Hahaha… uh, hi everyone! *Smiles sheepishly* I'm… um… very sorry for vanishing for two months. I had a lot of things going on. You know, the usual: school, exams, life, new anime/manga to obsess over…

Anyway, I'm glad to be back. This chapter was killing me. Though it had already been written out, I decided to rewrite it since I don't even know what the hell I was thinking when I typed the original ten months ago…

But holy crap, I got 58 reviews. O_o Like, whoa… Thank you very much, everyone!

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As for the reviewer ADVISER: please don't troll my on story. I'm sorry, but I really don't care about your version of chakra. Plus, I can't help you 'spread the word' (not that I was planning to) if I can't even understand what you wrote due to lack of grammar and an inability to read through bullshit.

This chapter, and perhaps the next two, will be a little… jumpy. There will be a lot of things going on because it's to set the stage for the big battle at the Ministry of Magic. If any of you are wondering, there will be 36 chapters in this story, so only seven chapters left!

Chapter Twenty Eight: Of Battles and Pranks


Naruto stood up to his full and (quite possibly) imposing height as his team of eight stared back at him. "Sakura, Gaara, Tenten, Neji, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba… these are my orders for as long as need be unless stated otherwise." Here, he paused for a second and continued, "Our client, Dumbledore Albus, has disappeared. He has left his instructions for us, and I want you all to listen and listen well. With Dumbledore gone, Umbridge will probably be headmistress. From now on, we'll be staying out of sight. Our mission will continue as per usual, but we'll be sticking to the shadows. Let no one see you unless it is Harry, Hermione, the Weasley family or the teachers loyal to Dumbledore. Any questions or protests so far?"

There were none.

The nine ANBU stood in a deserted hallway, and for the first time in a long while, all were completely serious. Their faces were wiped smooth and calm, their backs erect, and they were clad in full armour including their weapons.

"What are we to tell Harry?" Ino asked.

Naruto contemplated this, and then said, "We'll tell him in a few days. Umbridge will likely question him soon, and the less he knows the better. Afterwards, however, we'll tell him everything.

"We'll continue to patrol the castle and keep idiots out of trouble. I will assign you all a partner and you are to stay with that partner until otherwise stated. It follows: Gaara with Sakura, Tenten with Neji, and Kiba with Ino. Shikamaru, I need your help, and Hinata, I need your eyes," Naruto said.

"Question," Kiba said. Naruto signalled for him to continue. The Inuzuka-nin's eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you tell us the plan? The full plan? What happened in Dumbledore's office could have been avoided if Ino and I knew what you were going to do."

Naruto sighed. "We were supposed to only make Dumbledore disappear from the caslte, but that freaking Headmaster only told me that he was going on the run a few seconds prior to the confrontation. I'm sorry. But as ANBU, you should have the ability to adapt quickly to new situations, so stop complaining."

Kiba frowned, but nodded. Naruto turned back to his team. Once he made sure everyone was ready, he barked out the all-too-familiar command, "Scatter!"


Sasuke thinned his lips, dark eyes focused on the motionless form of his brother. His muscles were tensed and quivering, his jaw clenched, his hands balled into fists.

Two weeks. Two fucking weeks of living in the same hideout as the bastard, and Sasuke was ready to kill someone. The Akatsuki, Voldemort and his followers, and Sasuke, Orochimaru, and Kabuto had the unfortunate pleasure of living together under the same roof.

He had been so close to that damned Itachi, sometimes they had even been in one room, and Sasuke couldn't lay a finger on him. But screw Orochimaru and his orders; Sasuke wasn't going to wait any longer for the chance to kill his brother.

Sasuke studied the man in front of them, trying to pinpoint any weaknesses, anything that could be used in his favour.

Nothing.

Uchiha Itachi looked… calm. Unruffled. Blank. He stared at Sasuke evenly, never breaking his gaze, and Sasuke hated it.

Don't look down on me! Sasuke wanted to shout. I'm not that weak little boy anymore. I've grown stronger!

The pair stood outside an abandoned warehouse. It was the only place big enough to hold a shinobi battle, and yet it was still too small. The collateral damage would probably be the rearrangement of the landscape, to put it mildly.

A quiet wind blew, ruffling Sasuke's hair and Itachi's cloak. The pitch-black cloak with the ruby clouds. Fingering his chokuto (sword), Sasuke's heart slowed as he prepared himself mentally for the task ahead, and his head lifted proudly. It was an unspoken agreement.

The atmosphere around them shifted. Power charged, chakra blazed, the very air fizzed with tension.

"Sharingan!"

Naruto cocked his head, staring at the sleeping form. Hinata lay on a large beam in the Great Hall's rafters. It was mid-afternoon, but Hinata had taken a night shift before and hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours. Below them, students milled around their house tables, eating lunch and talking loudly. It was a wonder Hinata could even sleep through the noise.

The ANBU had decided to take refuge in the Great Hall, having disappeared from the Common Rooms of the Houses lest Umbridge caught them. Though not ideal, the rafters were adequate enough for impromptu meetings and sleeping quarters; the beams were very wide. A genjutsu cast by Sakura hid them nicely from view, and besides, Naruto liked the height.

Staring at Hinata for a few moments, Naruto ran lightly along the beam towards his backpack. Nine packs had been left there, and Naruto dug around in his own. Reaching into the bottom, he pulled out a white cloak. The white cloak was supposed to be worn by ANBU captains, but Naruto didn't like the colour and Tsunade hadn't allowed him to dye it orange.

"You're gonna get cold," Naruto murmured softly, draping the cloak around Hinata's body. It was a testament to her tiredness that Hinata didn't even stir; normally, if Naruto had done something like that, the Hyuuga would have woken up immediately. Naruto crouched there for a second, and, hesitantly, ran a gloved hand through Hinata's shining black hair. "Sleep well."

Straightening up, Naruto stretched, yawned, then, with one last look at Hinata, grinned and darted off.


"Tch," Sasuke muttered. The two had engaged in a genjutsu fight, and while it barely tapped into his enormous reserve of chakra, Sasuke still felt worried. For someone like Itachi, he needed all the chakra he had.

Lightening quick, Sasuke lunched eight shuriken at Itachi's direction. They whistled through the air; Sasuke's aim was flawless. Itachi didn't even bat an eyelid as he swatted them away with his own barrage of kunai. But Sasuke had used the shuriken as a distraction and now shot towards Itachi from his left side. His chokuto sang as it went directly for his brother's neck, but just as it was about to connect, Itachi vanished, only to reappear behind Sasuke with a kunai in his hand.

Sasuke twisted out of the way just as the kunai was about to stab into his back.

"Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu!" Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!

An enormous, flaming stream of fire streaked towards Itachi, leaving the air shimmering in its wake. Unsurprisingly, it did not reach him. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke did it once again.

"Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu!" Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!

But instead of aiming it at Itachi, Sasuke blew the fire towards the sky. The flames raced upwards where it dispersed into the atmosphere.

"That was useless, wasn't it?" a voice whispered. Sasuke whirled around, his blade swishing empty space where Itachi had been a second ago. Sasuke leapt back several steps, facing Itachi, whose cloak was smoking slightly at the edges. Other than that, he looked unharmed.

"Chidori!"

The cry of a thousand birds filled the air. Itachi did not even spare a glance at the jutsu.


BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced
Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree
Number Twenty-eight.

Signed: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic

The notices had gone up all around the school overnight, but they did not explain how every single person within the castle seemed to know that Dumbledore had overcome two Aurors, the High Inquisitor, and the Minister for Magic and his Junior Assistant to escape. No matter where Harry went within the castle, the sole topic of conversation was Dumbledore's flight, and though some of the details may have gone awry in the retelling it was surprising how accurate the rest of their information was. The one thing that was uncertain was of the missing Hogwarts guards: the ninja.

Harry had not seen the shinobi since last night, which was strange in itself. Normally, the ninja were seen everywhere. There seemed to be a hundred of them at once. Harry didn't know what the shinobi were planning to do, now that Umbridge was headmistress. He supposed that would continue their mission, as Dumbledore had instructed, but he didn't know how. Well, they were ninja, and ninja were masters of disguise.

"Honestly," Hermione mumbled to herself as she, Harry, and Ron walked up to the castle after Herbology. "You'd think that they would at least tell us what happened to them." 'They', meaning the shinobi.

Ron frowned. "Don't you think that–?"

BOOM!

Harry actually felt the floor trembled under his feet. The explosion had come from the Great Hall, and he heard screams and the sound of running water. Glancing at each other, the three of them hurried into the Entrance Hall where a crowd was already forming.

"What's happening?" Hermione breathed. Ron, being the tallest of them, craned his neck over the other students. Giving up, the trio pushed their way to the front – why was there water on the floor? – and Harry's eyes widened in shock at what he saw.

To put it bluntly, the Great Hall had been flooded. The water was already seeping out into the Entrance Hall, and the students were starting to lift their robes up to avoid being drenched. The source came from the right hand side of the Great Hall, where there looked as though a bomb had been set off. There was a large, gaping hole where the wall was supposed to be, and a huge water pipe was squirting out water at high speed. Harry started laughing. He couldn't wait to see the look on Umbridge's face. Granted, she could probably fix it with magic, but still.

"It looks like it's been made with an exploding tag," Hermione whispered. Harry stared at her, and then at the wall.

"So, what? The ninja are behind this?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded and said, "Probably."

The water was already gushing past their ankles, and though Professors Flitwick and McGonagall were present, trying to restrain the crowd of students, neither of them seemed willing to stop the flow. On the contrary, both of them had faint smiles on their faces as they shooed everyone away.


"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!

The jutsu was shouted by both shinobi. On opposite ends of their makeshift battlefield, fire shot towards each other. The flames met in the middle, and neither one gained any advantage. The searing heat engulfed Sasuke, but he didn't notice. Both jutsu died out without doing anything to the opponent.

Itachi clasped his hands into seals that Sasuke recognised, and a thrill of horror – tinged with excitement – went through him.

"Amaterasu!"

The famous black flames – said to be as hot as the sun and burned anything in its path – surrounded Sasuke with a terrifying speed.

Get out, get out, get out! Sasuke thought urgently. His eyes darted everywhere, seeking an escape, seeking anything.

His Curse Seal activated. His skin turned grey, his eyes turned black and yellow, his hair lengthened, his lips turned blue.

And Sasuke knew what to do.

"Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu!" Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!

Once again, it was aimed towards the sky.

"You've used that technique three times already," Itachi said unsmilingly. "What are you hoping to accomplish?"

Sasuke felt himself smirking as the clouds began to darken. A storm was coming.

He saw Itachi's eyes widened as Sasuke began his hand seals. His brother glanced at the sky, then to Sasuke, and all the puzzle pieces clicked together.

"Kirin!"

The air sparked, lightening crackled. Then, with Sasuke's command, electricity flashed and flew towards the ground, exactly where Itachi stood.


Shikamaru yawned lazily as he stuck onto the ceiling of Dolores Umbridge's office, but immediately straightened up when he saw Harry enter the room. His sharp black eyes zoomed in on Harry, and to his relief, the boy appeared to be fine. It would be very troublesome otherwise. He shook himself slightly to get rid of the throbbing that his body was deciding to give him and readied himself for eavesdropping.

Umbridge, who had been scribbling busily onto a little scroll of pink parchment, looked up at Harry and said, in a very sweet voice, "Sit."

Harry sat. Shikamaru could feel all the blood rushing to his head, and sighed almost silently. He then walked over to where the ceiling met the wall, and decided to stick there instead. He hoped that Umbridge would hurry up and interrogate Harry. He was getting pretty tired.

"Well, now," said Umbridge finally, setting down her quill and surveying the boy complacently. "What would you like to drink?"

Shikamaru was completely unsurprised by the question. It was fairly obvious what she was about to do to the boy. He knew that the wizarding world had a handy little truth potion that was quite easy to get your hands on, if you happened to have a Potions Master. Harry, however, didn't seem to understand.

"What?" he said. His face was blank with surprise.

"To drink, Mr Potter," she said, smiling still more widely. "Tea? Coffee? Pumpkin juice?"

As she named each drink, she gave her short wand a wave, and a cup or glass of it appeared on her desk.

"Nothing, thank you," said Harry. Shikamaru noticed a tiny pink vial on the table behind her desk, and guessed that it contained truth potion. Thinking that it was extremely troublesome, Shikamaru used some of his shadow jutsu and made words appear on the wall behind Umbridge, but facing Harry. It was kind of like shadow puppets, except the shadows moved themselves.

DON'T TRUST HER

The boy didn't notice the words at first, but then his eyes wandered, and then focused on them. They widened, and Harry discreetly glanced about the room, looking for the culprit ninja. When he found Shikamaru, he froze, and then quickly looked back at Umbridge, who was still talking.

Unfortunately, Umbridge was focused on his face and she caught the expression of shock. She glanced behind her, over to the corner where Shikamaru was previously. He had body-flickered away. Umbridge scanned the area suspiciously, and then turned back to Harry.

"I wish you to have a drink with me," she said, her voice becoming dangerously sweet. "Choose one."

Harry finally got what Umbridge was about to do and he made his choice quickly so he could get away faster.

"Fine… tea then," said Harry, shrugging.

She got up and made quite a performance of adding milk with her back to him. Shikamaru, who had gone back to his original place, watched carefully as Umbridge added the truth potion and then turned back to Harry.

Just as I predicted, Shikamaru thought.

Umbridge then bustled around the desk with it, smiling in a sinisterly sweet fashion.

"There," she said, handing it to him. "Drink it before it gets colds, won't you? Well, now, Mr Potter… I thought we ought to have a little chat, after the distressing events of last night."

The boy said nothing. She settled herself back into her seat and waited. When several long moments had passed in silence, she said gaily, "You're not drinking up!"

Harry hurriedly raised the cup to his lips and pressed his lips together, pretending to drink. Shikamaru sighed in relief, and continued watching the events unfold below him.

"Good," she whispered, "very good."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and thought, Could you get any more obvious than that? Now it's so clear that you've done something to his drink, you evil hag.

"Now," Umbridge said. "Where is Albus Dumbledore?"

"No idea," said Harry promptly. Shikamaru's lips twitched in amusement.

"Drink up, drink up," she said, still smiling. "Now, Mr Potter, let us not play childish fames. I know that you know where he has gone. You and Dumbledore have been in this together from the beginning. Consider your position, Mr Potter…"

Idiot, Shikamaru thought. Idiot woman…

"I don't know where he is," Harry repeated.

"Very well," said Umbridge, looking severely displeased. "Then kindly tell me the whereabouts of Sirius Black."

"I don't know," Harry said. Shikamaru heard faint sounds of shouting, and he wondered whether or not Neji was having fun forming an alliance with a certain pair of red-haired troublemakers. That had been Naruto's orders. He smirked.

"Very well, Potter, I will take your word for it this time, but be warned: the might of the Ministry stands behind me," Umbridge said dangerously. Shikamaru sighed.

Yada, yada, yada, this woman never stops talking, Shikamaru thought.

"All channels of communication in and out of this school are being monitored. A Floo Network Regulator is keeping watch over every fire in Hogwarts – except my own, of course. My Inquisitorial Squad is opening and reading all owl post entering and leaving the castle. And Mr Filch is observing all secret passages in and out of the castle. If I find a shred of evidence –"

CRASH!

Ah, looks like the alliance worked out, Shikamaru thought.

The very floor of the office shook. Umbridge slipped sideways, clutching her desk for support, and looking shocked.

"What was –?"

As Umbridge ran out the door, dismissing Harry as she went, Shikamaru dropped down onto the ground again.

"Yo, Potter-san," Shikamaru said. Harry whirled back towards him.

"Nara!" Harry cried. "W-where are all of you guys? Why are you suddenly appearing now?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Situation calls for it," he said. "You'll understand in a few days."

"I – what?" Harry said. Shikamaru clapped him on the shoulder.

"See you around, Potter-san," Shikamaru said. He disappeared before Harry could say another word, leaving behind only a cloud of smoke.


Kiba spotted teacher coming and quickly dodged into a hiding place. He held his breath until the footsteps had faded away, and then sneaked out again. He wasn't supposed to be seen, after all.

The boy quickly took to the walls, speeding along like a cat, glancing left, right and behind, trying to see if he could find the one he was looking for.

There, Kiba thought. He slowed down to stop, and then called out, "Peeves."

The poltergeist, who had been in the middle of upturning all the chalk boxes and writing a little poem on the blackboard (which was, needless to say, very rude), paused in his evildoings and turned around.

"Why, if it isn't the little outlaw Wolf," he cackled. He picked up a chalk box and flung it at the ninja, who side stepped it easily.

"Peeves," Kiba said in a low voice. Peeves stuck his tongue out at him.

"NINJA!" he bellowed. "NINJA IN THE CLASSROOM!"

"Peeves," Kiba said more firmly. "I need you to help us."

The somewhat ghost didn't register the words and continued zooming around the classroom. Kiba listened for any approaching footsteps, and when there were none, he rounded to the ghost.

"I need you to wreck as much havoc as possible," Kiba said. This caught the poltergeist's attention, and he stopped in his antics to listen.

"Ooooh~" Peeves sang. "Naughty little ninja, aren't you?"

Kiba ignored the muscles in his shoulder blades, which were stinging with pain, and tried to make his voice as persuading as possible.

"You must cause Umbridge Dolores as much trouble as you possibly can," Kiba said. Peeves' eyes sparkled with delight, and he zoomed up towards the ceiling.

"Righty-o," Peeves said manically. "Peeves shall do exactly as Mr Wolf says. Yaaaaheeeee~!"

When Peeves was gone, probably to wreak havoc, Kiba sighed in relief and dragged a hand down his forehead.

Thank Kami that's over, Kiba thought. He heard approaching footsteps and quickly jumped up to the walls, Time to get out of here.

The classroom was empty when the door was finally flung open, and the ominous shadow of Argus Filch loomed in.


The deafening scream of fireworks filled the entire castle, that, coupled with the shrieking students and yelling teachers (it was mainly Umbridge, the other professors weren't really helping) made the noise almost unbearable.

It seemed as though some people had decided to make Umbridge's first afternoon as headmistress as chaotic as possible. It was working.

Dragon fireworks comprised entirely of green and gold sparks were soaring up and down the corridors, emitting loud, fiery blasts and bangs as they went; shocking-pink Catherine wheels five metres in diameter were whizzing lethally through the air like so many flying saucers; rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars were ricocheting off the walls; sparklers were writing swear words in mid-air of their own accord; firecrackers were exploding like mines everywhere, and instead of burning themselves out, fading from sight or fizzling to halt, these pyrotechnical miracles seemed to be gaining in energy and momentum as more time passed.

That wasn't all, though. It seemed the missing ninja had added in their idea of fun. Along with the broken water pipe, someone had painted the walls of the Great Hall bright orange – it didn't take much to guess exactly who did that – and rude haiku poems about Umbridge were scrawled over the mess in bright green. The Great Hall and Entrance Hall was now completely flooded; the water rose up to the ankles and was now starting to slosh down the stone steps. The paint and broken water pipe seemed to be unfixable, though, and they stayed there until Umbridge and Filch could figure out what to do. Draped around the corridors were little banners with certain embarrassing facts about their new headmistress, and shredded white and coloured paper littered the hallways.

Laughing, Harry surveyed the damage with a huge grin and ducked down low, ran to a door he knew was concealed behind a tapestry a little way along the corridor and slipped through it to find Fred and George hiding behind it, listening to Umbridge and Filch's yells and quaking with suppressed mirth. Predictably, the twins were there, laughing as silently as they could.

"Impressive," Harry said quietly, grinning. "Very impressive… you'll put Dr Filibuster out of business, no problem…"

"Cheers," whispered George, wiping tears of hilarity from his face. "We teamed up with Uzumaki, and we've set pranks all over the school."

The fireworks continued to burn and spread all over the school that afternoon, and there was more than one case of accidental run-and-slips when people neared the Entrance and Great Hall. Though the fireworks caused plenty of disruption, particularly the firecrackers, the other teachers didn't seem to mind them very much.

Fred and George were heroes in the Gryffindor common room that night, and though the ninja were absent, there was a little banner strung up in their honour as well. The atmosphere was so bright and excited, that not even Hermione was doing any work.

When Harry and Ron went up to bed an hour later, and as he got undressed a sparkler floated past the tower, still resolutely spelling out the word 'POO'.

He got into bed, yawning, and slowly fell to sleep.

The whizzes and bangs of escaped fireworks in the grounds seemed to be growing more distant… or perhaps he was simply speeding away from them…

Harry had fallen right into the corridor leading to the Department of Mysteries. He was speeding towards the plain black door… let it open… let it open…

It did. He was inside the circular room lined with doors… he crossed it, placed his hand on an identical door and it swung inwards.

Now he was in a long, rectangular room full of an odd mechanical clicking. There were dancing flecks of light on the walls but he did not pause to investigate… he had to go on…there was a door at the far end… it, too, opened at his touch…

And now he was in a dimly lit room as high and wide as a church, full of nothing but rows and rows of towering shelves, each laden with small, dusty, spun-glass spheres… now Harry's heart was beating fast with excitement… he knew where to go… he ran forwards, but his footsteps made no noise in the enormous, deserted room…

He saw a slight figure shift in the darkness. A familiar robe. A robe that was pitch-black, the clouds the colour of blood stitched on it. Blue skin, sharp teeth, and small, cold eyes, glared at him. But that figure – that scary, unhuman figure – didn't seem to see Harry. A massive sword wrapped in bandages rested on the person's (if it was even a person) shoulder.

He wanted it…

There was something in this room he wanted very, very much… but the robed figure was in his way…

Something he wanted… or somebody else he wanted… but the robed figure was in his way…

His scar was hurting…


Sasuke blinked rapidly to clear the spots dancing in his vision.

It must have hit him, Sasuke thought. Kirin is the fastest and strongest of the lightening jutsu. There's no way Itachi could have survived that…

But when the smoke dissipated, a red glow alongside a bone-white skeleton told Sasuke otherwise.

Fuck it. Itachi had used Susanoo.

But his brother hadn't escaped unscathed. Behind his shield, Itachi's Akatsuki cloak had been burned away, scratches covered his body, and blood poured from his mouth. Sasuke knew that he didn't look much better.

Both of them were gasping for breath. Sasuke knew he was screwed. He had used the last of his chakra on Kirin. Itachi… well, he wasn't sure what Itachi was going to do. From the looks of it, Itachi had barely any chakra left as well.

But Sasuke was worse off. He could barely stand anymore.

Itachi staggered forwards, Susanoo shuddering above him. Sasuke couldn't move. He was too tired. Too exhausted.

I'm going to die here, Sasuke thought. This made his furious. But his anger did not help, not when he couldn't move.

Itachi was only a few metres away now and clutching a kunai; Susanoo had vanished.

"Sasuke," Itachi said, his voice cracked and weak. Every breath seemed to take effort. "I'm sorry. I couldn't take Orochimaru's essence out of your body. But I know you'll find a way. You're too strong to be controlled by him."

Sasuke tried to process the words through his fuzzy mind. Itachi was directly in front of him.

The kunai slipped from his grasp. Sasuke stared as Itachi's hands came up to his face.

He's going to take my eyes, Sasuke thought numbly. So when Itachi's bloody fingers knocked him gently on the forehead, shock made Sasuke unable to think.

The last time Itachi spoke, it was in Japanese, their native language. It made the goodbye somehow more intimate and emotional.

"Yuruse, Sasuke…. Mata kondo da…" Forgive me, Sasuke… Again, next time…

Itachi's hand slipped down Sasuke's face, leaving a red trail.

Uchiha Itachi slumped to the ground, and died with a smile on his face.


Harry realised with a sharp, uncomfortable jolt that he had Snape's Occlumency lesson later that evening, and he immediately spent the whole day dreading about what Snape was going to say if he found out how much further into the Department of Mysteries Harry had penetrated during his last dream.

As he went off to Snape's office, however, he came face to face with Cho Chang, who beckoned to him, wanting to talk.

"Are you okay? Umbridge hasn't been asking you about the DA, has she?" Harry asked.

"Oh, no," said Cho hurriedly. "No, it was only… well, I just wanted to say… Harry, I never dreamed Marietta would tell…"

"Yeah, well," said Harry moodily. He did feel Cho might have chosen her friends a bit more carefully; it was a small consolation that the last he had heard, Marietta was still up in the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey had not been able to make the slightest improvement to her pimples.

"She's a lovely person, really," said Cho. "She just made a mistake –"

Harry looked at her incredulously.

"A lovely person who made a mistake? She sold us all out, including you!"

"Well… we all got away, didn't we?" said Cho pleadingly. "You know, her mum works for the Ministry, it's really difficult for her –"

"Ron's dad works for the Ministry too!" said Harry furiously. "And in case you haven't noticed, he hasn't got sneak written across his face –"

"That was a really horrible trick of Hermione Granger's," said Cho fiercely. "She should have told us she'd jinxed that list –"

"I think it was a brilliant idea," said Harry coldly. Cho flushed and her eyes grew brighter.

"Oh, yes, I forgot – of course, if it was darling Hermione's idea –"

"Don't start crying again," said Harry warningly.

"I wasn't going to!" she shouted.

The two then proceeded to fire insults at each other, before they both turned their backs to each other and left in opposite directions.

Furious, Harry descended the stairs to Snape's dungeon, and entered. Quick shadows tailed him, and slipped inside before the door fully closed.

Snape stood before Harry at the ready, and they exchanged no greetings to each other. Harry stood in front of him, his wand raised, eyes glaring.

"On the count of three, then," said Snape lazily. "One – two –"

Snape's office door banged open and Draco Malfoy stepped in.

Wonderful.

"Professor Snape, sir – oh – sorry –"

Malfoy was looking at Snape and Harry with some surprise.

"It's all right, Draco," said Snape, lowering his wand. "Potter is here for remedial Potions."

Harry wondered what kind of 'remedial Potions' lesson would have the teacher and student standing, facing each other with their wands drawn and looking like they were going to kill, but he didn't say that out loud. Unfortunately, Harry had not seen Malfoy look so gleeful since Umbridge had turned up to inspect Hagrid.

"I didn't know," he said, leering at Harry. Harry fought back the urge to pound his annoying face in, and merely stared blankly at the two as Snape dismissed him, and the overgrown bat and egotistic rat headed out.

Harry was at the office door when he saw it: a patch of shivering light dancing on the doorframe. He stopped, and stood looking at it, reminded of something… then he remembered: it was a little like the lights he had seen in his dream last night, the lights in the second room he had walked through on his journey through the Department of Mysteries.

Turning around, he saw that the light was coming from the Pensieve sitting on Snape's desk. The silver-white contents were ebbing and swirling within. Snape's thoughts… things he did not want Harry to see if he broke through Snape's defences accidentally…

Harry walked closer to the Pensieve, and then checked for any approaching footsteps. He peered at the swirling memories within, and, on a spur-of-the-moment recklessness, he took a breath, and then plunged inside.

Two shadows leapt in after him.


Sasuke stared dully at the unmoving body of his brother. For some strange reason, the world felt detached from him. His eyes slowly faded from being the brilliant colour of rubies, and back to a cold, merciless black. All of a sudden, it seemed as though he was holding up the weight of the sky, and he slumped down to the ground, his breath coming in heaving gasps.

His brother was dead. Uchiha Itachi was dead. Sasuke had killed him. He had fulfilled his lifelong obsession.

So now what?

Sasuke didn't know.


I've got constructive criticism from different people, so obviously they're all different and speaking from various viewpoints. Unfortunately, they also sometimes contradict each other. So, if you're one of those constructive criticizers (I really love you guys) and you see no difference in this chapter or something, it does not mean I disregarded your tips. There will be two reasons keeping me from following your advice. One, another constructive reviewer told me otherwise, I became unsure of which one to follow, and finally tried to do both and ended up failing miserably. Or two, I just suck too much to follow your advice in the first place. But I try to believe that my writing improves on your tips. I've got to believe in something, right? ;P

This chapter was a little… mm… not as good as I would have liked. But hey, I procrastinated on this story for two months, so hopefully for the next chapter I'll get back into the swing of things. There's some Hinata and Naruto fluff for you, and I'm also really sorry about Sasuke's and Itachi's battle. I'm not used to writing Uchiha, so therefore I'm not used to their jutsu or the Sharingan. You're actually quite lucky their fight was as long as it is; in the original, it was only short snippets with about three sentences every time.

Orochimaru did not appear from Sasuke's Curse Seal because he is not dead. Yet.

Ooooh, before I go, I have a question! Or, well, it's sort of a poll.

I have watched and or read:

a) Code Geass

b) Code:Breaker

c) Both

d) Neither

This anime (Code Geass) and manga (Code:Breaker) have been the two culprits who took away my holiday and writing time. As for the poll, I'm only wondering. Actually, I have an ulterior motive, but I'll just wait for the results to see. Please vote!

And… hey! I just realised that they're displaying the number of Favourites and Alerts a story has down in the information list on the bottom of a story. You know… the grey part? That's so weird….

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and the requiem of fury for evil.

Updated: 15 July 2012