Magic Shadows

Chapter 20

"It looks like the justu is a combination of chakra nature manipulation and blood summoning."

It was the morning of the Hogsmeade trip and Harry and his friends were preparing to depart. Naruto and Sasuke were accompanying them, however, Naruto left several fox summons and henged kage bunshin behind to patrol the castle.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking along the streets of Hosmeade bickering. Naruto and Sasuke trailed behind listening to the conversation. Apparently, Hermione wanted to directly inform Sasuke and Naruto of the meeting at Hog's Head.

"But, Hermione, they probably already know that," said Ron. He saw no point in being polite to them when they were obviously babysitting them.

"Ron! It doesn't matter! It is rude not to! Dumbledore trusts them and we should let them attend the lessons and meetings if they want to," Hermione tried to explain, keeping her voice low in an attempt to not attract attention. Harry was surprisingly silent. He had no doubt that whether they were invited or not, Naruto and Sasuke would be at the meeting in some shape or form. As far as the shinobi were concerned, we has going to interact as little as possible.

"Fine! But, you tell them," Ron decided. Hermione grinned triumphantly.

Hermione glanced over her should at where the shinobi were trailing behind them. She dropped back to walk along side Naruto. In Hermione's opinion, Naruto was much more approachable than Sasuke. "Naruto?" she asked somewhat hesitantly.

"Yes, Hermione?" Naruto gave off an inviting smile. She had overheard the whole conversation but appreciated the effort on the part of Hermione. Cooperation of the people they were supposed to be guarding made things so much more pleasant.

"Umm... Well, you guys probably already know this, but... I wanted to officially invite you to join our DADA club we are going to be starting."

"Thanks, Hermione. We'll definitely be joining you guys." Hermione quickly caught back up to Ron and Harry. This now meant that Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't have to disguise themselves and could attended the meeting as themselves. It would be a good way to interact with other students who might be interested in the club.

The meeting for the club went off without of hitch. Well... actually, it wasn't perfect. Naruto and Sasuke both agreed that the Hog's Head was not the most ideal location to have a meeting where they didn't want to be overheard. Also, some of the students seemed less than willing to cooperate. But, other than that, it went great. They weren't ambushed, no one died... And, Harry was in a semi-decent mood meaning he wasn't shooting suspicious glances at Sasuke all of the time.

Naruto entered the common room to see a large group of student surrounding the message board. She noticed Sasuke frowning at the message board and walked over to join him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Hn. Umbridge," he grunted, gesturing towards the message board. Naruto glanced over to see Educational Decree Number Twenty-four. She frowned after reading the decree.

"I'm not exactly surprised," she commented. "The Hog's Head wasn't exactly the best location to have a secret meeting. It's not like this will stop Harry. We'll just have to make sure that he doesn't get caught."

History of Magic. The most boring class ever. Professor Binns was going on an on about the giant wars. At least that was what Naruto thought. She wasn't really paying attention. She had Sasuke to do that for her.

There was a faint rustle that caught her attention. No one else heard it, but she did. She looked towards the window to see a white owl on the ledge. She recognized that owl-it was Harry's.

Soon after her, Hermione noticed the owl. Hermione caught Harry's attention and pointed out the owl. Harry quickly went over to the window and opened it and brought the owl inside.

"Professor Binns," Harry announced, "I'm not feeling well. I think I need to go to the hospital wing."

Professor Binns appeared very dazed and confused. Naruto signaled to Sasuke that she would take care of it. Naruto cleared her throat gaining the ghost's attention. "I'll escort him to the hospital wing, sensei. He doesn't look well at all."

"Yes. I suppose that is alright. Off you go," Professor Binns responded before returning to his lecture as if nothing had happened.

Naruto and Harry quickly left the classroom and found Professor Grubbly-Plank. Harry received a note from Sirius telling him when to talk to him. Naruto appreciated Professor McGonagall's warning towards Harry to be more careful of his methods of communication. She hoped that it would eventually get through to him that he needed to be more careful or Umbridge would to something drastic.

They were up late, waiting for Sirius to appear. Naruto was finishing up an essay while Sasuke was watching the fire, waiting. They spent most of the time discussing the Defense Against the Dark Arts group that Harry was planning. Naruto found it quite amusing that Sirius approved so enthusiastically while the other adults didn't.

Sirius directed his attention towards Naruto and Sasuke. "You don't think that you could possibly teach them something, could you?" he asked. "I know that shinobi are much more suited to combat. If you could teach them something it would really help."

Naruto frowned. "I don't think we would be able to help. Not only can wizards and witches not manipulate chakra, but they also don't have the stamina for it. Shinobi spend several years working on the physical aspects of techniques. There is little we could do in a few months time. Plus, I have found that many from your society are not open to the idea that their magic can be easily overpowered by physical means."

"That makes sense," Sirius admitted. "You won't stop the meetings, correct?"

"I see no point. These meeting aren't going to get him killed. The only person he is going against is Umbridge. And, I don't like that woman."

Sirius redirected his attention towards the three students. They began discussing various places where meetings could possibly be held.

Naruto and Sasuke stiffened as Sirius suddenly disappeared. As a pair of hands appeared in the fire, they quickly escorted Ron, Harry, and Hermione up towards their dorms.

Naruto and Sasuke watched as Harry stayed up, working on a reading assignment. Naruto was on the couch once again reading the scroll that Jiraiya had given her before leaving.

"Any closer to solving it?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto's eyebrows scrunched in concentration. "Sort of. It looks like the justu is a combination of chakra nature manipulation and blood summoning. It's tricky, but I think I almost have the theory worked out completely. After that I'll start working on it."

"Blood summoning?"

"It's very similar to animal summoning minus a contract and a summoning dimension. By itself it isn't too difficult but... the way it is combined with nature manipulation in this jutsu is amazing."

"What nature type is required for this jutsu?"

Naruto grinned. "Wind."

After some time, Naruto rolled up the scroll and stood, stretching. She tucked the scroll into her pouch. "I'm going to go patrol the castle," she told Sasuke. She gesture over to where Harry was dozing off. "You should make sure he gets to bed." She put her hand into a half ram sign and shunshined away.

Sasuke stood and began to approach Harry to wake him. Then, there was a sudden crack and a house elf appeared. Sasuke reached into his weapons pouch but stopped when he noticed that the elf had Harry's owl. Sasuke watched as the elf woke Harry up and returned his owl. Sasuke listened as the elf, Dobby, told Harry about a room where he could host his club. From its description, it sounded perfect.