"Sasuke!" Naruto screeched before crashing bodily into him. The blond boy had both arms wrapped around him in a tight vise, not trying to cut off his air supply but wrapped pointlessly around his shoulders and squeezing him. He shouted wordlessly directly in Sasuke's ear and threatened to knock them both over in his excitement. Something that might actually have been theoretically dangerous since Sasuke had just stepped off of one of the moving staircases and it had already shifted away, leaving nothing but a gaping hole behind him. Which frankly, after his observations of the poor situational awareness and balance of the students at this school, he was surprised they did not have more of a problem with students falling to their deaths. But none of Harry's housemates had seemed concerned or alarmed by the stairs other than a handful of the brand new ones. It had not alarmed Sasuke either, merely confused him. What exactly was the function? The physics were probably fascinating but the school did not seem to use them for any of the defensive (or offensive) applications Sasuke could think of for having such a design. It almost seemed purely aesthetical. What a waste.

Naruto gave him another shake, impossibly tightening his grip even further. It was painful, but Sasuke's lungs weren't quite in danger yet and the idiot did not have the patience to wait it out long enough to be a threat.

"What," he demanded.

"I talked to a painting!"

"Great. Was it more intelligent than you?"

"Probably."

Sasuke snorted. Ridiculous. Honesty, it took half of the enjoyment out of it when the idiot not only set himself up for such comments but then did not even have the sense to be insulted by them. "Get off of me."

"No fun," Naruto muttered, but let him go so that he could go stand on the edge of the now empty stair connection and stare down before craning his neck awkwardly to look up and nearly unbalanced himself. "Where's Sakura?" he asked.

"Her house also has a tower, apparently." Which would mean a longer walk back. They had picked this spot as their meeting point for after they had received their tours of their separate Houses. Sasuke's Head of House had offered to escort him back to Team 7's separate dorm rooms on the main floor, but Sasuke had flatly refused. He did not need a guide like some child. The woman had been very insistent that he had to be in his room by a certain time and Sasuke had politely and sincerely lied to her face that he would head directly there. Despite what Naruto might say about Sasuke's social skills, authority figures still found it easy to take him at his word. Like hell was he going straight back. They had an entire facility to secure and far too much ground to cover with just one team. The sooner he was allowed to move about on his own the better.

"My house's really cool," Naruto continued to prattle. "I like 'em. Why don't we have houses?"

"We do. They're called bloodlines. See how well that worked out." Nin were competitive by nature. Having a village gave them something to rally around and unified them. Having smaller houses within a village had the opposite effect and merely fractured them further.

"Touché. How's Harry?"

"Fine." Nothing had happened in the time it took to walk him there. Sasuke had stayed long enough for a quick survey of the space. There was a distinct lack of entrances, which either spoke to good security in having a built in choke point in case of attack or it meant that there was an alternative hidden access point he would need to identify and secure. The sleeping quarters were riddled with windows unfortunately. But Sasuke had a solid enough idea of which direction the tower faced that he should be able to find Harry's without much trouble. They could do a more thorough inspection of the exterior and it's accessibility in the night. Securing the space was going to be difficult. Too many weaknesses, too many people in and out, too many possibilities. It was a problem he would have to think over. Maybe even ask Kakashi-sensei for some advice. The man ought to do something to earn his keep.

Naruto turned to look at him. "Did you talk to him?" he asked and it took Sasuke a moment to realize he meant Harry and not their team leader.

Sasuke frowned. "Why would I?" They were trying to maintain a cover. Plenty of the other students had been more than willing to provide him with a basic tour and information about the quarters. Sasuke had made his rounds quickly before excusing himself. So far, the dorm rooms seemed to be the most secure part of the castle and he was willing to let the arrangement stand until a better alternative could be found. There had been no reason for him to stay once Harry had darted up to his room. The boy would be safe enough for now as long as he stayed in his tower.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Maybe the guy wanted to talk?"

"Why?"

Naruto groaned. "I don't know, maybe 'cause he's your family and we're his friends and talkin' to the people who're important to you is nice? He seemed tense."

Sasuke scowled. "Why would he be tense? Do you think something is wrong?" It was possible that Sasuke had missed something. It would be grating to find out that he had missed something that Naruto had not, but it was not beyond the realm of possibility. Particularly when it came to things like feelings.

Naruto sighed as if his world was ending or someone had told him there was no ramen on Tuesdays. "You're hopeless," he announced.

The temptation to push him off the ledge was strong, but Sasuke did not want to have to listen to the bitching that would follow. Maybe once Sakura arrived and they were ready to leave... Naruto could catch up with them after he climbed his way back up.

"What are you students doing out here?"

Sasuke whipped around, a kunai slipping through his fingers and towards its target even as he sprang backwards to put some distance between himself and the threat he had not even heard or sensed coming up behind them. There was not much space behind him to retreat back to, but he managed to snag the edge of a railing with one hand and hop up so he was crouched on its beam.

Naruto held his ground, far more accustomed to being the rock that others dashed themselves against than finding the higher – better – ground to win a fight from. It was not until the kunai went through their shadowy attacker, like a knife through fog, that Naruto started to look worried. "What the hell?" he demanded.

The kunai had slipped straight through, Sasuke's aim true, and had clattered uselessly against the far wall. If it was a clone, it should have dissipated after such a direct hit. But the colorless figure had not even wavered. He was dressed more like the people they had seen in the shopping district and not in the uniform of a student or even the more subdued, practical looking clothes they had seen on the teachers at the feast. Not a student, not a teacher, but clearly a wizard.

"Did you just throw a knife at me?" the man shrieked.

An illusion? Some kind of more advanced shadow clone? Damn this no using the Sharringan rule. Sasuke was apt with genjutsus but it was frustrating to have to work the long way around a problem instead of just cutting to the heart of it. This was clearly not a real person. Real people weren't silvery grey in color, translucent and floating a couple of inches off of the ground. But then again, why build such a distraction when it was clearly so fake?

Whoever had made it had put a great deal of effort into the details of the appearance. It looked as if someone had both stabbed and burned the man, but there was no color to him and no flow of blood. But each piece of clothing was painstakingly rendered. Which only made it more confusing that someone would make such an elaborate illusion, only to spoil it. Why add such a violent looking wound but omit the dripping blood or the smell of burnt skin? Intimidation? Misdirection? The whole effect was oddly subdude for the specter of a dead man. Were they supposed to underestimate their opponent or be daunted by him? Knowing what the intent was behind the attack would give them a much better idea of how to respond.

Naruto made a strangled noise and Sasuke shifted enough attention to check on his comrade. Was this just a distraction and the real attack something that had slipped passed their defenses and was striking now? Naruto did not seem to be physically choking, but more in shock. The idiot did not even have a weapon out to defend himself with. Sasuke cursed under his breath and shifted to be ready to grab the moron if needed.

But Naruto was pointing at their assailant. "G-g-ghost!" he whimpered and Sasuke about near threw his next kunai at his fool of a teammate.

"There is no such-"

"Of course I am a ghost!" the thing scolded Naruto. "That does not give one the right to hurl weapons at me! This is an institution of learning! Not some barbarian's idea of a sporting event!"

"Aaaagggh!"

"Idiot!" Sasuke yelped before jumping down so that Naruto's cowering form was behind him. God help them if the rest of the Hidden Villages ever figured out that Konoha's mighty Jinnurik could be brought low by a simple ghost story or prank. How the idiot had survived this long, Sasuke wasn't sure, but once he took care of this problem he was going to beat the crap out of him. "Would you please try to focus?" he snapped. They needed to find the source and –

Naruto climbed on his back like some form of overgrown deranged monkey. "Keep it away!" he wailed.

"I am going to kill you," Sasuke told him as he stumbled forward to take both of their weight. "You are going to be the only ghost around here," he threatened.

The apparition complained just as loudly, as if it was trying to shout over Naruto's wails. "If you heathens cannot behave yourself then I will-"

"Oh, shut up," Sasuke hissed at it, bringing up a quick katon. He was done with this shadow play. If someone wanted to attack them, they ought to come out and do it.

"By Merlin!" the thing squealed before bending sideways and flowing out and away from Sasuke's attack. It moved like it was made of liquid but floated like fog. The substance but lack of mass was an interesting trick, one Sasuke would not have minded copying under different circumstances. It hovered now up by the rafters, glaring down at them and shaking its fist. "Never should have allowed foreigners into a place like this! See what comes of it! Terrorized in my own hallways! A danger to life and limb and property! Scandalous! Unacceptable! Heathens!"

"Oh my god, Oh my god," Naruto panted. "It's knows who we are!"

"Oh my god, why is something on fire?" Harry cried out before appearing in the hallway just as suddenly as the specter. His voice was sharp and loud but not nearly as alarmed sounding as Sasuke now was. Sasuke jerked hard, dislodging Naruto in one shrug of a moment before moving as quickly as he could across the space that divided him from his cousin. Naruto didn't fight him on it. He let Sasuke go to his cousin, releasing his clinging limpet hold even though he still looked ready to cower behind the nearest cover. At least his addled brain had enough sense to remember their priorities.

Harry wasn't even looking at the thing floating above their head, too busy shouting something at the burning rug. Water materialized effortlessly from his wand in a gushing stream and quickly soaked half of the hallway. There were shouts and complaints from the nearby paintings, but Harry had already explained to Sasuke that they were not real people and could not actually affect the outside world, so Sasuke ignored them as non-threats.

Harry looked up before Sasuke could reach him and scowled. Before Sasuke could rearrange their position so that he could take point, Harry shoved a bundle of fabric in his hands and started giving him orders. "Hold this. Do not damage it. Don't set anything else on fire. Let me handle this, for the love of god," the last part was muttered as he turned away and called up to the ghost. "Sir Lawrence, I'm really very sorry about that. New students, you know? Sometimes the ghosts make them jumpy."

"Jumpy?" the thing yelled back. "That one threw a knife at me and then tried to burn me! Burn me! What age is this that a man is attacked with fire in his own home? What in Merlin's good name is the current administration is thinking allowing such ruffians and ill mannered savages into our fine school."

"Really, very sorry," Harry repeated. "I think you just frightened them. Let me, ah, get them out of your way, Sir, and leave you to, ah, do whatever it was you were doing."

"Should not be allowed out in decent company," the thing muttered even as Harry took a firm grip on Sasuke's elbow and yanked. Sasuke could have resisted it. They had already determined that while Harry had good reflexes and instincts, his formal grappling training was abysmal. But having Harry clinging on to his arm was almost as good as, if not better than, Sasuke grabbing the other boy and yanking him to safety. Harry would not fight back if he thought he was the one in control and Sasuke could still maintain close contact and even maneuver the two of them if necessary. Compromise. Sasuke was getting better at this every day. So he let Harry 'lead' him away, shifting so he had the bulk of his body between Harry and Sir Lawrence.

"Naruto!" Harry hissed. "Come on!"

Naruto just shook his head, not looking away from the ghost for even a moment. The thing was glaring back at him, wagging its finger and going on about inferiority and shame.

"The idiot's scared," Sasuke told him.

"Of ghosts? For real?" Harry complained. "I thought he was joking. Or like, he meant fake ghosts in movies or something." Harry sighed. "Come on, help me get him up." Sasuke was half tempted to leave the moron to face his fears. Maybe that would cure him. But Harry was not going to leave without him in tow and Sasuke had not yet one hundred percent confirmed that the thing couldn't hurt Harry. It was easier to just cooperate, get a hand under Naruto's arm and yank him up and along. They went back down a hallway and kept moving until they were around the corner and out of sight.

"Naruto, calm down," Harry was saying, his voice much lower and calm now.

"It talked!"

"They all talk," Harry explained. "Or at least, most of them do. I know it's startling, but most of the ghosts have been here for generations. They won't hurt you. They're as much a part of Hogwarts as the stones or classes. Some of them are even actually quite nice. I'm friends with a couple. Or, well, sort of friends. I mean, most of them are kind of a depressing sort, but even Sir Lawrence isn't too bad. When you're not throwing knives at him or trying to set him on fire." The last part was clearly directed at Sasuke and he raised an eyebrow in response to the glare he was receiving.

"If it is already dead, then I could not have hurt it," he replied drolly. It did make him feel a little better to know that was why his attacks had not worked. You could not kill something that was already dead. But it worried him, the possibility that something like that could be used against them – or even worse – have a mind of its own. What would such a thing want? What could it be convinced to do? How did you control it?

"He's just a grumpy old man, you didn't have to attack him. We're lucky it wasn't Peeves or one of the House ghosts."

"Oh, no," Naruto moaned. "They get worse?"

"No!" Harry exclaimed before glaring again at Sasuke as if it was his fault Naruto was being such a moron about this. "They're really not dangerous. Peeves is just annoying and would have gotten Mr. Finch and tried to get us in trouble. And the House ghosts would have had to report us to our Head of House. Students aren't supposed to be out after hours."

"And yet here you are," Sasuke pointed out, narrowing his eyes. "You followed me." It was hard to imagine that his cousin could manage such a thing. Hard to imagine – and infuriating. Was Sasuke completely losing his ability to track his surroundings?

Harry rolled his eyes. "Didn't have much choice, did I? God, you're impossible to talk to sometimes."

"I am not."

Naruto snorted, then chuckled weakly. "Oh, hell, yes, you are. I'm so glad you're here, Harry!" Naruto hugged him enthusiastically, his good mood returning quickly. "You're our hero!"

"Argh!" Harry stumbled, but he was learning to put up with Naruto's enthusiasm. "It's all fine, really. But no more throwing knives or setting things on fire."

"Really? Because that rules out like half of what the teme can do."

"Why are we setting things on fire?" Sakura called out as she came around the corner. She was smiling as she asked, brushing off a bit of damp ash from her gloves that made it clear she had found their trail of destruction.

"Sakura!" Naruto cried happily. "It was horrible there was a – ghost!"

The last part was screamed, his voice embarrassingly high pitched as he scrambled backwards away from the thing floating alongside Sakura. It did not matter that there were still several yards between them. Sasuke sneered at the ridiculousness of a nin of Naruto's caliber being undone by an elaborate shadow clone – but Sasuke also did not take his eyes off of the new variable. This one seemed much more peaceful than the last one, watching them all silently. It was female this time, wearing a complicated looking dress instead of robes. She was the same pale washed out color as the other one, but she 'floated' more stately just above the floor, looking much more real just in her mannerisms.

Sakura rolled her eyes but she kept smiling. "Sorry about him," she told the ghost, talking to it like it was one of their clients. "He's easily excitable. The Grey Lady offered to walk with me. We've had a lovely little tour, though she doesn't speak. I think she's just curious."

"Can she be curious somewhere else?" Naruto groaned.

Apparently the thing could understand enough to be offended. She sniffed haughtily before drifting up and forward, straight through the ceiling, as gracefully as if she were ascending a flight of stairs.

"Oh, god, that's creepy."

"Don't be rude," Sakura scolded him. "It's good to have friends in different places."

Harry shrugged. "I've never heard anything bad about the Grey Lady, just that she's sad."

"Really?" Naruto asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him. "Why?"

"Dunno. But there's not much you can do for a ghost. Just try to be nice when you see them. I've been told they're all here because they're too upset to leave, but most of them aren't angry or anything, just sad and frustrated and alone."

"That's," Naruto trailed off. "That's kind of awful."

"Yeah, I guess," Harry agreed. And he seemed to mean it, but there was something almost sly about the way he carefully kept his face turned away. "So try to be nice to them if you can, okay? Or at least not make it worse. I'd want people to be nice to me if I was like that."

Naruto shuddered at the very thought. "Yeah, yeah, okay. I can try. So creepy though. It can't, like, just happen to people though, can it? They can't make you ghosts too?"

"No," Harry said, and this time Sasuke was certain he was trying not to laugh. "It doesn't work like that."

"Oh. Okay, that's okay then. Harry! So good to see you again!" And it was like a light had been switched on. Naruto was all smiles again.

This time Harry did laugh. "I figured I better come check on you lot and make sure you weren't burning the place down. Good thing I did, too, or Sasuke might have given it his best effort."