I know it's been a bit of a wait, sorry about that. But in my defense, school started this week, and after only three days I'm already exhausted. Whether that's reasonable or pathetic I'm not sure, but either way, I'm tired. So as you can probably guess, updates will be getting later probably, as my work load increases. But I am writing every day, at least a little. Hopefully, that way we won't have any random periods of no updates. Enjoy!

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Chapter 38: The Chase

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"How much farther?" Umbridge's shrill voice pierced Kakashi's ears.

"We're almost there," Kakashi assured her, carefully stepping over tree roots as big around as his thigh.

Every time he had stolen a glance backward, he had been treated to a view of the headmistress stumbling over brambles and leaves and more often than not, her own feet. She clearly was used walking around polished floors and soft carpet, not tramping through rough terrain. But despite this encouraging situation, he didn't really have a plan beyond getting Umbridge away from her office. He desperately hoped that Harry and co. could now figure a way out and to safety.

They entered a small clearing. It seemed like something had dug a hole there because the earth slanted upward all around it. Suddenly, Kakashi heard a rustle in the branches to his right. He stopped abruptly, nearly causing Rin and Umbridge to topple into him.

"Is this it?" Umbridge asked nervously.

"Yeah," Kakashi answered after a beat, for he had been listening for whatever had made the noise, "Yeah, it's close."

He suddenly realized that he hadn't really been in the Forbidden Forest that much. And since he hadn't been paying attention much in class, he had no idea what kind of creatures resided in the wood.

"It's, er, the weapon is pretty small," he continued, "We should split up to look. I know it's around here—"

"I'm not letting you out of my sight," Umbridge said firmly. "We will go to the right. Rin, you will search left."

"Right, Professor," Kakashi heard Rin oblige. As soon as he heard her footsteps crunch to his left, he glanced behind him to see that Umbridge had moved forward slightly, wand raised level with his shoulders. He didn't waste any time.

"What are you looking a—" Umbridge managed before Kakashi twisted around to face her, aiming a high kick for her wand hand. Then the unthinkable happened.

She actually ducked.

Her expression clearly told him that even she was surprised that she had reacted so quickly. It showed in her voice as she quickly popped back up and flicked her wand at Kakashi.

"Impedimenta!" she shrieked.

Kakashi felt as though he had been kicked in the chest with both feet, by a very heavy person, wearing football cleats. He was knocked off his feet and pushed back by the force of the spell, landing in the dirt on his back. One hand immediately flew to his chest as he coughed and gasped for air. A normal person would have been instantly knocked out. Fortunately, he was about as far from normal as one could get.

"How dare you!" Umbridge screamed. She pointed her wand at him again. But then a slow smile crept across her face. Squinting, Kakashi saw her leer turn away from him. He coughed again, but he just couldn't seem to get his breath back.

"Rin, dear," Umbridge said, reverting back to her pseudo-sweet voice, "Perhaps you would like to do the honors?"

"Wh-What?" Kakashi heard her say.

"You said you wanted him to get what he deserves, right? Now is your chance. He's led me to the location; I have no further use for him. Go ahead."

Kakashi rolled over and pushed himself onto his hands and knees, but before he could get any further, a pink heel kicked him over on his back again. He resumed coughing his lungs out. Why couldn't he breathe? A darkness loomed over him and when he opened his eyes, it proved to be his partner's shadow. She directed her wand at his chest. Her face was set in determination, but he detected an unseen terror beneath the façade. She tilted her head slightly back, toward Umbridge. He managed to blink in reply. It was the best he could do under the circumstances, but she seemed to understand.

"Go on now," Umbridge encouraged her.

"…I can't," she replied simply.

She whirled around to face a bewildered toad.

"Stupefy!"

In a red flash, Umbridge fell to the ground unconscious, the shock of betrayal still evident on her face.

Having leaned up slightly to watch Umbridge fall, Kakashi flopped back down on the ground. His felt so tired. If he just closed his eyes, maybe it was all a dream…

"Kakashi!"

He blinked, his eyes fluttering open.

"You have to stay awake, okay? Just hang on a little longer. Oh God, I should have hit her sooner! You wouldn't have gotten hurt… Hey! I told you not to pass out." He felt a cool hand on his cheek, and he blinked his eyes open again.

Then the hand was removed, and there was more weight on his chest. He felt like it was going to cave in. His brain couldn't register anything but pain, and a desperate need for oxygen. But then a coolness spread through his torso, and the pain was mostly lifted. A dull throbbing accompanied his journey into blackness.

He weaved in and out of consciousness, hearing pounding on the ground, and other fearsome noises.

When he opened his eyes again, he felt like he was coming out of a pleasant sleep. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the sudden light. He felt well-rested and relaxed… until he sat up.

"Ah!" he hissed at a sharp pain that had activated in his chest when he moved.

"No! No, he's okay! Don't shoot!"

As soon as he heard the panic in her voice he looked around wildly. She was standing next to him, arms reached out as if to push something away. But it was what she was looking at that astonished him.

Centaurs. A lot of them. And each and every one of them had an arrow trained on the shinobi. They were surrounded.

"Rin… What's going on…" he said quietly.

"Who is he?" one of the centaurs asked. He seemed to be the leader.

"He's a student, like me," Rin answered. "We are not your enemy."

It was then that Kakashi noticed that Umbridge was now held captive by two heavily-muscled centaurs. They each gripped one of her arms and held her between them. Her feet dragged on the ground, and her head lolled forward.

"Get out of here," the leader commanded, and the circle of warriors thankfully lowered their bows.

"Yes," Rin said, "Yes we will."

The leader gave Kakashi a disparaging look before turning around. The other centaurs turned with him and after a silent command from the lead centaur, they thundered off deeper into the Forest. Umbridge's legs and feet dragged over sharp sticks and roots. It was only a few seconds before screams of pain and terror echo back to them.

"She deserves it," Rin said definitively, "being hurt by the so-called half breeds she hates so much."

"No argument here," Kakashi added, standing up slowly.

"Do you need help?" Rin asked, taking a step closer to him should he wobble.

"No, no I'm alright," he clutched his ribs, "You healed me?"

"Yeah, you might have died if I hadn't. Can you breathe alright now?"

"I think so… I'm just sore."

"Well, then we really should go," Rin looked around nervously, "They only let us off because we're kids. They would have taken us along with her—"

"What happened, exactly?"

"Well," she began to explain as they walked back towards the castle, "I had just finished healing you, when Umbridge came out of it. I kicked her wand away but she still tried to get up, to try and strangle me I expect, but suddenly she just stopped moving, had this stupid expression on her face. I looked behind me and Magorian was there—"

"Magorian?" Kakashi interrupted.

"The lead centaur," she continued, "He told Umbridge to back away. Well, Umbridge tried to reason with him, but she just ended up insulting him (She has a way of doing that.) and the other centaurs charged at her. Of course she was no match for them and they had her banged up and unconscious again in a matter of seconds. I had just explained who I was and what happened when you woke up. It was actually a good thing that Umbridge hurt you; I think they would have taken us too if you hadn't clearly been attacked by her. They consider us to be nearly adults."

"So... They felt bad?" he asked.

"Well… um… They consider children to be weak. The fact that you were hurt means, to them—"

"That I'm a child. Of course."

Even centaurs were prejudiced.

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"What about Kakashi and Rin?" Hermione asked as Harry helped her mount her thestral.

They had escaped from the castle when Luna reminded them of the skeletal, winged beasts. So they were going to be traveling by thestral, even though half of them couldn't see the creatures at all.

"They'll be fine. They can handle Umbridge—" Harry replied hurriedly. There wasn't anything else to discuss. Sirius was in trouble now. He could be being tortured at that second, and they were just standing around!

"No," Hermione clarified, "I mean shouldn't they be coming with us? This is the kind of thing they were sent here for—"

"They won't let us leave. They don't care about Sirius," Harry said, clambering on his own mount.

"She has a point, mate," Ron agreed, "They do this kind of thing all the time. It would be good to have Kakashi on our side."

"We can do this," Harry protested. "And we have to leave now!"

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They were nearly out of the trees now; he could just make out the castle. He supposed they would have to lay low until the end of term, hide out in one of the secret passages maybe, or in an empty greenhouse. They could have food brought to them—

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing, or am I hallucinating?" he asked Rin. He almost missed it while retreating into his thoughts. He hoped to God he was hallucinating.

"I see it too," she replied.

As soon as she answered, he took off running, hopping over bushes and dashing around trees. He was only feet away when the last one took to the skies.

"COME BACK!" Kakashi yelled at the top of his lungs. Someone looked over their shoulder once, but didn't turn around.

"Where could they be going?" Rin asked, pulling up beside him.

"I don't know," Kakashi said definitively, "but we're following them."

Six thestrals with six passengers grew smaller as they flew through the sunset.

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"Okay, um, follow the ones who just left," Kakashi asked the thestral awkwardly.

They had debated for a few moments on how to convince the creature to carry them and follow Harry to wherever he was going. Finally, Kakashi just gave up and asked it.

"Please," Rin added.

Immediately, Kakashi's thestral bounded into the air, unfurling its black wings and ascending into the sky at an alarming rate. He clung to its mane, his hair and clothes blowing wildly. He risked a glance backward to see Rin following him, her head down to avoid the biting wind. He shrugged his shoulders to be sure that his backpack was still there (He had summoned it just before they left; it shattered the window to escape from the castle.) and put his head down as well, gripping the mane so tight that his knuckles were white.

It would be a long flight, and he hated flying.

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They approached the streets of London just as the others were dismounting. Kakashi nimbly dropped off the thestral as soon as it was safe to do so and landed behind the group. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville turned around, shocked. Only Luna seemed indifferent to the whole situation. Rin's thestral landed gracefully behind Kakashi's and she warily hopped off and came to stand next to him.

"I should," Kakashi began, straightening from his landing position, "Simply tie you all up and take you back to the castle by force. You have five seconds to convince me otherwise."

"Voldemort has Sirius," Harry said darkly. He looked fidgety, but he knew that if he moved Kakashi would take him out in a second.

"How do you know?" Kakashi asked.

"I saw it."

"In a vision?"

"I checked in Umbridge's office, through the fireplace! It's real!"

"It isn't real until you see it happening."

"I saw it happen—"

"In real time, Harry. Not in a dream."

"We're wasting time! Sirius could be—"

"Could be what?" Kakashi interrupted again. "Dead? In that case, there's no reason to get ourselves killed."

That silenced Harry. He swallowed heavily, "He could be hurt. He's not dead."

"Hermione," Kakashi addressed the witch; she turned suddenly from looking at Harry to Kakashi. "What do you think?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"Is Sirius really inside there? Is he being tortured by Voldemort?" Kakashi asked seriously.

All eyes were on her now. "We-we checked. I believe w-what Harry said he saw," she replied nervously.

Kakashi looked back to Harry, "…Fine. But I'll be going in alone, then."

Finally, the heavy silence was broken and objections poured out of everyone. Kakashi sighed. He didn't think that would work.

"Nice try," Rin muttered.

"Alright, alright," he yelled over them. The silence descended once more. "Look if Sirius is in there, then I have a much higher chance of getting him myself than if I have to protect you all at the same time."

"You don't need to protect us," Neville spoke up suddenly, "We're all in the D.A. We know how to fight."

"In a controlled environment," Kakashi argued, "A real battle is nothing like you can ever experience in the classroom."

"Harry's done it," Ron said, "Why can't we?"

"He thinks he's done it," Kakashi replied, earning a dirty look from said wizard, "You think Voldemort's just by himself in there, do you? He'll have at least ten followers with him, if not more."

"And you can knock out ten Death Eaters by yourself?" Luna asked, impressed.

"I could take out twenty by myself with surprise on my side," he replied dismissively. "The point is that none of you can."

"Kakashi."

He turned to his teammate.

"You can't go in there by yourself."

"…Why not?"

"Harry's the only one who knows where Sirius is, and if I guess correctly," she turned to Harry, "he won't tell you unless you let him and his friends go with you. Secondly, even if you do manage to defeat all of the Death Eaters, there's still Voldemort, and if you beat him, how are you going to get Sirius away from here? You won't be in any condition to drag him out yourself, assuming you use the Sharingan, and I know you can't do Teleportation Jutsu yet," he glanced at the others quickly, but she just shrugged, "I think we're past the point of keeping our identities secret. And lastly, we aren't splitting up. I can't let you go in there by yourself on the off chance you might not come back. This team can't afford to get any smaller."

This was quite a matter-of-fact speech, but he knew she was afraid of what might happen and she wouldn't change her mind. And they were wasting time arguing. There wasn't any other way out of it. He sighed again. He was going to regret this.

"…Together, then."

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So are you satisfied with the centaur involvement? I didn't really know how to fit them in, and I know there was kind of a Kakashi beat down, but we did get some centaur pwnage. Which is always good.