."

Hatake nodded and went back to his textbook.

After processing what happened, the class settled down again, occasional glances thrown back at the foreign student but smiles everywhere. It was only at the end of the lesson that it occurred to Harry that Hatake hadn't said why he wanted Umbridge's attention.

The next morning, Angelina's shouting attracted McGonagall to the table.

"But Professor, he's gone and landed himself in detention again!"

McGonagall's sharp gaze went immediately to Harry, who tried to make himself smaller.

"Even after my warning last week, you did exactly the same thing again? I take it you mentioned the Dark Lord?" she demanded, lowering her voice.

"Yes," Harry meekly replied.

McGonagall caught movement beside him and watched the shinobi turn towards her. She was taken aback by his youthful face on full display but a suspicion entered her mind.

"Mr. Hatake, are you in detention too?"

"Yes, McGonagall-san," he replied, looking nonchalant about the whole thing.

Even without his mask she couldn't read him.

"And what did you do to land a second Gryffindor student in detention, second week in a row?" she asked exasperatedly.

She raised a brow as she noticed the other fifth year students trying to stifle their giggles.

"I told her 'fuck you'," Hatake answered, resulting in the twins a little ways down the bench breaking into howling laughter.

McGonagall had been teaching at Hogwarts for thirty-nine years and nothing surprised her, taking everything in her stride. However, this once, she stared open-mouthed at her newest addition for several seconds. She then closed her mouth and nodded, making her way back to the staff table after warning them about their noise levels.

She did not take any points from the silver-haired boy as she'd done with Potter. In fact, she was really starting to think the young man belonged in Gryffindor.

This concludes the fourteenth chapter.

Please could you review about what you like and what I can improve upon? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated and I will always strive to improve your reading experience in any way I can.

Arigatou gozaimasu