Hogwarts Express
September 1, 1982
Narrators: Yachiru Kusajishi and Naruto 'Tao' Uzumaki
Yachiru
She sticks her head out of the compartment and glances both ways before exiting it. With a giggle, she races off in search of sweets and, of course, her friends. She almost runs into a young red head wearing a dress.
"Sorry!" She calls out as she continues on her way. "Just watch where you're going!" The red haired boy calls after her and she just waves back in acknowledgment.
By the time the train finally begins to move and all of the other kids were hold up in their compartment. Finally she did find the sweets but not a sign of her friends. So, after liberating a collection of chocolate frogs and a few pastries, she tries to recall where her compartment was as she walks down the length of the train, careful to snatch the leaping frogs before they touch the floor or walls.
"Huh... I don't remember a blond being in my compartment." She muses as she finds a slightly older blond boy in the compartment. The blond blinks and glances at her with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"Well... to be truthful, I did find the compartment empty save for the trunk up there." The blond points out before going back to reading a book called The White Dragon. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki by the way. Although most of the populace has taken to calling me Tao since they enjoyed mutilating my name."
She grins and replies as she sits down across from Naruto, "I'm Yachiru Kusajishi! And I don't have a nickname yet!"
With that said and done, she decides to continue devouring her liberated goods, leaving Naruto alone, for now at least.
Naruto
He glances up from his book to look at his pink haired compartment companion, one Yachiru Kusajishi. Placing a bookmark in the book, he closes it and watches Yachiru bounce in her seat for a few minutes before clearing his throat.
"So... what house do you think you'll end up in?" He asks the First year siting across from him. "House? We get our own houses here?" Yachiru asks as she stops bouncing to look at him with a hint of awe.
"I think that just answers my question..." He muses before taking the time to study her for a few seconds. "Did you know that we're on our way to a school that teaches magic?" He tells Yachiru and she shakes her head in a negative way.
He takes out his wand and says before she moves to take it from his hand, "You likely got your own pocketed on you." And with a slight flush, Yachiru searches through her pockets and brings out a yew wand.
"Oh!" Yachiru says as she begins to flicker the wand about, sparks sparkle causing the pink haired girl to say, "Pretty!"
"Want me to teach you a few spells?" He says and it wasn't long before Yachiru leaps forward and gives him a hug. "You're the bestest, Whisker!"
Whisker? He muses mentally before sighing. "Alright then, let's start with a simple light spell..."
And so for the remainder of the train ride, he began to teach his soon to be fellow Kirin a few first year spells. Something that unknown to him, pretty much cemented Yachiru's good opinion of him which falls just under Byakuya but above Ichigo.
Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony
Yachiru
She couldn't help but glance every which way as she enters into this huge room that have various students packed at each of the tables, although it took her a few minutes to find where Naruto is sitting as the table he's sitting at wasn't as large as the others and seemed to be more towards the table where the older people are sitting then with the larger students.
"Hey Naruto!" She shouts out over the dim and the blond waves in acknowledgment. She felt a lot of eyes on her after she shouted out that greeting.
Then the hall quiets and something begins to sing. It takes her but seconds to realize that the ratty hat resting on the stool is the source of the song. She almost couldn't keep herself from charging up to the hat and begin poking it and asking it to sing her current favorite song.
Polite clapping follows after the hat finishes singing its song and the stern old lady unfurls a scroll. Within seconds of this action, the old lady reads off a name and within the crowd of kids, somebody walks up to the stool and places the singing hat on their head.
The hat calls out, "Ravenclaw!" Clapping erupts from the table with the image of an eagle. And so a few more names were called before the old lady calls out, "Kusagishe, Yachu."
She makes a throaty sound and before walking up to the hat, correct the pronunciation of her until the old lady says it right. Apparently, some of the students at the larger tables chuckled or giggled at this while the table with the snake seem to be giving her glares.
How rude! They don't even know me! She thinks as she marches up to the stool and places the hat onto her head once she's seated.
"Quite but then, the quality of Slytherins have degraded over time. Most of them are only in that house because they lack having the positive qualities in spades that are typically needed for the other houses or they wouldn't survive for long in any other house besides that one." The hat tells her and she just shrugs, although she mentally begins to think up ways to get back at that house for those glares they're sending her way.
"I see you've become well acquainted with Naruto, which is good since you'll be in the same house as him." The hat tells her and within seconds, the hat calls out to the crowd, "Kirin!"
Blinking, she glances to look at Naruto before shrugging. With a grin, she gets up off the stool and heads straight to the table where Naruto is sitting. Just as she's about to sit down, the blond says with a slight grin, "I think you're suppose to leave the hat on the stool for someone else to put on."
She sends a pouting look to the blond but the hat says, "I am not a MP3 player and while I'm flattered you enjoyed my singing, I really must continue sorting the other First year students."
Finally, she sulks back to the stool and puts the hat onto the stool and walks back to the table. "I didn't want that stupid ratty hat anyway." She mutters to herself and Naruto sighs.
"We can watch a movie once we get back to the dorms before we go to bed." Naruto suggests and she stares in astonishment at the blond. "Thanks Whiskers!" She says with a wide grin, thoughts of making away with the sorting hat banished by the suggestion that the bewhiskered preteen offers.
Soon the sorting ends and an other elder stands up to address them. "Fruity dress." She murmurs softly and Naruto snorts in wiry agreement.
Then the fruity man says something and food appears. "Ah! This isn't want I want to eat!" She whines and Naruto looks bemused as he nods slightly in agreement.
"Just eat it for tonight, tomorrow the House Elves will make us real food for breakfast." Naruto tells her and she couldn't help but find herself looking forward to that meal.
Naruto
Ok... how did she talk me into watching a second movie? He wonders as the credits for Disney's Robin Hood plays out after he's put the first movie, Disney's Jungle Book away, after rewinding it of course.
It might have something to do with the fact that she's got pink hair... Although Yachiru's shade of pink looks shiner. He muses privately to himself as he relaxing in the soft chair with his legs resting on a stool.
Midway through the movie, he finds that Yachiru has fallen asleep and with a sigh and a wave of his wand, the movie stops and with a flick, the movie begins to rewind itself carefully as he gets up off the chair to pick the sleeping eleven year old, not that he's one to complain since he'll be turning twelve come this coming October.
Funneling chakra into his arms, he cares the girl all the wait to her new room and within seconds of placing her into the bed, Yachiru mutters softly, "Thanks Kenny..." He smiles at the girl before heading off to his bed.
September 2, 1982
"Whisker!" Yachiru cries out and he just grins as Yachiru gives him a hug. "Good morning to you too, Yachiru." He says as he returns the hug for a few seconds.
"Hungry?" He asks as he hears a stomach growls and knows its not his. "Yip!"
Once Yachiru lets go, he shows her to the minor dinning hall that's connected to the house's common room. He watches as Yachiru's eyes light up before she races towards the table and takes a seat.
"Ya!" Yachiru cheers as food appears in the space before her. By the time he makes it to his seat, Yachiru already has a plate filled with food and seems to be content devouring a small bowl of steamed rice before moving onto the stuff on her plate.
Within seconds Clicky appears with their time table for their respective year classes. Yachiru seems to pause for a few seconds before remembering her introduction to Clicky and a few of the other House Elves last night as he had them help him set up those enchanted sound shells for the films they watched last night.
"Thank you Clicky." He says to the House Elf and Clicky nods his head rapidly before vanishing back to the kitchen. He soon sits down and its his turn to pile on food onto his plate to eat.
"You remember with the washroom is?" He asks Yachiru and she nods rapidly.
"Well, the right side is the girls side and the right the boys. If you go pass that part, you'll find a heated pool. I'm sure that the House Elves have supplied both sides with swim wear too. Now if you excuse me, I'll be relaxing in that pool for the next ten to fifteen minutes." He says just before breaking his chopstick, causing his plate to vanish from the table before he get to his feet and head out of the dinning hall.
Yachiru
She couldn't help but stare in awe at the various swim suits within this closet side door. With a squeal, she picks out a few colors and types to try on. Five minutes later, she enters the pool to find Naruto floating about in the middle of the pool.
"Cannonball!" She cries and with a short fast walk, she leaps into the air and causes a large splash. As she gives her head a shake, she finds the blond grinning in amusement instead of being angry about it.
"I wouldn't try that with an unknown pool, you never know the depth of the pool you're jumping into." Naruto suggests and with a blink, she then nods thoughtfully as she begins to see his point of view.
"I'll try and remember that, Whisker." She says in a serious tone and Naruto nods. "Thanks, I wouldn't want you to break a leg or something. I'm not confident in preforming healing spells just yet." Naruto explains and she finishes, "And it would be difficult to explain why I'm wearing a bathing suit to the school nurse."
"Yachiru... Just be careful, I really don't want your to hurt yourself simply because I was capable of preventing it, ok?" Naruto asks her and she suddenly feels very guilty about her little stunt as it seems as though Naruto really does care even though they haven't known each other for long.
And so she places Naruto just under Kenpachi in her list of favorite people because of his concern for her safety and health. She really didn't want to cause him any undo concern, especially within the Kirin territory like the commons room and its connecting rooms.
October 31, 1982
"So... what is it that you're having the House Elves add to the other houses' cups?" She asks as she watches as the twelve year old blond works with one of his three pets. "And will Big Nose notice it in his cup?"
"Oh, you witness that did you? Nothing harmful, just the third part of a series of potions for a prank of mine. This one is to help alleviate stress of the transformation that should happen around five pm." Naruto explains as War continues to trot about the circle room. "As for Snape noticing it... well, if he hadn't noticed the other two potions then he won't notice this one." Naruto explains with a slight smirk and she grins slightly too.
"But wouldn't it look odd if we don't... dress up?" She asks and Naruto pulls out two glass containers that contain a slightly different potion then the one he handed off to the House Elves. Naruto puts the two away and she feels impressed with that.
"So... what will it turn us into?" She asks and Naruto simply says, "That's... a secret!"
She giggles while Naruto probes War to continue trotting about the room. War glances her way but doesn't make a move inward towards them. She couldn't help but marvel at War, after all its not everyday you get to see a horse with thick scales about its back.
"So War likes those bones you give him?" She asks Naruto and just hums in a positive manner. "His scales are coming in nice and healthy, so I believe they are. He's mood is getting better too." Naruto adds and she doesn't say anything, just watches War trot at a steady pace around the room.
"Well, I'm going to go check on Sin and Grin." She says and Naruto glances at her as he says, "Just don't tease them. Sin is nervous and vicious enough as he is."
"I'll remember that!" She says as she walks to the door after War has trotted by.
Humming a cheery tone, she skips her way towards the habitat where the two almost six foot long otters that had been modified by some Jamaican witch. Naruto's not sure why she did it but it seems that the two modified otters seem to be highly intelligent even though their coat colors are totally not natural since Sin now has dark purple with gold belly fur and Grin has teal with silver belly fur.
As she enters into the area with one-way glass as to not alarm the pair. She blinks at the sight before her. A minor pinch later, she couldn't help but squeal at the sight of the two ruby colored otter pups that were resting at Sin's side while Grin grooms Sin's neck.
She couldn't wait to tell Naruto about this and couldn't help but hope that the blond will allow her to name one or both of the pups. I wonder if this makes me an auntie?
Naruto
He stretches his newly transformed body while Yachiru seems to be more interested in giggling her head off. He's not sure what's so funny about his body design but the young pink haired lion cub just keeps on laughing. Girls. He finally decides as he gives his body a shake before he stalks down the hall.
He hears an 'Ouf!' and turns his head over his shoulder to see Yachiru trying to run up to him but keeps tripping. He snorts in amusement before sighing. He turns around and within seconds, picks up the pink lion cub by the ruff of her neck and carries her down the hall way.
When they encounter another group of felines, he gently lets Yachiru down and takes some time studying the mix group that contains a brown lynx, a black cheetah, blond tiger, strawberry blond puma, and a black snow leopard. "Having trouble walking?" He asks the group with a touch of amusement.
"What's it to you?" The lynx demands with ears flat against her skull. "Well, excuse me for offering to give you a tip!" He states with a flick of his tail as Yachiru decides to try walking once more.
"I did it! I did it! All I had to do was mimic War, Whisker!" Yachiru says and sure enough, the transformed First year is mimicking War's trotting gate.
"Good for you, Yachiru." He congratulations and he could see that the other transformed students were studying her with intensity. "Now, let's see if you can walk all the way to the Great Hall."
With a nod of her furry head, Yachiru takes point with him slowly trailing behind her. He can hear the other students trail behind them with only a few stumbling at the beginning but as they continue to encounter other groups, more then a few of them being First years, they would stop and try to give them some advice on how to walk.
"Hey! Check it out, Whisker! Fruity is so much smaller then most of the other teachers!" Yachiru says and he takes a few moments to study the white feline before deciding that Dumbledore had been transformed into a bobcat, a smaller relative to the lynx.
"I wonder where all the tables are?" A voice wonders and he turns to find a red lion cub behind him. "Well, it would be kind of hard to feed a bunch of felines if they serve the meal as if we were humans, now won't it?" He remarks and the other cub looks embarrassed.
"Guess so." The red cub admits before giving him a curious look. "I'm Bill Weasely, first year Gryffindor."
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, though since I don't want people massacring my name, just call me Tao. I'm sure you know Yachiru Kusajishi since you've likely have a few classes with her." He tells Bill and Bill looks bemused.
"I should hope so, she did knock me over as I was getting on the train." Bill states with a slight grin. "It's kind of hard to know who's who at the moment. I don't suppose you'd mind if I join you two?" Bill asks and he replies, "I won't mind and I doubt that Yachiru would mind."
"You do know she's not..." Bill says and he shrugs as best as he can. "Unlike most people around her, she's very easy to spot. She is the only pink haired lion cub in the hall after all." He points out with a slightly toothy grin and Bill chuckles as Bill nods his head in agreement.
"So... what kind of cat are you?" Bill inquires as they move to a spot close to the center of the hall since most of the students and teachers were preferring to stick close to the walls, as if expecting to be attacked at any moment.
He hums as he takes a few minutes to examine himself before answering Bill. "I'm either a leopard or a jaguar." Once he answers Bill, he begins walking once more.
"What's the different between the two?" Bill asks and he replies, "Well, a jaguar is a little bit larger and more sturdier built then a leopard. Jaguars are the third largest non-magical cat, with tigers and lions being place higher up on the scale."
"Well, you certainly so look muscular." Bill muses and he hums in reply as he takes his time before finally laying on the ground. He also begins to pant as he glances about the hall in order to spot a certain pink furred cub.
He feels Bill take a spot close to his back legs and a unhurried look confirms that. Not for the first time does he realize just how much smaller the first years were tonight. I'll just have to make a note for next year to not transform the Firsts into young animals. He concludes privately as he finally spots the fearless Yachiru annoying a certain black clouded leopard.
"Who is she bugging now?" Bill asks curiously and he answers, "I would assume she's bugging Snape."
"How would you know?" Bill asks and he answers, "When she's bored, she usually goes off to bug those that take time out to single her out and Snape just loves to single members of House Kirin for the simple fact and I quote 'that there wasn't a fifth house when the four Founders built Hogwarts so there shouldn't even be a fifth house', end quote."
"Harsh." Bill replies and he dismiss it with a flick of his tail. He's been center of worst things then just a lecture/rant from a man who's not even bothering to teach potion safety during his class. Its not has if I care for the point deduction since it's not as if we actually have a chance to with the House Cup anyway.
Finally, Yachiru grows bored with Snape and comes rushing full tilt over to Bill and him. He had noticed how most of the first years have come to rest a few feet away from Bill and him. It seems that they were very reluctant to associate with the 'grown' felines about the hall.
They stopped whispering to each other as Yachiru breaks through their ranks to pounce on his head. He manages to up the pink furred cub onto the floor by his belly. He noses Yachiru in the back while she giggles as she moves to lay flatly on his exposed side.
As Yachiru gives him a seemingly innocent look, Dumbledore finally decides to address them. "Can I have everyone's attention?" Everyone become silent as they turn to look at the white furred bobcat.
He still feels Yachiru's weight on his side as Dumbledore continues now that everyone is giving them their undivided attention. "Now then, I must congratulate the prankster who managed to pull this prank off and hope that our transformation isn't permanent, that we will return to normal in due time."
A few dark murmurs erupt after Dumbledore has said that but quiet down as the white bobcat holds up a paw. "Now then, I believe that we're all quite hungry so, dee little little of a cat's cradle." And he rolls his eyes at the non-sense that Dumbledore says to have the House Elves send up the food.
He's not that surprise at the sight of roasted bodies of various animals ranging from rabbits and chickens to the size of pigs and goats. The very smell of their meal causes a lot of stomachs to growl and with a cheer, more then a few students pounce on the roasted bodies that were resting on mats instead of plates.
He waits for all of the first years to pick out which of the selection they want to eat before getting up and claiming a roasted pig that none of the others seem interested in eating. It seems they prefer to eat something closer to their size like a rabbit or chicken then a roasted pig.
There wasn't any chatter since pretty much everyone is busy eating like the animals they resemble. He could even hear a few growls along the lines of 'bugger off! This one is MINE!' The first years were the first ones to finish eating and three large dishes filled with three different drinks appear for them to drink out of.
And so, after the meal and drinking from one of the dishes, the mood of the hall becomes relaxed. More then a few began to wrestle with each other. It wasn't long before games of chase erupt.
Although unlike with the other groups, he soon found himself being besieged by the various first years being lead to attack him by the co-leaders known as Pink, AKA Yachiru and Crimson, AKA Bill. He fought valiantly but in the end, numbers won the day.
Christmas Eve
"Where do the many yous come from?" Yachiru asks as they lay on a table in the Great Hall to stare up at the magical ceiling that shows the weather outside. He's more then enjoying the sight of snow falling without having to be outside to witness it.
He blinks before turning his head to glance at his house-mate. "You're asking about them now?" He admits in surprise and Yachiru nods. "Yep!"
He chuckles softly as he turns to watch the illusion of the storm clouds overhead as he tries to think of how to best to answer Yachiru's question. With a sigh, he answers, "How about I tell you tomorrow, when we're out trying to find those Unicorns you want to see? We can exchange stories then."
"Sounds good!" Yachiru says and he's relieved that she's willing to wait until they're out of the castle to hear that story. "Do you think we'll see those lizard horses while we're looking?" Yachiru asks and he snorts in amuses as he privately chuckles.
"I'm sure we might even see a Centaur or two tomorrow." He adds and Yachiru sighs.
Christmas Day
Yachiru
"Weee!" She cries as she weaves between the various tree trunks while having the school broom flying as fast as it can go. Finally, she spots a herd of those strange, winged skeleton horses that sport lizard features and slows to a crawl as she decides to watch them dig through the snow and snap up various rodents once they relax from her startling them.
"I'll give you points for your reflect skills but you really should be careful, these brooms aren't in the best of shape even though I did just renew their safety spells before we mounted them." Naruto says to her as he descends from the tree tops.
"How did you manage to find me if you weren't following me through the forest?" She asks him and he answers, "With a point me spell."
"I hadn't thought of that! We could use that to find the Unicorns!" She says with a dazzling smile and the blond nods in agreement before he turns to watch the strange winged horses.
"I wonder if War has a touch of their blood running through his veins." Naruto wonders thoughtfully. "He does considering how he's liking those organs I've been treating him too." She answers in an off handed manner as she causes her broom to fly down so that she can touch one of the horses.
It takes them about a half an hour to find the Unicorns but she decides it was worth it as she watches them graze on the grass under the snow. The herd would glance at them every so often but after a while, they slowly began to ignore them.
"Well then, I guess I can set up the blanket here since they don't look like they'll be moving on anytime soon." Naruto says as he pats the large blanket that's migrated to rest on his left hip before he flies to one of the trees in the direction that the herd is slowly moving towards.
She watches as the older blond manages to unroll it in a graceful manner and lays it on a branch. Naruto casts a few spells that causes the blanket to stretch and to stiffen as it begins to float in the air. Naruto's wand touches a rune at the center and within seconds runes appear at the corners.
Naruto looks satisfied and lowers his broom by the large tree branch before climbing off of the broom. Naruto then casts a spell to clean his boots before getting onto the enchanted mat. It didn't take long for her to follow his example.
"Hey! The air seems warmer then when I was on the broom!" She says and Naruto nods as he tells her, "I've been having my clones experiment with area control magic and found they work best when combined with runes. The runes also act like a switch, activating and deactivating the spell."
She's impressed by how much thought and effort Naruto put in the blanket. "Anyway, I did enchant this bag to carry our lunch and maybe supper so that we don't have to worry about going hungry or putting off telling our respective stories." Naruto says as he takes a leather bag from within his jacket and lets it drop in-between them.
It didn't take long before she pulls out a tube that's slightly warm to her touch. Unscrewing the top, she finds that the tube is filled with hot chocolate with little marshmallows floating around. She hums in satisfaction as she drinks some of the hot chocolate.
"I enchanted the tubes to hold up to eighteen liters of hot chocolate as well as keep it warm, not too hot but not cold." The blond tells her and she leans in a bit to give him a hug. "You're the bestest!" She declares and Naruto chuckles in reply while looking kind of embarrassed about it.
"I guess I'll go first." Naruto says after they've eaten lunch and she didn't say anything, waiting for the blond to gather his thoughts. "Well, I guess it all began with my father and a giant demonic fox with nine tails..." (Read or watch Naruto to hear Naruto's story and dido for Bleach!)
June 17, 1982
Naruto
On opening the door leading into and out of the dorms and common room, he finds a group of eighteen students of various ages from first years to fourth years standing before him. "We're here for movie night." Bill Weasley explains and he blinks slightly before figuring that Yachiru likely had invited them.
He opens the door wider and moves to the side to allow them into the corridor that have a pair of Fu Dog statues resting about a foot from the door. He notices the reactions the group has at the sight of them. "There just Fu Dog statues." He tells the nervous group once he shuts the door.
"Do they come alive when you guys go to sleep?" A Hufflepuff third year asks and he snorts. "Doubt it, they're just decorations." He replies finally as he resists the urge to feed them a lie that they do.
Gasps erupt from the group as they enter into the main part of the dorms, the common room. "Wicked..." Bill sums up as the group stands transfixed at the sight of the kirin statue.
I guess Yachiru was right about saying that adding that corridor would help add to the awe of the common room. He muses as he motions for them to follow him as he heads for the study which has likely been transformed into a theater for the night. The group takes a few minutes before they trail after him.
"I'm kind of surprise by the lack of orange and brown your common room has." A fourth year Ravenclaw says and he pauses to give the teen a questioning look. "Well, that is your house's colors, right?" The teenager presses and he nods.
"I kind of figured that a house colors is just to help the teachers tell which house you're part of from a distance." He admits as he turns the door knob to the study. Yachiru seem to be busy drinking some soda when they enter into the room.
The young pink hair girl waves a greeting as he moves to the film projector to get ready to set up the movie. Once the group of non-Kirin students settle down and begin to relax, Yachiru declares that they're going to vote on which films they will see tonight and reads off the list of films Yachiru and him had created.
Those few among the eighteen who weren't muggleborn students were confused but it takes about ten minutes for the votes to be counted and he then summons Star Wars: A New Hope. Once he's dimmed the lights and activated the enchanted film projector, he walks to his seat to enjoy the movie since he hasn't seen this one before.
Farewell Feast
I really got to thank the House Elves for getting those D&D manuals. He decides as he watches as all the teachers once more transform into hellish looking beings.
This time not only did he have two potions slipped in to their drinks but he also managed to tag them with certain blue prints that would interact with the two potions so that none of the teachers transform into the same body shape or style.
A quick glance at Yachiru reveals that she also finds what happened to be pretty funny. I'm so going to do this next year too. He decides as Dumbledore's two heads begin to argue with each other while Snape glares directly at Yachiru; as if believing that she's the one responsible for this prank.
So Ends Year One of the Kirin House