A/N:I don't know where my beta is, so I decided to just post this anyway. Demonic-Dragon-Eyed-Chic, I miss you!
I've had one or two comments about Harry's hair colour – I was under the impression that brunet refers to both brown-haired and black-haired people. If it's not, then what's the term for black-haired?
Also, in this story there is no Hokage spying ball thingie. It served no purpose in the anime except as a way to switch scenes in the first episode when it could have been used for so much more. I mean, the Hokage knew where Naruto was and instead of getting some ninja to escort him back with the scroll, he just watched as a traitor to the village almost killed two of its citizens without doing anything. And I won't even mention how useful that would have been against Danzou or Orochimaru. So I figured that either I would add it but have it used sensibly, or just omit it entirely. I went for the second option.
Parseltongue is in bold italics.
Most people who know anything about Uzumaki Naruto would freeze in shock at the sight of the energetic blond sitting quietly in Konoha's public library, studiously pouring over books and scrolls to ensure his success in the upcoming genin exams. It was too bad then that no one came across the blonde's silent form, since Naruto would have certainly enjoyed their expressions. But perhaps it was for the best that there were no witness to the odd spectacle; since not only would they see Naruto studying, but they would also notice how a spare brush was filling a scroll with information seemingly on its own.
One of the most useful spells that Harry had ever taught Naruto had to be the copying charm. The spell allowed you to copy anything written or drawn, as long as you had a writing utensil and something for the copy to be placed on (such as an empty scroll or a blank piece of paper). Naruto, who was not allowed to borrow books from the library due to his less than stellar track record of bringing back library materials late and sometimes a bit torn or with some food spilt on it, had become dependent on the spell for learning new things since his only other option would be to study at the library and the blond could only stand to be quiet and behaved (as you must be in the library) for only so long. But with the spell (and use of a storage scrolls which the Sandaime had taught him how to make), Naruto could get as much information as he wanted to pursue at his leisure. Unfortunately Harry didn't have as much use for it since most books in his world were charmed against such spells which encourage plagiarism. The blond thought it was rather ironic that a spell, developed in Harry's world and eagerly learned by said brunet, was next to useless to him while it became so important to Naruto when he had only learnt it reluctantly.
Once the brush lay still, Naruto gathered his no longer blank scrolls and notebooks and stored them all in a storage scroll. He smiled and stretched as he got ready to leave the library – he had been in there for what seemed like forever! With a bright smile to the suspicious librarian Naruto left and headed to his apartment, ready to add to his ever increasing home library.
"All students are to go to their dormitories immediately. All classes and extra-curricular activities will be suspended for the time being. Food will be brought up to the common rooms. Thank you."
Harry and everyone else looked up in confusion as McGonagall's voice echoed throughout the school. It had been a fairly quiet and peaceful June day and Harry and the other second year Gryffindors had been spending their free period finishing an essay for Snape due the next day.
"I wonder what that was about." Pavarti said as they packed up their stuff to leave.
"Isn't it obvious?" Seamus replied. "There must have been another attack. I wonder who it was."
"Hopefully not another Gryffindor; we've had more casualties than all the other houses put together!" Dean exclaimed.
They continued speculating until they reached the common room, where the solemn atmosphere told them that it was indeed another Gryffindor who was the victim.
"Who was it?" Neville asked solemnly.
The crowd guiltily avoided their gazes, which confused the second years until a voice cut through the oppressive silence.
"Ron..." Percy beckoned his younger brother to him. The crowds moved so that the second years had a clear view of Fred and George holding each other and the red-rimmed eyes of all three boys.
"Ginny,...Ginny's been,..." Percy spoke again, unable to finish.
"What...?" Ron asked, unable to accept what his older brother implied. "No. No! Ginny's a pureblood! There's no reason for the Heir to go after her!"
"Ron..." Percy started again, somehow conveying support, understanding and chastisement. Ron shook his head and then ran up to the second year boy's dorm. His older brother's slowly followed after him. In the ensuing silence of the Weasleys' departure, Harry and Neville looked to each other, unsure of what to do.
Naruto stubbornly held back his tears as he jealously and bitterly regarded his classmates proudly displaying their headbands – marks of their adulthood and triumph as an official ninja of Konoha – to their loving and supportive families. It wasn't fair! Why couldn't he have passed as well – he knew that he had to have done well on the written portion, prepared as he was by Iruka-sensei himself. He knew that he was among the best (if not the best) at taijutsu thanks to his friend Lee and his green-clad sensei. He knew that he was fairly decent at ninjutsu – for despite his crappy chakra control, he had the largest amount of chakra by far. Really, the only part of the genin exam he had failed outright had been the genjutsu portion (stupid clone jutsu!). But apparently it still wasn't enough to earn the blond a coveted position into the respected ranks of Konoha's shinobi.
Naruto's inner musing was interrupted as he felt eyes on him.
"Yes, that's the demon brat." One woman whispered to the other. "I hear he's the only one who didn't pass."
"Thanks heavens; imagine letting a monster like him become a ninja! How shameful!" The other replied with a disgusted sneer.
Naruto couldn't take it anymore; he quickly left to a random rooftop, unwilling to go to his usual haunts in case Iruka-sensei or Jiji decided to come looking for him – right then Naruto wanted nothing more than to be left alone.
Wallowing in self-pity wasn't usually a pastime Naruto indulged in, despite his less than ideal childhood. But this time he just couldn't stop himself, no matter what he used to try and stay positive (e.g. thoughts of ramen, the knowledge that he could always try again next year, etc.). Sure, he had already failed the exam twice before, and therefore many would be confused as to why it struck as such a hard blow to fail this time. But Naruto had been so sure that this time he would pass, this time he would get one step closer to his goals. After all, this was the year that his age group passed, so even if he had failed before it just meant that he wasn't a prodigy, not that he wasn't any good. But now, he would be seen as a failure even if he did manage to pass next year. He would have to endure the Old Man's silent disappointment, Iruka-sensei's pity, Har-
Naruto's breath left him as if someone gave him a solid punch in the gut. Harry. He would have to go to the dreamscape tonight and face his expectant brother with the news that he had failed again. How could he face Harry like this? Like a complete failure? How could his brother ever be proud of him now?
The blond was saved from his panic attack from one of his academy teachers, and the one who had judged the genjutsu portion of the exam, Mizuki-sensei.
"Naruto; I've been looking all over for you. You left quite suddenly after the exam was over." The man said kindly, settling himself next to the boy.
"Mizuki-sensei." Naruto greeted, not bothering to say or do anything else as he continued to wallow in self pity. The older man just sighed before he addressed Naruto once again.
"You know, failing the genin exam isn't the end of the world. You'll have a whole extra year to improve your skills and you'll be sure to pass next time, so buck up."
Naruto continued ignoring the other and his encouraging words.
"From what I understand, you are friends with a genin named Rock Lee; is that correct?" Mizuki asked.
Curious about the abrupt change in topic, Naruto looked up and slowly nodded.
"Then you are aware that he is unable to consciously mould his chakra and therefore is unable to use jutsus?" Mizuki continued.
"Yes..." Naruto replied.
"Well," Mizuki said, leaning over conspiratorially. "How do you think he was able to pass the genin exams without being able to do jutsu?"
Naruto was struck silent. Previously he had assumed that it was the all around mark that deemed if you passed or not, but considering how Naruto's all around mark should have guaranteed him a headband, Naruto admitted that he didn't know the details of the exam, and he said as much to Mizuki.
"Well you see," Mizuki said, looking rather excited. "when students have a large potential but for one reason or another can't pass the genin exam, we allow them to take additional tests to make up the portion or portions of the original exam that they have failed."
"Really?" Naruto asked, perking up at the thought that he could still face Harry tonight with his head held high.
"Yes really." Mizuki replied. "The other teachers and I have decided that you deserve to take the additional test to see if you can still become a genin. That is, if you're interested in taking the test of course?"
Naruto all but jumped the teacher. "Yes! Yes, I wanna take the test!"
"Good." Mizuki smiled with satisfaction. "You are of course familiar with the Sandaime's study in the Hokage Tower?"
"Yeah..." Naruto agreed confused. He had been in that room more times than he could count, but he didn't see what it had to do with a test for becoming a genin.
"Do you know what the forbidden scroll looks like?" Mizuki asked.
"Yeah, it's the biggest scroll in the room." Naruto replied. The forbidden scroll held techniques which were either too dangerous and/or too hard for anyone but the elite to try – not even all the ANBU have seen the full contents of the scroll, let alone mastered a technique from within it.
"Well, for this task you will be tested on your skills of stealth and learning." Mizuki said. "The real forbidden scroll will be replaced with a fake one, and your job is to steal it, take it to a safe location that I (as your "squad leader") will designate, and then you must learn and successfully execute at least one technique from the scroll. This is a re-enactment of a mission to infiltrate enemy territory and secure information. You have two hours to prepare, and then the test will start. That means you can no longer be seen and heard by anyone else at that time since you're supposed to be in enemy territory, do you understand?"
"Perfectly!" Naruto replied, itching to start his "mission".
"Excellent." Mizuki said, satisfied with Naruto's enthusiasm. "Then I expect to see you at the abandoned outpost 5 kilometres East by North-East from the Hokage Tower in four hours. That'll give you two hours to steal the scroll and master a technique. Good luck."
Naruto wasted no time in speeding away to his apartment to get ready. He wished he had learned the colour-changing spell since bright orange wouldn't help him in this mission, but since it had seemed to be a rather unimportant spell it hadn't been high on his or Harry's list for performing it wandlessly/making up the equivalent hand seals, so unfortunately neon orange would have to do. Picturing his brother's proud and happy face when he tells of his ninja status, Naruto ran with a smile.
"Are you sure we should really be out of the common room? McGonagall said we should stay there no matter what. And we still have to pack since they're going to be sending us home first thing tomorrow morning unless they find the culprit." Neville said, without really meaning it. The blond had been just as anxious to leave the stifling atmosphere of Gryffindor Tower and allow Ron and his brothers some privacy as Harry. And as much as they were avoiding the issue and pretending that this was just a casual (if not fast-paced) stroll to clear their heads, they were really hoping to find clues about Ginny and the Chamber since chances were that her time was swiftly running out. There had already been one fatality – Umbridge's body had been found beside Ginny's backpack just outside of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. They didn't want the mortality rate to jump to 2.
"If we're out here anyway, we might as well take a look." Harry rationalized. "And besides, I want to know why everything's happening there – Mrs. Norris was attacked there, we made the polyjuice potion and found that diary there and now Umbridge died there. It's like a hotspot of abnormal activity this year."
It wasn't long before they came across the scene of the crime. Aurors had already come to collect the body and investigate the scene hours ago, so now there was nothing there to suggest a murder took place except for the message written in red paint: Her skeleton will remain in the Chamber forever. Harry however ignored the message and went straight into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, Neville following behind him.
"So what exactly are you looking for?" the blond asked.
"I don't know; I just think that it's highly suspicious that two of the three attacks happened here – especially since it was the only two attacks with a message left behind." Harry replied. After a cursorily look which revealed nothing of interest, Harry called out to see if the resident ghost was nearby. "Myrtle? Are you here?"
Neville jumped as Myrtle glided right through him in order to float in front of Harry. "Yes? What do you want? If you're here about the murder you might as well leave; I've already told the aurors I didn't see or hear anything so you better not badger me about it too." The ghost huffed, obviously in a bad mood from the aforementioned investigation.
"No, it's not that," Harry said, trying to think of another way to ask about what happened outside her bathroom without ticking her off even more. "We just happened to be walking by, and we thought we'd stop by so we could ask you, err...so we could ask you..."
"Ask you about how you died." Neville cut in, saving Harry from thinking up an excuse himself.
"How I died?" Myrtle repeated, voice tight with emotion. Neville and Harry looked at each other, unsure whether it was a good sign or a bad one.
"Yeah," Neville agreed, going with his excuse for hoping it would work. "I mean, we've spent a lot of time here with you this past year and it just occurred to us now that we didn't know how you ended up here in the first place. And I thought that, well, you seemed like a nice gho-, err person, and we ought to get to each other a bit more, yeah?"
The ghost looked at Neville as if she had never seen him, before letting out a squeal of pure joy. "You think I'm nice? You really like me?"
"Yeah, of course." Neville replied, gaining confidence when it seemed that Myrtle wasn't taking offence to his query. "I mean, you never bothered us or got us in trouble last term when we were making the polyjuice potion in here. I think that it was awfully nice of you."
Myrtle gave Neville the only genuine smile either boy had ever seen on her face. "Well, since you asked so nicely I guess I can tell you." Myrtle said coyly, the darkening silver on her cheeks letting the boys know that yes, ghosts can blush too. "It happened right here in this bathroom, around 50 years ago. I had been hiding in one of the cubicles because Olive Hornby had been making fun of my glasses, when I heard this hissing sound. But what really got to me was that it sounded like a boy. So I opened the cubicle door to tell him to bugger off and use his own bathroom, when suddenly," the ghost paused for dramatic effect "I died."
Neville and Harry shared a look. "You died? Just like that?" Neville asked.
"Yes," Myrtle replied, obviously relishing in the fact that people cared enough to ask the details of her sudden demise. "I just saw a pair of humongous yellow eyes, and the next thing I knew, I was dead."
"Where did you see the eyes?" Harry asked. Obviously Myrtle had died via basilisk stare, and remembering Dumbledore's hypothesis of the snake using the school plumbing to move around, chances were that a secret entrance to a tunnel/pipe connected to the Chamber was somewhere within the bathroom.
"Over there." Myrtle said, indicating the sinks. Harry and Neville wasted no time in turning taps and searching the pipes for a clue. Finally they found a sink where the water didn't run and a detailed carving of a snake was etched onto one of the taps.
"Well here goes nothing..." Harry murmured. "Open Sesame."
There was a grinding noise of shifting stone as the floor beneath the 'broken' sink moved and the sink itself shifted out of the way, revealing a large pipe wider than Harry was tall. It looked slimy and gross, but with a determined look to the other both Harry and Neville knew that they would be going down with no hesitation.
"Myrtle," Harry spoke, his tone serious and in command. "We need you to alert the professors and any aurors with them that we've found the Chamber of Secrets – they're probably in McGonagall's office or the staff room. Bring them here right away. Neville and I will try and get Ginny."
Myrtle nodded, but right before she vanished through the wall she turned back. "Neville; if you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet with me."
Harry held back a snort at Neville's blush as Myrtle left. With one final look of determination, the boys slid down the giant pipe.
'For a gaki wearing neon orange, he's not half bad at sneaking around.' The monkey-masked ANBU thought as he watched the Kyuubi vessel stealthily slip into the Hokage tower. Despite the hate and scorn the villagers and a handful of ninja stubbornly clung to in regards of the blue-eyed boy, as ANBU their loyalty and duty was to the Hokage first and foremost, and any who displayed the smallest bit of contempt towards the boy were swiftly dismissed. Currently, even those who had been leery and distrustful of the seal or who had just managed to hide and ignore their dislike successfully had been quickly swayed from their time of being the child's shadows and silent protectors as he grew. It was easy to see that the boy was as different from the Kyuubi as you can be; demonstrated each time the blond refused to use his developing ninja skills against those who hurt and slighted him, how he always kept a smile on his face and stayed optimistic, and how he genuinely cared for the Hokage and Konoha.
Therefore, even though at least half a dozen ANBU were aware of the blond child's presence, none made any movements to actually stop the boy from being in the Hokage Tower despite the fact that it was supposed to be limited to high-rank ninjas only during the night. After all, the boy was close with the Hokage and this wouldn't be the first time that Uzumaki had "put in extra hours" in order to try and catch the village leader flatfooted in a prank. Too bad he had yet to succeed – some of those pranks had been well thought out and executed.
When the boy left a few minutes later, the monkey-masked ninja went in to assess the damage. He was shocked to find the Sandaime unconscious with a bloody nose.
"Uzumaki finally got him?!" he asked surprised.
"Hmm." A female tiger-masked ANBU replied. "It was definitely a, unique attack. I don't know whether I should congratulate the kid or kill him."
The monkey-masked ANBU was curious as to what the boy had done, but he had a strong enough sense of self-preservation to refrain from asking his tiger-masked colleague. Besides, he'd hear it soon enough in the ANBU grapevine of information/gossip.
"I'm surprised he made such a quick retreat – I thought for sure he would have stayed around to gloat." He stated.
"Well, I guess he was trying to escape his punishment. He did sneak into the Sandaime's study afterwards though; maybe he left another surprise for our dear Hokage and didn't want to ruin it." She hypothesized.
"Hmmm. Should we wake Hokage-sama?" the male ANBU asked.
"No," The tiger-masked ANBU replied. "He deserves what he got. Besides, I'm curious how long Uzumaki's technique will keep Sandaime-sama down for."
Monkey nodded his acquiesce and went back to his original post, wishing that he could have seen the 'attack' first hand.
Umino Iruka is generally an easy-going and fairly passive man. Though he is often teased by his colleagues for his mothering nature and goody-two shoes lifestyle, he rarely ever takes offence or gets mad. But those few who have experienced the young man's temper (generally misbehaving students and anyone foolish enough to compromise a child's safety in his vicinity) could tell that as long as the man's fuse may seem, when it blew it was a sight to behold.
And right now Umino Iruka was mad. No, scratch that; Umino Iruka was beyond being mad or pissed off. Umino Iruka's favourite student (who he thought of as a little brother) had been insulted, sabotaged and his spirits crushed. Umino Iruka wasn't after an apology; oh no, Umino Iruka was after blood.
"Sandaime-sama!" the young teacher called out, ignoring the score of ANBU leaving from whatever meeting the Hokage had just held.
"I'm afraid whatever concerns you have will have to wait Iruka-kun." The Hokage said, more serious than the chunnin had ever seen him. "I'm dealing with a pressing issue right now, but I will speak to you first thing in the morning."
While normally that would be more than enough for the young man to apologize for taking up the Hokage's time and promise to be back the next morning, right now Iruka was on a mission and he wouldn't be stopped.
"Hokage-sama, I'm here about Naruto's test scores. He shouldn't have failed the genin exam. I was going over the results of each student, so that their future jounin instructors have a working knowledge as to their strengths and weaknesses, when I noticed that Naruto's overall score wasn't a failing grade; it wasn't even at the bottom of the class. Either there was some sort of misunderstanding (which I seriously doubt), or someone had purposely misled everyone to believe that he had failed."
As the hopeful genins' primary instructor (and therefore the one who knew the students' strengths, weaknesses and personalities the most) Iruka had been stuck all day making potential teams for the graduates, leaving the actual genin exam to be conducted by other instructors. It was also to prevent anyone complaining about favouritism since it was common knowledge within the village that Iruka and Naruto were close. He had been so upset on Naruto's behalf when he had heard the blond had failed, but after looking into the boy's tests and the proctors' notes, Iruka realized that Naruto had in fact passed no matter what everybody was saying.
Anything the Hokage would have responded with was interrupted with the sudden arrival of an ANBU.
"We have searched Uzumaki's apartment and there is no sign of either the boy or the scroll. Unit 6 will continue searching the surrounding neighbourhood before branching out."
Sarutobi gave a nod of both acknowledgement and dismissal and the ANBU disappeared.
"H-Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked. "What's going on? Why are the ANBU looking for Naruto?"
Sarutobi gave the academy teacher a searching look. "While normally I wouldn't divulge such information to a mere chunnin, your close bond with Naruto and your ability to find him might prove useful. And if we don't find Naruto soon, I'll have to change my order from retrieving him unharmed to retrieving him by any means necessary."
Iruka's eyes widened as the Hokage informed him of the situation, and it wasn't long before the chunnin was running as fast he could to find the missing 11 year old. The scarred man swore that once he found that boy...well, it wasn't going to be pretty.
Harry crept into the Chamber silently, alert for any signs of the deadly basilisk or mysterious heir. He hoped that Ginny was close by and unguarded – he just wanted to snag her and go back to meet with Neville who had been trapped on the wrong side of a cave in earlier in the tunnel and was now busy clearing a path for them to go through. He'd let the professors and ministry deal with the culprit themselves; his first priority was Ginny's safety.
Finally he caught sight of the fallen form of Ron's little sister. He resisted the impulse to run up and check if she was alright, and continued to creep along wary of an ambush. Long minutes passed and yet nothing happened as Harry got as close as possible to the fallen red-head while staying in the shadows. Finally deciding that it was as safe as it was going to get, Harry swiftly ran over to the younger girl and started performing some spells to assess her situation. The black-haired boy relaxed a bit in relief when he realized that Ginny was alright except for being low on energy and in a coma – while it wasn't the best situation it didn't seem to be life threatening at this point as her pulse was quite steady if not a little weak. But just as Harry was about to perform the levitation charm to float her back to help, he caught sight of a familiar small black book lying open on the ground, almost completely hidden by Ginny's body. Harry cautiously picked up the book in confusion – what would Riddle's diary be doing down here?
Suddenly, a movement at the corner of Harry's eye caused him to crouch defensively over the inert girl and spin around to face the threat.
Harry warily watched as a teenage boy, no older than 16, calmly walked up to him without a care in the world. The boy was fairly tall with dark brown hair that was almost black and bright greenish-blue eyes. The boy reminded Harry a bit of the muggle perception of ghosts in the way that the teenager's colours were a bit faded and the edges that made up his features seemed a bit blurry and distorted. Harry was sure he'd never seen him before despite the Slytherin crest and prefect badge on the boy's Hogwart's robes.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Harry asked the stranger, training his wand on the unknown boy.
"Who am I?" The other replied, still maintaining his casual air as if the fact that Harry's wand and hostility was nothing to be concerned about. "I'm insulted that you haven't figured it out Harry Potter; you are holding my diary after all."
"Riddle?" Harry asked, confused. The diary was dated to be 50 years old.
Harry took Tom's smug look of superiority as confirmation. Harry processed everything he knew about the situation and tried to think of a rational explanation. "So what; you're a ghost or something? And Slytherin's Heir? You're the one setting a basilisk on everybody?"
"Not quite. I am indeed Slytherin's Heir, but I'm neither a ghost nor the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets this time, who left messages on the wall, who murdered the half-giant's roosters, or who ordered the basilisk to attack all those people this past year. That was all little Ginny's doing." Tom replied, seemingly amused by the whole situation.
"What?" Harry asked, surprised. Though he didn't know the girl all that well, he had spent the majority of last summer with her and her family and was pretty sure that she wasn't that malicious. And besides, he was pretty sure that she wasn't a parselmouth either. "She may be the one who did those things, but I'm positive that you're the one responsible when all is said and done." Harry stated.
Riddle raised his eyebrow in surprise. "I'm impressed that you figured it out so quickly; perhaps there really is something more to you. She didn't take much coercing though; it's hardly my fault that she is just a silly girl who pours herself into a strange diary without an ounce of caution. But I'm not really interested in what goes on in the mind of little girls; what I want to know is how you survived the killing curse all those years ago. How is it possible for an infant to defeat the most powerful Dark Lord in over a century?"
"Listen;" Harry demanded not in the mood to deal with the arrogant twat. "I don't give a shit as to what you think or want. So here's the deal – you undo whatever the hell you did to Ginny and let me get her to the teachers and then I'll sate your curiosity to your heart's desire."
"I don't think so," Riddle spoke threateningly, finally ditching the blasé facade. "You are both staying right here, fated to never see the light of day again. I've worked too hard to get you here Harry Potter; why do you think I attacked your muggleborn friend, or why I made this useless chit leave a message and come here instead of killing her with none the wiser? It was to lure you here, and there's no way I'll let you out of my sight now."
"Me?" Harry asked in surprise. "You've been targeting me? What for?"
As an explanation Riddle raised his wand and wrote out 'TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE' in giant letters in the air. With a quick flick of the wand the letters rearranged themselves to form 'I AM LORD VOLDEMORT'.
"So you see Harry Potter," Riddle said matter-of-factly as he vanished the chilling sentence. "I had a very good reason to bring you here. Now, I'll ask you again - how did you survive the killing curse?"
'I did it!' Naruto thought proudly as he slumped back in exhaustion and elation. It was now about an hour after he'd arrived at the rendezvous point and fifteen minutes until Mizuki-sensei was due to arrive. The copying charm he'd used had already finished its job about ten minutes ago, and now Naruto possessed a duplicate of all the information from "the enemy scroll" in his pocket. The blond knew that he was all but guaranteed to pass now that he'd made a duplicate on top of mastering one of the techniques from the scroll, and he took the time to bask in the moment.
He'd only been relaxing for a few minutes when his peace was disturbed by his favourite sensei, looking panicked and angry.
"Ohayo Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out in greeting, still too happy, proud, and relaxed to worry about what the scarred instructor was doing out there in such a state. "Watcha doing here?"
"Naruto!" Iruka replied ignoring the friendly greeting. "Do you have any idea what you did?!"
Naruto regarded his sensei in confusion. "Of course I know what I did." Naruto replied matter-of-factly. "I passed Mizuki-sensei's test and now I'm going to be a genin."
Iruka stopped himself from the long and loud lecture he was about to let loose as the blonde's words processed in his brain. "Wai-, what? Mizuki-sensei's test? What are you talking about Naruto?"
"Mizuki-sensei's test; Mizuki-sensei said that students that are just shy of passing the genin exam get to try doing an extra test which will let them become a genin if they pass. And I got the scroll and learned a technique from it like Mizuki-sensei wanted, so I pass. Do you want to see?" Naruto asked, still high on his success.
Iruka's voice died in his throat. He had thought that this was a result of a prank taken too far – that after a bit of scolding, a lecture on boundaries when pranking, and a little ramen at Ichikaru's for a celebration/talk of Naruto's actual scores in the genin exams, the whole episode could be forgotten. But not only did Naruto open and read the scroll (and learn one of its techniques, which is beyond unsafe for a mere academy graduate), but the whole thing was orchestrated by a fellow ninja and stank of betrayal and conspiracy. Iruka knew he had to get Naruto and the scroll out of there A.S.A.P. and alert the Hokage of Mizuki's treachery.
"Naruto, we need to leave now. Give me the scroll and we'll go to see Hokage-sama."
Naruto looked up at the dead serious tone in which Iruka spoke. It was the same one he used when explaining some of the drastic and morbid aspects of certain jutsus or shinobi life. The one he only used when he wanted to convey the seriousness of a situation.
Before Naruto had a chance to reply, he was shoved away by Iruka and hit the ground hard. He looked up to see his teacher among a hail of kunai which had obviously been meant for him.
Naruto's and Iruka's heads whipped around to the source of the projectiles, where a grey-haired chunnin stood on a nearby branch. "The scroll is coming with me."
"Mizuki..." Iruka growled as he pulled out one of the thrown kunai which had become lodged in his thigh. The academy instructor was angry at the betrayal of his peer who he had thought of as a best friend.
"Mizuki-sensei...Iruka-sensei...what's going on?" Naruto asked as he tried to make sense of the open hostility between the two instructors who had until now seemed like such good friends.
"Mizuki is a traitor to Konoha and its people; he tricked you into stealing the forbidden scroll for him. Under no circumstances are you to trust him or give him the scroll; do you understand?" Iruka replied, never taking his eyes off of the treacherous chunnin in front of him. Once the scarred chunnin saw the blonde's hesitant nod from the corner of his eye he continued. "Good. Now take the scroll and run; I'll hold him off until the ANBU get here."
The grey-haired ninja laughed. "Please! You, hold me off?! Do you not remember who among us is the stronger one Iruka? Remember, I used to be a jounin before I became aware of Konoha's hypocritical and weak ways.* There's no way you, who have never strived to become anything more than an academy teacher, could ever hope to beat me!"
Iruka ignored Mizuki's taunts as he charged forward and attacked. "Naruto! Go now!"
Naruto didn't want to leave Iruka like this, but he knew that Mizuki was after the scroll. And since it was the real forbidden scroll and not a fake duplicate filled lesser techniques like he'd been led to believe for his "test", Naruto knew that it shouldn't have left the Hokage Tower; not only would Konoha suffer from the loss of such high level techniques, it would be disastrous if one of their enemies got a hold of it.
But he had only managed a couple of steps before Iruka let out a panicked cry and tackled him to the ground. Naruto looked up past the pain-filled face to see a giant shuriken lodged in the teachers back.
"Now why would you do a thing like that?" Mizuki asked, sounding disappointed in Iruka's decision to shield Naruto from the giant projectile. "Don't tell me you actually care for that monster!"
"He's not a monster!" Iruka replied vehemently, turning around to face the traitor after pulling out the shuriken.
"Of course he is!" Mizuki retorted with certainty. "You know he is! The whole village knows he is! Why do you think everybody hates him?"
"Wh-what?" Naruto asked with growing trepidation and confusion.
"Don't say anything Mizuki! You know the law – you can't tell him!" Iruka yelled to the other chunnin.
"Law? What law?" Naruto asked, feeling as though he had to know what they were talking about.
"Why, the law that says no one can call you what you really are – the nine-tailed demon who attacked our village twelve years ago and killed Iruka's parents': the Kyuubi!"
"Ky-Kyuubi?" Naruto repeated, stunned. "But the Fourth killed the Kyuubi!"
Mizuki laughed at the blonde's naivety. "No; that's what we tell the younger generation. The truth is that Kyuubi wasn't killed, but sealed away. In you."
Naruto unconsciously took a step back, shaking his head in denial. He wasn't the Kyuubi, he was just a kid. But Naruto couldn't ignore the little voice in his head which pointed out the illogical hate most villagers had towards him, how the biju were supposedly immortal, how his birthday happened to be the same day that the Kyuubi had supposedly died.
"But that doesn't make him the Kyuubi himself!" Iruka protested, defending the boy he saw as a little brother. "He's the demon's jailer; the one keeping Konoha safe from the nine-tails! Yodaime-sama himself wanted us to treat Naruto as a hero!"
Naruto felt some hope return with Iruka's speech. Iruka didn't think he was a monster! And what's more, the Yodaime, who was practically a legend, thought he, Naruto, was a hero!
"Enough of this!" Mizuki yelled out. "I thought you'd understand Iruka, but apparently you have been fooled by the fox's tricks. No matter; I'll just kill two instead of one tonight."
With that said Mizuki grabbed his second giant windmill shuriken and ran straight at the younger chunnin. "Die!"
Naruto's eyes narrowed in determination as he intercepted Mizuki's attack, and using a move Fuzzy-Brows taught him had the traitorous academy teacher flying back through the air, the shuriken flying far out of reach.
Naruto landed protectively in front of his precious person ready to defend to the death.
"Don't touch Iruka-sensei!" Naruto growled out threateningly. "Or I'll kill you!"
Mizuki stood up a bit shakily; he didn't expect an academy student, let alone this academy student, to have such a strong kick or such good taijutsu skills. But he easily shook off any doubt or shock.
"Ha!" Mizuki laughed. "You think you can stop me?! I'll finish off a brat like you in two seconds flat!"
"Just try!" Naruto goaded. "Anything you do to me, I'll return a thousand fold!"
That said Naruto put his hands together to perform the technique he'd spent an hour mastering in that very clearing. The blond thought it only fair that Mizuki saw the results of his own treachery.
"Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
'This is f***ing ridiculous!' Harry thought as he quickly rolled out of the way, saving himself from the fate of being basilisk food. He might be far ahead in terms of power and knowledge compared to his year-mates, and have additional shinobi training equal to that of a newly-graduated genin, but that didn't mean he was ready to take on a fifty foot snake which could not only squish, swallow or crush him with ease, but could also kill by making eye contact and had foot long fangs coated with a poison so strong it melted the stone floor. Right now it was all Harry could do to stay alive and keep the snake's attention on himself rather than Ginny's prone form. Harry had tried briefly to go on the offensive, but he had quickly learned that spells seemed to bounce off it and even the small kitchen knives Harry carried around as substitutes for kunai did nothing. The only vulnerability Harry could detect was the face, and Harry wasn't willing to get close enough to its mighty jaws in order to score a hit. If only he didn't have to keep his own eyes shut and then maybe he could have taken out the basilisk's eyes by throwing the knives from a distance.
"You might as well give up." The gloating voice of Tom Riddle said as Harry continued running, diving and dodging every which way. "It's going to get you eventually. And even if it doesn't, you'll be trapped here forever. Who else besides you and I can even open the Chamber? Nobody! Just let my pet end your existence quickly and painlessly instead of drawing it out slowly and painfully through starvation."
Harry growled and wished not for the first time he could shut Riddle up and then curse and hex him repeatedly for good measure. Unfortunately all spells just went through the memory/ghost/thing – it was one of the first things Harry had tried. Riddle would only be solid enough to duel when the other boy finished draining Ginny of her life force – something Harry wanted to avoid at all costs. He had managed to slow down the process by using a stasis spell on the first-year girl, but unless Harry found a way to stop Riddle, Ginny's time was steadily running out.
"The wizarding world is as good as mine," Riddle continued as if Harry cared about what he was saying. "It won't be long until I'm at full power, and then I'll continue purging the school of filth."
Harry ducked behind a pillar and took out Riddle's diary, sending an 'incendo' at it. The flames didn't actually do any damage, like every other spell Harry had sent at the stupid book, but Harry wasn't about to stop trying since he was convinced that Riddle would be destroyed with the diary. And besides, it was always gratifying to see Riddle flinch each time he sent a hex at it.
"Stop that!" Riddle demanded as Harry sent a cutting curse at the diary. "Haven't you already realized by now that it's pointless? I'm the greatest wizard to ever live! There's no one that can help you now!"
Harry's retort died in his throat as a faint musical sound reached his ears. Riddle seemed to hear it too since he had stopped and tilted his head to listen better. It was becoming louder as the source approached and Harry couldn't find words to describe it – the song reached past his ears into his very being, filling him with hope and bravery. It was like everything good in the world, in song form.
Riddle and the basilisk seemed to be equally affected since neither moved an inch since the noise had first been detected. Finally, with a final burst of song which rattled Harry's bones, a fiery figure swooped down from above, dropping something at Harry's feet and then settled on Harry's shoulder, projecting warmth and comfort from where it touched.
"Fawkes?" Harry asked, recognising the bird from all those months ago in Dumbledore's office. But now the phoenix was no longer sickly and old nor young and bald – now the phoenix glowed with strength and health and was truly a sight to behold.
"A phoenix..." Riddle muttered, seeming to break out of the Fawkes induced stupor. "And the sorting hat. That's what Hogwart's sends to its protector?! A raggedy tattered hat and a songbird?!"
Harry ignored Riddle's laughing as he looked to down and realized that Riddle spoke the truth; the thing that Fawkes had dropped at his feet was the school's old sorting hat. He had no idea what good either would do, but he knew enough about magic to know that anything could happen.
And sure enough, Riddle hadn't even finished his laughing fit before Fawkes spread his wings and soared into the air, heading straight for the basilisk. Riddle watched in mild amusement as the swan sized bird (though still tiny in comparison to the giant serpent) dove and swerved as it attacked. But all amusement vanished when Riddle realised the bird's intention as it dove and successfully pierced one of the basilisk's bulbous eyes.
Harry didn't bother looking up as the snake gave an angry and agonised hiss; he hid behind one of the Chamber's columns and put on the sorting hat.
'Er, hello? Sorting Hat?' Harry thought, hoping to find out what the sorting hat was brought for. 'There's a giant basilisk which wants to kill students here, and I was hoping for a little help to kill it.'
Harry waited for a moment but the sorting hat remained silent. Just when he reached up to take the hat off, something hard hit him on the head. The second-year boy swore as he rubbed his head, letting the sorting hat and the object within fall to the floor with a muffled clang. Harry reached in and pulled out a long sword, adorned with rubies and engraved with the name 'Godric Gryffindor'.
Harry had been hoping for a rooster so that he wouldn't have to get to close to the basilisk, but beggars can't be choosers and all that. He peeked around the column to see that Fawkes had successfully pecked out both eyes of the basilisk and Riddle was trying to command the vengeful snake to forget about the phoenix and attack Harry once again. Harry snuck up while they were still distracted, and gripping the hilt with both hands he plunged the sword as far as possible into the thick body of the snake. It wasn't like cutting butter with a hot knife or anything, but it did pierce the basilisk's scales and for that Harry was happy.
The snake hissed angrily and twisted around to attack, barely giving Harry enough time to yank the sword out and evade the snapping jaws. They continued this game of stabbing, snapping and evading for long minutes, Fawkes helping by distracting the snake whenever possible. Even so, there was only two or three substantial wounds that the basilisk sustained since most of Harry's attacks only had time to shallowly cut before Harry had to dodge the poisonous fangs or swinging tail once again.
Riddle watched on with growing impatience and anger. While at first the idea that the little second-year could use a sword almost as tall as himself to defeat a basilisk a hundred times his size was amusing, the longer it went on the less amusing it became. Riddle casually pointed Ginny's stolen wand towards the action and waited for the right moment.
He had been mid-dodge when Harry had seen it coming. He had tried as best as possible to avoid the incoming blasting hex as well as the snake's gaping mouth. Though he avoided one, he came a bit too close to the blasting hex. It hit the floor right beside him, sending rocks and chunks of floor flying every which way; some of which slammed into Harry, throwing him to the floor. The snake, sensing the vulnerability of its prey, opened up to swallow the boy whole. Harry didn't even have enough time to stand up as he lifted the sword above him, hoping to fend off the attack. The basilisk stabbed Harry in the stomach with a poisoned fang as Harry thrust the sword through the roof of its mouth into the snake's brain, killing it instantly. Harry didn't process his victory, or the snake falling to its side causing the fang lodged in the boy's stomach to snap off from the jaw. All Harry knew was fiery pain as he writhed in agony on the stone floor.
Riddle walked over to the convulsing and bloody boy. "You killed my snake. But it got you too. Basilisk poison is the most lethal in the world – I'm surprised you haven't died yet. You're magic must be trying desperately to keep you alive. It's futile though; you probably only have a few agonizing seconds left, tops."
Harry didn't hear a word of Riddle's speech though; his mind was consumed by the pain. Seeing this Riddle decided on another course of action. "Maybe I'll ease your suffering for you; diffindo."
But the severing charm was intercepted as Fawkes flew down protectively over the dying child. The poor phoenix was cut in two, the top half by Harry's chest and the bottom half over Harry's thighs. But even with Fawkes' intervention, Harry still got a deep gash across his abdomen, though not as severe as it would have been.
Riddle took in the sight of the felled boy, still impaled with the basilisk fang, large gash across his body, covered basilisk blood, phoenix blood (and phoenix parts), and his own blood. "Pathetic." Riddle sneered. "I think I'll just leave you like this, so you can die like the filth you are." With one last look of contempt, Riddle turned his back to the boy and walked away.
Iruka was still staring in shock as the last shadow clone popped away leaving the sheepish original Naruto and the bloody, bruised and beaten form of Mizuki alone in the middle of the clearing.
"Heh heh," Naruto laughed self-consciously, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I think I might have over did it a bit."
Iruka couldn't answer him just yet; he was still trying to remember how to blink, let alone working out how to talk. He couldn't believe that Naruto, an academy student with terrible chakra control, had mastered an S-rank jutsu that most jounins had problems with, and had used it to create hundreds more clones than Iruka thought possible to create with that technique! He bet that even the Hokage would only be able to make about a hundred clones, and yet Naruto had just made about three hundred and was hardly winded!
"Iruka-sensei, are you okay?" Naruto asked once satisfied that Mizuki wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon.
"Yes, of course." Iruka replied, still in awe of what Naruto accomplished. Suddenly the chunnin remembered what had brought him out of his house in the first place earlier that evening. "Naruto, come here; I have a surprise for you."
Naruto eagerly made his way to his sensei, always happy to get a surprise. Iruka bade him to sit down so that they were facing each other eye to eye.
"Now close your eyes."
Naruto did as asked, though he was almost vibrating with anticipation. Iruka let loose an indulgent smile at Naruto's antics as he swiftly untied his headband and tied it around Naruto's forehead.
"Okay, open your eyes now."
Naruto brought his hands up to his head, feeling the object that Iruka placed there. His eyes widened in shock as he processed the familiar symbol carved into the metal plate on his forehead and Iruka's lack of hitai-ite.
"Congratulations Naruto, in making the rank of genin."
Naruto gave a yell of shocked delight and threw himself at the other man. He was so happy he thought he'd burst!
The two pseudo brothers spent long minutes holding each other, happy to relish the moment. Naruto's smile broadened as he thought of his other brother. He couldn't wait to tell Harry about all that had happened; this time it had been his turn to have the adventure!
Though Harry hadn't processed one word of Riddle's speech or any of his recent actions, slowly things were becoming clearer, and the pain was no longer as all-consuming (though it still robbed him of most of his awareness). Harry finally noticed Fawkes' head right beside him, letting pearly tears fall from its eyes into Harry's mouth. Then Harry caught sight of the basilisk fang protruding from his stomach, and with a desperate wrench, yanked it free. Riddle spun around at the sound of the pained cry and saw Harry's shaking hands remove his diary from his robe pocket.
"What are you doing?! Put that down!" Riddle cried, running back to the second year.
Harry didn't hear or notice Riddle since he was solely focused on the diary and the fang, determined to destroy the diary before he died. Riddle yelled as Harry plunged the fang into the diary, causing the venom to eat through the book and spilling ink all over the floor.
Harry barely paid attention to Riddle's convulsing and disappearing form though as he felt himself weaken once again. He looked to Fawkes and noticed for the first time that the bird was split in two, and its eyes were steadily diming as the flow of tears become more sluggish with tears coming fewer and farther in between. Harry finally succumbed to the pain from the basilisk venom and slipped unconscious, moments before Fawkes closed his eyes and succumbed to his own wound. No one was conscious to see Fawkes' body light up in a haze of fire. Or how that fire spread to consume Harry as well.
*For those of you who haven't seen this episode (146 I believe) of the anime, basically Mizuki had killed a fellow leaf ninja on a mission since the other had been injured and, while not life-threatening, the injury would have slowed the team down and perhaps cause them to fail. I don't know if Mizuki really had been a jounin or not, but in this story he had been and then was demoted to chunnin after that incident.
A/N: Yes, I know; I've left it at a cliffhanger. Don't worry, I plan to have the next chapter up within a week.
I've also killed off Umbridge. I originally had plans for her to be more of an opposition for Harry, but obviously I didn't follow through with those plans, so she didn't really do much except serve as a background villain. I wasn't really sure what to do with her, and then the next thing I knew, she's dead.
That's two characters now that I've killed when I hadn't planned on it. Hopefully I won't make this into some sort of habit...
Q&A
your writing style tends towards the 'info-dump' end of the spectrum, which *really* throws off the flow of the story. nothing personal, but i find myself skimming or even skipping the larger paragraphs. a well-developed background is a good thing to have, but shoving it down the reader's throat isn't the best way to tell a story.
Yes, I noticed that. I was rather hoping nobody else would, as impossible as that hope was. One day, when I'm not so lazy, have finished writing the story and what other stories the plot-bunnies insist I write, have a lot of free time, am not lazy (it bears mentioning a second, or better yet fifth time); then I will go back and try to smooth out the story so that it flows more, edit it to make sure I don't keep repeating the same information (and make sure there isn't too much straight-from-canon stuff), and fix up the grammar and tenses so it isn't as horrid. One day. Maybe. Hopefully before we all die of old age.