Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter. I do own the plot and some OC's along the way.
Warnings: Language, OC'ness, Het, Slash, underage, fluff, smut, and abuse to the author, Loss of Kei's cuteness.
Beta: FEARMEfrancis
(Cause it's the) Chuunin Countdown (5 4 3 2 1)
Albus Dumbledore smiled as he sat down to tea with his old friend Arabella Figg. It was a Sunday so he had time to quickly step away from Hogwarts and visit her. He made sure to be able to visit Bella once every two months over tea, and catch up.
The afternoon started as it always did, Bella served tea and biscuits, Albus told her some funny anecdotes about the students, and she regaled him with tales of the latest adventures her cats went on. Close to the end of the afternoon when the tea was getting cold, and the biscuits almost all gone, Albus asked after young Harry Potter.
"Oh just wonderful just wonderful... You always see him and his cousin walking round the neighbourhood. Just last week I was walking back and passed the park, He and his cousin were surrounded by kids and were laughing and having a good time. I still don't know why you worry so much, he seems to have grown just fine." Bella went on.
"Well you know how it is, I just wish for him to have a normal childhood before he enters the magical world in a few months. "
"I'm sure boy with be fine, and he will have his family to support him. I always see his little black head bouncing along beside his cousin blond one. Nearly inseparable those two."
"I was thinking of seeing the boy today... " Albus trailed off.
"Oh Albus today won't work. I saw the Dursleys all get into Vernon's car earlier and drive off. I think they had a day tripped planned to London. The boys won't be back til diner at best."
"Maybe next time then. Now tell me more about Mr. Tibbles."
o.O.o
Kei, Makoto, and Sai stood 50 metres away from the Konoha gate, merely staring at it, all lost in their own thoughts. Kei wore the hunter-nin mask sideways on his head, while Makoto had the giant sword, carefully wrapped and strapped to his back. Sai -Kei didn't want him to be left out of the souvenirs- was standing around wearing Tazuna's hat.
"Kei, you need to see Rikoto." Makoto sighed as he raised a hand to rub the bridge of his nose. "Refusing to walk through the gates is only prolonging it, and if you make me wait out here another minute I will make Rikoto stretch out the appointment as long as possible, and not give you dango at the end." He threatened.
"I don't see why I need to see him..."Kei trailed off as he slightly pouted and refused to look at the older Jounin.
"I read somewhere that when people pressure others to seek medical help, it's showing that they care." Sai piped in.
"Can we at least see Nii-san first?" Kei asked, directing slightly misty and pleading eyes towards his teammates. He knew he had to agree if he wanted his dango. Makoto could be so cruel sometimes threatening his treat.
"We should report back to the Hokage first, then go to the hospital, and end with seeing your brother," Sai rationalized.
"No! I want to see Nii-san first!"
Makoto gave a heavy sigh. "It's still early, so his team should be meeting at the bridge, it's on the way, so we can stop there first, then the Hokage, and hospital. Kami knows we never reported to the Hokage first."
"I find that agreeable." Sai and Makoto turned to get Kei's response but they found that the smallest team member was already dashing towards the gate.
o.O.o
Sakura could feel the pulse in her forehead growing as she had to stand around listening to Naruto ramble about useless things. All she wanted was to be able to stare at Sasuke, uninterrupted, or even have their stupid sensei show up so they could train.
They had been told that the Chuunin exams were coming up, but Kakashi-sensei didn't know if he felt comfortable nominating them yet. Sakura desperately wanted to join, just so she could show Sasuke how good of a kunoichi was, and hopefully steal him away from that Yuki.
She still hadn't discovered who this elusive Yuki was, but she knew that girl was somewhere in Konoha, sneaking through the shadows, trying to steal Sasuke away. Sakura absently clutched her hands into fists as she fantasized beating Yuki into the ground and having Sasuke sweep her up into his arms, and proclaim his everlasting love to her.
Naruto was telling his crush Sakura, all about the time that Iruka-nii had taken him to a neighbouring village for a festival. He was excitedly telling her about all the lanterns, stalls, and different food he got to try. At first, he didn't think she was interested since she seemed pretty bored with the whole conversation. He even feared he would get hit when she started clenching her fists, but then he started talking about the gold fish catching game, and she started smiling. Naruto was glad that he finally found a topic she liked, and started to regal her with the tale about how he caught 5 goldfish, while Iruka-nii couldn't even catch one.
Sasuke ignored his two idiot teammates. His thoughts were centered around what they were always centered around. Yuki. He hadn't seen the spirit in a awhile, but he wasn't worried. He knew that Yuki could take care of herself. Although he didn't know what possible trouble she could get into, being a spirit and all. Were there spiritual bad guys that she had to take care of? Did they have their own wars and missions? He wasn't sure, but he did know one thing. Yuki was becoming more human every time he saw her.
It started when he noticed she didn't look as pale. Then the week following he saw a smudge of tan skin peeking through. That's when Sasuke knew that all his prayers to Kami-sama, and all his love that he directed towards Yuki was working. It was because of his actions that he was being rewarded. Kami-sama was giving Yuki her life back, so she could spend it with him. There was no other plausible explanation for it.
In fact, Sasuke was saving all the money he could from his missions, so he could propose to Yuki soon. He already had his eye on a ring, and he knew which Sakura Tree he wanted to propose under. The only issue was asking Yuki's father. He didn't know if Yuki's real father was still alive, or would he have to find his spirit and ask, or if he had to ask Kami-sama himself. But how do you ask Kami to marry someone? He could assume that since Kami was giving him Yuki, that was permission, but maybe he should still speak aloud and ask anyways. It would be rude to forego asking Kami-sama for Yuki, and offend him. He might take Yuki back, and Sasuke couldn't risk that. He would ask Kami-sama.
Sasuke was broken from his thoughts when a familiar poof of white smoke appeared. He held in a sigh when he heard the predictable 'Yo', and when Sakura and Naruto instantly screamed 'You're Late!'. Honestly, it was getting annoying to repeat the same routine every day.
Except today there seemed to be something different about Kakashi-sensei. He was smaller, had two eyes, and had longer hair that was tied back in a high ponytail, with his bangs hanging in his face mostly covering his forehead protector.
Kei smiled down at the trio in front of him when he appeared. He didn't know why he was being yelled at but he figured everyone had their quirks, it just seemed his brother was stuck with two overly eccentric people.
"Is my Nii-san around?" The Kakashi-chibi asked. Sasuke didnt' know what to think of this situation. So he kept his face blank... unlike the other two.
"Nii-san?" Sakura asked.
"Yes, I'm looking for my Nii-san, Kakashi. He's usually here around this time." Kakashi-chibi explained.
"Your older brother is Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, his face scrunched up, and his eyes squinted.
"Yup, I know we don't look a lot alike, but I swear we're related." Kakashi-chibi stated. The three gave him incredulous looks. Honestly even a blind person would be able to notice that Kakashi-sensei, and this chibi were related in some way. They weren't that oblivious.
"What? It's not that farfetched that were related." Kakashi-chibi was slightly offended that they didn't believe he was related to his Nii-san.
"You're Kei."
Kei turned his head to address Sasuke, since he was the one that spoke. Giving the Sasuke a smile, Kei responded "How did you know?"
"I remember watching you fighting in the Chuunin exams a few years back." That sentence seemed to click something in the other two's mind as their faces indicated that they had an epiphany of sorts.
"How can you be a Chuunin? You're what five?" Sakura asked in a slightly haughty voice. She was a little jealous that Sasuke was paying attention to the boy. He had spoken more to the boy this morning than he had to her all week!
"I'm ten, and I'm a Jounin," Kei told her. He kept his voice light so it wouldn't appear that he was offended or upset about the age comment.
The three just stood stock still, and stared at him.
And stared.
That's when Sasuke noticed something about Kei.
Kei had long white hair, and green eyes. The same shade as Yuki's. They looked to be about the same size, and if Kei were paler, he could a dead ringer for Yuki...
Something clicked.
It was so obvious! How had Sasuke never figured it out before? He saw Kakashi-sensei everyday and never thought about the similarities between his Yuki, and his sensei, but now lining up Kakashi-sensei, Kei, and Yuki, it was as clear as day. Yuki must have been Kei's twin and died at a young age. That was the only explanation for how closely they resembled each other.
Sasuke would have to talk to Kakashi-sensei about marrying Yuki, and hopefully after he reunites the family, and Kakashi-sensei learns about how it was Sasuke's love that helped bring Yuki back to life, he won't have any objections to the match. Now he wouldn't have to talk to himself asking Kami-sama-
A second cloud of white smoke materialized, and Kakashi-chibi lit up.
Kakashi gave his three shocked students an eye smile, and wave before saying "Yo."
"Nii-san!" Kakashi-chibi cried as he tackled Kakashi. Kakashi reflexively caught the smaller boy, and tucked him close.
"Kei when did you get back?"
"We got in this morning, and I came here looking for you, but instead all I got was these three, and they didn't believe we were related because we look nothing alike, and then I tried to convince them, but then they didn't believe I was a Jounin, and they kept staring, but then you showed up." Kakashi-chibi managed to summarize his time so far in one breath.
"And where is Makoto-kun? He isn't letting you wander alone is he?"
"I'm here." A two more people appeared, but the taller one spoke.
Kakashi turned greet Makoto when he noticed something strange. "Makoto where did you get that sword?" Turning to look at Kei, he took in a new accessory to his brother's appearance with narrowed eyes. "Kei where did that mask come from?"
"Well... um..."
"You see..."
"There's a good story behind this all..."
"Funny really..." Kei and Makoto hesitantly spoke. Both were trying to find a way to explain what happened by not exactly explaining...
"We need to go to the hospital and report in. I think now is a good time to leave." The pale boy that came with Kei and Makoto interjected.
"Yeah we can talk later Nii-san!"
"You always say I need to take better care of Kei, we're off now."
Taking the opportunity the three left as fast as possible.
Sasuke blinked as a flurry of activity happened. One second there were three unknown people, and then three puffs of smoke and they were gone, Sasuke wasn't even sure if they had really been there in the first place.
"Today we're going to catch Tora." Kakashi-sensei told them, still looking where the three had just been.
Sasuke felt like groaning along with the other two, but he held it in.
o.O.o
Kei sat on a hospital bed swinging his feet. Makoto was behind him, one hand on Kei's shoulder, giving his silent support. They were waiting for Rikoto to finish and give them the results of the tests he had run.
After a long talk to Zabuza, they knew this was a needed stop. The missing-nin had heard about a person being subjected to a partial black hand jutsu before, and had lived. Just not for long. Slowly his body had shut down on him and he died. Zabuza didn't know the exact details, just a summary.
Knowing this, Kei had told everything he knew to Rikoto. The sudden muscle twitches and mini seizures he had started developing over the last few years. How his muscles would freeze but then go again as if nothing happened. Makoto had even commented on his lack of growth. That was a sore spot for Kei.
Rikoto had listened and taken note of everything, asked a few more questions, and then started running tests. Kei was glad to see that his old teammate had grown so well, and became a wonderful medic. Kei's thoughts were cut short when the door opened and Rikoto stepped inside.
"Kei, I don't know what to tell you..." Rikoto trailed off as he looked over the clipboard in his hands. "Zabuza was correct in saying that your body is shutting down. Nerves, muscles, and even your heart is working towards a complete bodily shut down. Going over everything, factoring in the time this incident happened, and just everything... I think you have a few more years left. Two, three, four at most.
I can do a few experiments, dedicate some time to this and try to find something that will slow down the process even more to give you more time, but I don't think I could ever find a way to stop it."
Kei stared at his old teammate. Rikoto was sincerely upset and frustrated at the situation, and Kei felt bad for putting this burden on him. He had had time in Wave to get used to the idea. He knew he would die soon, in fact Rikoto's prediction was longer then Kei's.
Kei wasn't upset at the world or Kami, he didn't slip into a brooding state and wonder why him, he knew. He had taken a mission and it had gone bad. It happens to every shinobi. Most die, but Kei had just prolonged his life from that day. He knew the risks when he had taken the Genin exam, and he knew the risks when he stepped out of the village.
It wasn't ignorance or anything else, Kei knew he would die one day, and had accepted that the day he had first wore his forehead protector. He was a true shinobi, and he wasn't going to be upset about this. In fact, he was going to start looking for exciting missions so when he finally did go, it would be fun and a true shinobi death.
"It's okay Rikoto, I knew what the results would be." Kei softly spoke to reassure the medic. "You know with will cheer you up? Dango!"
With that, Kei jumped from the bed, grabbed both his Koto's hands and dragged them out. They would get dango, smile, and laugh, and just be happy for a few minutes.
o.O.o
Kei and Makoto stared down at the three genins below them. Kakashi had been mad when they finally told him the story of fighting Zabuza, and how they tried to hide it. As punishment he had told them, they had to train his Genin's for a week. Then he walked away giggling as he read his new little orange book. The man was evil.
"So what do we do with them?" Kei asked from the tree they were perched in.
The Genin's were standing on the bridge as usual, and were waiting for Kakashi. Only today, they would get Kei, Makoto, and even Sai if they ever found where the pale boy had hidden himself. Kei suspected he heard the punishment and made himself scarce.
"Well what did Kakashi-san do to train you?"
Kei closed his eyes and thought back to when he was three. Kakashi had tied him to tree, and told him he had to walk forward and get the kunai to set himself free. It didn't seem so hard until he realized that he was attacked to a bungee cord that would pull him back, and he had to walk across a swamp. That actually seemed like a great first lesson for the Genin.
"I got the perfect start," Kei grinned as he let out a slightly diabolical laugh.
The three Genin's waiting on the bridge felt a shiver of fear run down their backs.
o.O.o
"Come on! Push! I could do better than that on one leg!" Kei yelled at the three Genin's. They were all covered head to toe in swamp mud, tired, and all attached to a tree, trying to get to the elusive kunai that would free them.
"We've been out here two hours and you guys haven't even made it halfway!" Makoto followed up.
There was a trick to this exercise, but it seemed that the Genin had not figured it out yet.
"I beat this test when I was three!"
"You think you can get Chuunin with this type of performance?"
Kei and Makoto had fun all day heckling the trio. The simple trick to beating the test was to cheat. Either they were all too stubborn to do so, or to dim to think of it.
"I think they need a little motivation Makoto."
"Hmmm... I think so too. Fine." Makoto gave a twisted to the trio as they looked at him, "Naruto if you don't get yourself free in 30 minutes, I will have Ichiraku ban you from his stall for one month."
It took a few seconds, but once the implications sunk in, Naruto was off, fighting with everything he had to get to his kunai.
"Sakura..." Kei's turn, "If you don't get free in 30 mins... I will burn all your photo's of Sasuke-kun."
With an almighty and not completely human sounding roar, Sakura renewed her fight forward.
"Sasuke," Makoto quickly looked at Kei before smirking at the dark haired Genin, "If you don't get free, then I will make Yuki-chan promise to never kiss you again."
Sasuke took a moment to stare at Makoto, silently assessing if the Jounin could actually support his threat. While the man was Kei's partner –Sasuke didn't know why his heart hurt at that thought, or the rush of jealously through his body- the man couldn't actually talk to Yuki, even if Yuki was related to Kei and Kakashi, right?
Seeing that his threat wasn't working, Makoto tried a different route. "If you don't get free, I will give pictures of Yuki to Sakura to help Pinkie find her."
Sasuke glared at the Jounin for the threat against his beloved, without thinking Sasuke reached down and withdrew a kunai from his weapons ouch. He cut the cord and dove at the smug Jounin sitting in the tree.
The other two watched their teammate, and quickly copied his movements, also diving towards the Jounin. Sakura wanted those pictures, and Naruto wanted revenge for threatening his ramen.
The three never got a chance to fully attack though. Once Naruto and Sakura had cut their cords, Kei and Makoto had left the tree, and tied the three up. It all went by so quickly the Genin were still reeling.
"Well that's the first test done. Next we can move onto something harder." Kei smirked at the slightly terrified trio.
"B-but that was hard enough, and how did we pass? We never got our kunai, we cheated." Sakura whispered in a slightly hysterical fashion.
"Exactly. In the shinobi world, you can't always follow everything by the book. Rules will have to be broken. When stuck in an impossible situation such as that, you had to cheat, or find an alternate way to escape then the given one.
If locked in a fight, I'm not going to pull out my shinobi rules and regulations book, and look up my next attack. I don't care if they suggest capture and interrogation first, I will kill if I have to. If someone tries to kill Makoto, I will kill them first." Kei explained.
"One example is Kei and I went on a mission to Fang Country. The client had a strict capture only policy. We had to capture the thief who stole her jewels, and bring him and the jewels back. We found the thief and on the way back, he tried to poison Kei.
I kicked him where no male should ever be kicked then killed him. We brought back the jewels, but the client wasn't too happy about the dead thief. I didn't adhere to the mission guidelines, but I didn't care. I rather have Kei alive than the thief."
"Why do you two always talk about killing?" Sakura asked.
The Jounin could only stare at her.
"Sakura, shinobi kill, it's their job. If they didn't talk about killing I would be worried that they weren't qualified for their positions." Sasuke bit out. He was still a little sore that he couldn't land a hit on Makoto.
"I know, but..."
"Knowing and hearing is different right?" Kei leaned forward so he was more eye level with the girl.
"When in class I bet you never thought that you would be doing the killing you heard about. But now here, being part of a conversation about it, you are starting to panic. Taking a life is never easy. After my first kill, Nii-san had to spend a long time with me to calm me down, and accept the blood that I would always feel on my hands. You will kill, or you can quit now and be a civilian."
"That's hardly fair. You shouldn't bully Sakura, we won't have to kill for a long time." Naruto yelled.
"Do you wish to join the Chuunin exams?" Makoto asked.
"Yeah..." Naruto responded , unsure where Makoto was going with this.
"Genin kill each other during those exams. I killed when I was in them, and I bet Kei did too."
"This is boring and depressing," Kei said as he stretched upwards. "Let's move on to the Deadly Blue balls."
The Genin's all choked when they heard the next exercise.
"Sounds fair." Makoto added as he walked away with Kei. Together they picked up two large sacks and opened them.
"Okay let's start." Kei announced.
"Wait you never untied us, or told us what we have to do." Sakura pointed out.
"Oh it's easy. You sit there and we will throw these blue bouncy balls at you." Kei explained.
Without letting them talk anymore, Kei and Makoto started throwing the entire sacks of balls at the trio.
"It helps your pain tolerance!" Makoto yelled over their cries of pain.
o.O.o
Kei was aimlessly wandering the streets after his latest training session with Team 7. It was Day 3, and
they had all been so exhausted after the 'Treetop Pinball' round that Kei and Makoto had left them in the training field to rest.
As he was passing a side street, he smelled a familiar scent. Vanilla and lavender. Kei didn't even need to think as he took off to follow the scent. Kei followed the smell down several streets, before he ended up in the hotel district. Moving slowly, he weaved between the crowds, into a building, up the stairs, until he was outside a door.
Kei raised his hand to knock, but the door flew open. As soon as Kei saw that familiar red hair he jumped towards his friend.
"Gaara!" Kei cheered. Before Kei could hug his sand friend, a hand of sand rose and smashed Kei across the room, smacking hard into the wall.
o.O.o
Some people have expressed a wish to see more of the Wizarding world. I do read your reviews and take everything you say into consideration, that is why I added the first scene, and now this omake. You hardly ever read about Ole Voldie's time in Romania.
Omake
Voldemort cursed his life. Some little brat got lucky and now he was stuck switching between animals to live. Honestly, it wasn't fair. He worked hard for years to get his position in the Wizarding world, and a baby who couldn't even walk three steps beat him. Honestly, this was probably Lady Fate's way of punishing him for that one time he cursed her out when he was still in the orphanage. Some women didn't know how to let go of grudges.
Voldemort was so caught up in his brooding, as he slithered through the forest in his newest snake form, he didn't notice the man walking by until he was stepped on.
Stepped on! Him! The once great Dark Lord Voldemort was stepped on!
Voldemort didn't hesitate to twist his body and sink he fangs into the offending leg. Laughing hysterically in a hissing voice he continued to attack the leg, until he felt a pull. The man had magic.
Voldemort acted quickly, throwing everything he had at the man's magical core, latching onto like a leech. He started twisting himself around the man's magical core until he had enough control over the mind and body.
Taking his first step forward, Voldemort felt a new sense of purpose, and refinement. He was going to take back the Wizarding world. Except the first step led him headlong into a tree. Losing his balance Voldemort stumbled back and fell on a tree stump. Voldemort felt a spike go through his chest. With a sigh he fled the body and into a passing rodents. Just his luck he had picked a clumsy man. He needed a new body now… curse Lady Fate…
Apparently no one had any faith in canon Harry beating Kei.
Although a few thought that they would end up friends which is always nice.
Who do you think is a bigger pervert? Kakashi or Snape? (honestly Snape takes too much pleasure in assigning detentions and hitting students)