Halloween/Sports Festival
For the most part, September and most of October went by for the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was at dinnertime on Halloween that the year decided to spice up, but few days before that, a few Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were forming study groups and were preparing for an exam in potions.
Heaving a sigh, Angel looked at the Wiggenweld potion again. "Damn it to hell! I hate Snape!"
"Are you alright, you seem more stressed than usual." Lee looked at his best friend almost sister, seeing her way more stressed about a test than ever.
Looking at Lee, it was obvious she hadn't been sleeping well and her movements were becoming sluggish as of late. She was close to falling over. "Papa..."
"Einjeru-chan!" Lee was next to her faster than anyone can see. He immediately noticed she went limp. The others came over and recommended that she be taken to the hospital wing. He ran over with no stops.
Madam Pomfrey was shocked the moment that he came in there with her on his back. "What happened?"
"She fainted. I'd assume she was exhausted ma'am." Lee was nervous as this never happened before. "This is the first time I have noticed this."
"How long have you been having feelings for her?"
"Huh?! What are you talking about?"
"I can see it in your eyes. You like her."
Defeated, Lee admitted having feelings since they were five and six, but has no intention on acting upon them yet. "To be honest, it's her resilience that draws me in. No matter how hard the fall, she gets up and continues fighting."
"Ah, young love. However, it's good you brought her here as quick as you did. She is well beyond exhausted... I can't do much in terms of helping except for forcing her to rest. If she's as resilient as you say, then I'll have my hands full."
"Not unless I get our parents involved..." Lee seemed resolved enough to resort to tattling at this point.
"What do you mean?" Madam Pomfrey was very confused by the hardness in his voice.
"Her dad isn't against using force to keep Angel in bed... He once sat on her." Lee said, remembering the awkward moment he encountered Kakashi sitting on Einjeru's back. "Either way, we received a letter from home. Due to Angel not writing her letter this week, they got concerned, and..."
"Is something wrong dearie?" Madam Pomfrey was hoping another bed didn't need to be set up.
"No ma'am... My father is in the hospital. He was severely injured while working. The doctors are unsure if he's going to pull through. Since we had that news, Angel had been working herself to the bone, as if trying to distract herself for my sake."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. If anything, it looks like she's preparing for the inevitable. Have you two ever been taught on how to deal with loss?"
Tears began prickling at Lee's eyes, not wanting to accept his father dying so soon. "I think Angel paid more attention to that lecture than I did."
"Well it's good to see that you're honest. There are seven stages of grief: denial, guilt, anger, reflection, bounce back, working through, and acceptance. From the looks of things it looks like she's trying to push through all of them before they need to take place. This normally comes as a 'what if this was my dad' sort of situation."
"What do you mean?"
"Is her dad the only parent she knows?"
"Yes. I guess I am different in knowing both of my parents. I still see my mom."
"Then of course she's trying to steel herself for that inevitable day where the only parent she knows will be gone. Either way, you should write home and alert them that she will be in the hospital wing for a couple days for observation."
"Yes ma'am." Lee nods in affirmation, and heads back to his classmates.
Madam Pomfrey looks back at Angel and smiles. "You are a very lucky girl to have someone care for you so deeply as that boy does. I wouldn't break his heart by working myself into a grave..." She walks away from Angel, wondering if she heard that, albeit being asleep/unconscious.
In the Hidden Leaf, everyone was watching for that particular owl that comes when a letter was sent from outside, knowing it was from Einjeru and Lee. Even Kakashi who at the moment dawned his ANBU gear and was pacing around the locker room, amusing a certain kohai. "Senpai, you look more and more like a mother hen each day. One letter doesn't mean the end of the world."
"It's not like her Tenzo. She was always meticulous about sending her letters. Something must be happening at school." Kakashi was showing child-like tendencies at this point.
"Senpai, this is Einjeru we're talking about. For all we know she got caught up in her homework, or maybe she's finally fitting in and not thinking so much about home. Stop worrying about her so much." Tenzo was staring to talk more like her sensei than a pseudo-uncle. At that moment, someone else came into the room
"Kakashi-senpai, Lord Hokage wishes to see you immediately. It looks like a letter finally came."
A wave of relief washed over his shoulders but wouldn't last. Getting to hokage's office as fast as his shunshin would allow. The hokage looks at Kakashi, noticing the anxious look in his eye. "Kakashi, as you may have guessed we got a letter from our wayward two. It's not good news though. Einjeru had fainted during a study session and is in their hospital wing. According to Lee she hadn't been sleeping much."
"This does not lessen my anxiety one bit... I'm fighting every urge to go see her and it's barely been a month." Kakashi's hand was itching for some sort of distraction.
"It is almost time for the Grand Sports Festival. All of young shinobi are encouraged to participate. I think we can bring them home for a couple days." Lord Third also wanted to see the two of them. "And we forgot to introduce them to their sensei's before they left."
"You never did tell me who he or she was." Kakashi had the slightest suspicion, but didn't want to spoil it.
"I thought we discussed this while she was in the academy." A knock on the door interrupted the conversation, and in walked a woman with purple hair and a cat mask with three lines on each side. "Lord Third, the preparations for the grand sports festival are almost complete."
"Ah Yugao. What an opportune time. You wouldn't mind going with Kakashi to get our two wayward genin, would you?" Lord Third smiled at the opportunity for sensei and student to meet for the first time without the mask.
"So, they are coming home for the festival?" Yugao wanted to see how her would-be student would do in a situation such as that.
"Yes, but this letter and you two have to go grab them from their studies. The festival starts tomorrow."
Both of them stiffened, but not before a 'hai, hokage-sama.' They requested the means to getting to the magical realm, and received a nine-tails plushie in return. Giving a questioning look, and grabbing one of the tails simultaneously, they ended up in Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore gave a smile not unlike the hokage's and grabbed some necklaces out of the drawer. "What an honor to see you Mr. Hatake. May I ask you and your colleague to put these on, so you may understand me?"
Kakashi and Yugao took the necklaces and put them on. Yugao was the first to speak. "Professor, a letter from our village leader. He's requesting Einjeru and Lee to come home for our annual Grand Sports Festival. It takes place at the beginning of October."
Kakashi nods in affirmation before continuing. "It is tradition that all of our genin participate, even apprentices."
Dumbledore nods in understanding, but had to ask the following question. "Do you think Einjeru will be ready for the event? She just fainted earlier."
Kakashi seemed to be ready for that question. "How long ago was this? I have a feeling she should be awake."
Yugao was wondering what could have caused this. "There are very few causes of this. Einjeru's too young to have any of those. I have to ask those who were near what she was doing before she fainted."
Dumbledore was impressed at the fact that Yugao was trying to figure out what was going on so quickly. "Well, all of the study group is probably in the hospital wing trying to finish up their remaining time before the potions exam. If you'll follow me, I'll take you down there myself."
At the hospital wing, Angel was cognitive and talking everyone through the potions questions. Her head drifts to the entrance briefly and she sees Kakashi and Yugao. "Papa!" She flips out of the bed in surprise and lands upright. Lee then looks in the direction of the door along with the others to see who makes Angel unlike herself.
"Kakashi sensei!" Lee was stiff as a rod, staring at Kakashi in his ANBU attire.
Yugao was amused at their expressions, more so Angel's. "Well well well, it seems like you two have relaxed well enough to let your guard down. Someone could have snuck up on you."
Angel easily saw the meaning behind that and made a slashing motion near her throat as if saying 'please don't talk about this in front of my classmates.' Lee instantly paled at that statement before Dumbledore dismissed the others.
Kakashi walked over to Einjeru and set her on the bed to be checked over by Yugao.
"Dad, I'm okay. I just fainted, that's all."
Yugao then spoke. "There tends to be a reason why you fainted and part of it may be lack of sleep on your end... You have severe bags under your eyes, but we have to make sure there isn't something underlying. Do you remember what happened before you fainted?"
"I was studying in the library, I got frustrated after trying to memorize a potion for our exam later. I also remember calling out for dad randomly. Next thing I know, I'm awake in the hospital wing and surrounded by my study group."
Madam Pomfrey nods and fills in the blanks. "Lee caught you and brought you here as fast as he could. From the looks of everything it looked like exhaustion."
Yugao nodded in affirmation. "Alright, everything checks out. Now are you going to explain why you haven't been sleeping?"
"I couldn't. It's been like that since day 1." Einjeru looked to the window, trying not to sound like she's complaining. "It's not home."
Lee shook his head. "We have been here for a month. How can you still have homesickness?"
"It is quite easy. Especially when it's far from what you know Mr. Lee. It seems like Einjeru is reluctant to be away from home too long, hence the sneaking out to exercise when she is unable to rest." Dumbledore gave a knowing smile, feeling that same way when he was young.
"So someone had noticed my sneaking out, aside from Lee." Einjeru at least had the nerve to look sheepish.
Kakashi was miraculously amused and disappointed. "You should know better. Either way, that's not what we came here for. It's time for the annual Hidden Leaf Grand Sports Festival."
"Really?! I knew it was coming up, but not so soon and now we can participate in it! Yeah!" Einjeru started jumping around like she had sugar.
Lee started laughing. "This is most youthful. Whomever wins the festival gets a week off from missions which does not apply to us, but also a weeks worth of mission pay. That can easily go into our account at Gringott's."
Einjeru nodded. "That would be a good thing for us." Heaving a sigh. "I hate buying my own supplies for potions. It's draining our account too fast. Damn Snape..."
Dumbledore was surprised upon hearing that and made sure to make sure the potions supplies were well stocked aside from the requirements on the supply lists for the year. He excused himself and allowed Lee and Angel to grab their stuff.
Einjeru led Kakashi to her dorm as Lee walked Yugao to his. Kakashi made sure to keep a mental map of the school in case he needed to come back and was confused as to why they were walking through a kitchen. "Einjeru, naze wareware wa daidokoro o aruite iru nodesu ka?" "Einjeru, why are we walking through a kitchen?"
"Mōshiwakearimasen, otōsan, soreha Hufflepuff ryō e no yuiitsu no hōhōdesu." "Sorry dad, it's the only way to the Hufflepuff dorm."
Kakashi shrugged as Einjeru knocked the all familiar rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff and opened the lid, allowing Kakashi to go through first. Pulling the lid back on, Einjeru started guiding Kakashi to the common room. Coming through, he felt a little claustrophobic. Seeing all of the plants, he wondered why she felt so homesick in an environment like this. It had the look and feel of the Hidden Leaf forest, at least in his eyes. He then followed her to the girls dorm and saw her grab the scroll out of her luggage. Tying her headband around her head, Einjeru looked at Kakashi smiling.
"Junbi kanryō." "Ready."
"Yoi. Yugao to rī o mi ni ikimashou." "Good. Now let's go meet Yugao and Lee."
They meet up in front of the great hall and Einjeru reveals the kunai port key. "ichi, ni, san!" "One, two, three!" They appear in the academy, as the newest batch of senior students was being dismissed early due to the sports runs through them, almost knocking Einjeru over.
"Hey knucklehead! You almost knocked me over!"
Looking back, Naruto paled. "Einjeru?! I thought you were out of the village."
"I was... But then I was brought home by the ANBU."
"Einjeru, shouldn't we report to Lord Third?" Lee was treading lightly since he knew that Naruto always pushed her buttons without being around him for too long.
Einjeru shrugged and nodded. "I would stick around and chat, but I need to see Lord Third."
"Okay, say hi to gramps for me!" Naruto ran off to do whatever he did during the festival and Einjeru paled realizing in less than a couple weeks it was going to be the festival celebrating the Fourth Hokage and his accomplishments.
Her heart dropped down to her stomach as one of the most painful holidays of the year for her family was about to be upon them. "Oh god Lee... It's almost Naruto's birthday, and that festival is coming up... We better get to Lord Thirds office."
Getting to Lord Third's office, Einjeru realized she was less excited about being home than before. Giving a knock, Lord Third told the two to enter and gave a grandfatherly smile. "Welcome home you two." Noticing an icy chill, he looked at Einjeru and Lee and noticed a stiffness in their shoulders. "Are you two okay?"
Lee was the first to speak. "We are alright physically, mentally, we're not in our springtime of youth."
Einjeru couldn't help but chuckle at Lee's use of words. "Just realizing how the sports festival and Lord Fourths festival are really close together, and how much it affects me as a whole... One of my best friends gets chased on that day, and my dad spends his day looking at the memorial stone. And then there's Lee and I being ridiculed and being told we're a stain on the village for not being able to use chakra. I can't recall how many times someone in a drunken stupor had to be beaten to a pulp by Team Ro for someone to get the hint that Naruto, Lee and I were not to be tampered with."
Lord Third looked at the two with a sorry smile and were glad the two remained strong. "You two are shinobi now so that should be reduced, but we didn't bring you home for that. You two are going to participate in the sports festival as a team. I was also made aware you two have an exam coming up?"
"It's a potions exam sir. We are being tested on our ability to make certain potions and if they work to their desired effects." Einjeru shuddered, remembering all the mishaps by other students in potions leading up to this point. "Luckily Lee and I were partnered up for this exam and we have the highest partner grades in the class."
"It is most youthful that even outside the Leaf Village and in two separate houses, we can still work together Lord Third. Our teamwork is the most youthful." Lee gave the nice guy pose and allowed Einjeru to giggle only but a little.
"I'm glad to see that you two. I wish you luck in the tournament, but for now there's someone I'd like you two to meet. You may know them as the ANBU assigned in keeping me safe or as Einjeru has named, Team Ro, but now they're no longer ANBU, they're your sensei's. Come in you two."
The door opened, revealing Yugao and another one of team Ro that they didn't actually interact with. The two looked at them and gave a nod, with Yugao taking off her mask.
Einjeru smiled. "Hello Yugao sensei!" Giving a slight bow out of respect, Einjeru's eyes went to Lee, who looked apprehensive. "Lee, is something wrong?"
He looked closely at the other ANBU and his eyes started glossing over before turning away from everyone. "Hello... mom."
In that moment, Einjeru slowly turned her head. "Mrs. Lee?"
"Yes it's me, and no I had no say in it. I was told to report for a new assignment, and I find out that I'm looking after my son." Lee's mom did not look too enthused about seeing how far Lee had progressed, and Einjeru recognized it.
"I see..." Einjeru looked to Yugao, as if unsure of what to say next.
Lee finally looked back at everyone, and his eyes were hooded. "Dad... Have you seen him recently?"
"No, I'm busy with Lord Third. I don't have time to see someone who took my useless son and walked out on me."
Einjeru's fist clinched and she grit her teeth, reigning in her temper. 'Don't lose my temper like I did with Harry's aunt... It won't end well...' Yugao noticed immediately what happened and did her best to calm the situation.
"Now Chikara, what did we talk about when it comes to Lee?" It was apparent that Yugaos nerves were frayed trying to re-condition her after ROOT being disbanded and all the ANBU being brought under the Third Hokage's command.
"My son is a ninja now. He can handle it." Her voice was devoid of any emotion, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Before anyone could react, a fist was thrown.
"You may be an ANBU, but you're still human! Nothing can prepare you for anything, can it?!" The yelling came from the youngest one in the room, who still had her hand extended. "Human's can't live without emotions, and if you are then something must be seriously wrong." Einjeru at this point had exhausted every anger management technique before launching the punch.
After having stumbled a bit from the unexpected punch, Chikara wiped her mouth, giving a smirk. "You really have grown stronger haven't you, brat."
Yugao immediately stopped her soon-to-be prodigy from doing something stupid by gripping her in a way not unlike Kakashi when they noticed her going overboard. "Mind your temper. You are right, but you must tame your emotions."
"I hate people like that." Einjeru had no patience for those who were unnecessarily harsh, especially towards their own kin. "Sorry, Yugao sensei." She started settling down and looked towards Lee, who didn't seem to look well. "Lee?"
"I need to be alone. I need to find my youthfulness!" He ran out of the room, unable to handle what was going on. He didn't like seeing people he cared about fight amongst one another. He went to the hospital to check on his father. Seeing him in the rehab center gave Lee a sense of relief. "I still have a parent that cares that I am happy... That I am keeping my youthful outlook. I do not know what I am going to do if dad passes on. Einjeru would not either. Kakashi sensei means everything to her and she hides nothing from him. They know one another like the back of their hands. My dad and I do not have that kind of relationship, but at least we have one, and I would like to keep it."
Heaving a sigh, Lee walked to the stone faces and steeled his resolve for the games. Sitting on Lord Fourths head, he thinks about what will happen, now that he has his mother for a sensei. "Will I be able to handle this?"
"Yes Lee, you will." Einjeru stood behind him, a look of pure determination on her face. "You can and will prove her wrong. You have exceeded expectations in Charms class and are above and beyond in Herbology. The three basic dueling charms are in your arsenal, and some are great for distractions like Rictusempra. Disarming opponents with Expelliarmus is also great and allows you to get close and personal. Also Flippendo is great for creating space when needed."
"I am aware Einjeru, but this is my mom. She demands nothing but perfection."
Einjeru snorts in an undignified manner. "And my dad doesn't? My dad does things a little differently, but expects me to do well above everyone else outside of chakra requiring techniques. Taijutsu, Bukijutsu, Kenjutsu, Magic. I'm expected to be damn near top score on all of those, and when I'm not, I beat myself up so much that all dad needs to do is give the positive reinforcement I need to keep going. We will win this competition and show your mom that we are just as capable as any other genin and no self righteous, uppity ANBU made sensei is going to tell us so. Our teamwork will be the best, no matter what."
Lee heaved a sigh. "I was never able to impress her when I went to visit, and to be honest, I need to tell you something." He looked at Einjeru to see that she was intent on hearing him and that was reinforced with a smile. "I really like you Einjeru..."
Her face was bright pink. "Lee... I..." She couldn't help but stammer or talk with long pauses because her brain was processing this and short circuiting. "I like... you... too, but... wait a little while?" She couldn't believe she said that in that manner, but it was better than ignoring her inner voice nagging her to say it.
"I figured you would say that. To be honest I wanted to wait and make a youthful day out of it. Show you how much you mean to me. When you fainted, I panicked because I did not know if I would ever get the courage to say this."
"Either way, the competition is tomorrow, we should go get some rest, and study some more for the potions exam. Lord knows that's going to be awful. We barely have the highest grade in that class."
They get to the apartment to see Kakashi and Yugao having coffee. "We're back... I hope we aren't interrupting, dad, sensei."
"It's alright. We were considering going to look for you two if you hadn't come home soon." Kakashi gave his signature eye smile and grabbed Einjeru from behind. "This is for making us worry so much." He swung her around, giving a devilish laugh.
"Dad, you're embarrassing me..." Einjeru felt kind of annoyed, but reveled in the affection. 'I love my family...'
Lee wished he had a camera to savor this moment with. He rarely seen her smile at Hogwarts, but was enjoying this as it happened. "I think it looks most youthful!"
Yugao was so using this against Einjeru when they started training, but for now enjoyed seeing her senpai dote on his daughter. "You two look so adorable. Well, I have to get going because I said I would meet Kurenai and Anko for a girls night later, and maybe someday Einjeru, you'll be coming along."
Einjeru nodded, and was now curious about it, but would stick to innocent things until the time came. For now, she would futily try to break Kakashi's grasp.
The time came for the opening ceremonies as groups of genin were lined up with their senseis attempting to give a pep talk. Yugao basically threatened serious bodily harm if they didn't win, as she needed a serious vacation from the missions she had undertook. Einjeru nodded her head vigorously and decided to resort to magic in desperate need of surviving. Lee made a silent agreement with her in an attempt to not get flayed by Yugaos sword.
Einjeru thought about the events that were to take place. "First there's the team ski... Then there's the obstacle course... And last but not least, the relay race. In the words of the Nara, what a drag..."
In the stands the male side of the Nara clan sneezed. Shikaku shook his head. "Someone used our catchphrase."
Attached to a pair of skis with Einjeru in front, and Lee in the back holding onto her shoulders, they silently awaited the starting horn. Looking at their competition, they saw most of their classmates from the academy as well as some older genin, even old man Kosuke was part of the festivities. "We've got quite the competition Lee." Einjeru smirks at the potential of wiping everyone's face in the dirt.
"Let's fan them with our flames of youth Einjeru!" Lee gave his nice guy pose just as the starting horn goes off.
With all the strength training they've undergone over the years, the two freshest genin with no missions under their belt took the lead. Their movements totally in sync with one another, they crossed the finish line in no time at all. Panting, Einjeru and Lee gave each other a high-five.
The obstacle course consisted of ball rolling, use of chakra suction (which for those two, a drag utilizing magic in an unusual manner), carrying an egg with a spoon, drinking a carton of milk quickly (Which would fall on Lee due to Einjeru being lactose intolerant), and a dash to the finish line, for which placement would determine positions in the relay race.
Einjeru looked to Lee, a desperate look on her face. "Please Lee, you have to do the obstacle course. I don't want my relatively short career cut in its prime due to my intolerance for dairy!"
"I will do this with my flames of youth igniting the trail!"
Einjeru shooed Lee to the starting line and joined the rest of the teams on the side. From her point of view it looked like their training sessions were paying off in dividends. "Go for it Lee!" Seeing him pushing the ball and getting to the wooden helices made her cheer even louder. He channeled some magic to his feet and started running on them stopping at the eggs and spoons. It was definitely a challenge for him not to drop it, but he managed not before realizing that he was passed by Neji, who happened to sneer at him.
"You might as well give up, fate has declared that you'll lose."
"You always say that, yet in class you were shown up by one of us, Neji. Now, watch this!" To the untrained eye, it would look like a stick appeared out of nowhere, but Einjeru immediately recognized his wand and wondered what he was going to do.
"Sorry for being unyouthful about this, but Rictusempra!" Neji starts laughing like he was being tickled, allowing Lee to gain the lead and get to the milk, chugging it down and making it to the finish.
Einjeru chuckled and thought 'No one said that jutsu and magic couldn't be used... Plus, who said tickling one's opponent wasn't effective?' She chuckled at the end of that thought and trotted over to Lee. "All that's left is the relay race. We'll probably be at a disadvantage due to having more of a distance to run because we only have two people."
"I know, and I'm burned out on the obstacle course... How much time before the relay?"
"Roughly a half hour, but I'll take the starting position and you take the halfway point, that way you can rest up and I'll be able to test my speed. Here's some water and a pack of pocky to perk you up." Handing off the items, Einjeru went to warm up, and walk around the village to see how the betting pools are going, she heard rumors that a lot of people lost some money due to her and Lee's actions during the festival.
Unfortunately for her, that drew the attention of high profiling gamblers. She went down the usual alley to get to the apartment to feel someone watching her. 'Oh great... People trying to manipulate the festival for their own gain. My kami I hate being a genin...' Turning around, she sees two thuggish looking men.
"I highly doubt she could harm a fly, Jirobo. Look at her, she barely has any muscle."
Hearing that, she took offense and took advantage of them underestimating her. She immediately went for the solarplexus and held a kunai to his testacles. "Still want to say that I barely have any muscles? Still want to say I couldn't harm a fly?! Huh?!" A heavy wind started moving in as Einjeru's temper flared. She didn't like bullies and definitely hates being underestimated which leads to someone being injured.
The aptly named Jirobo tried to perform damage control before his buddy ended up not having the ability to certain deeds. "Calm down kid, he was just kidding. We were just wondering if maybe you could throw the last race?"
"My life is worth more than some losers bet. The fact that he tried to remotely intimidate someone by sending over some thugs isn't worth getting flayed by my sensei. Also, had I felt like reporting this, which I am in my right to do, it would be too much of a headache to deal with. I'll make you a deal, you leave me alone, I'll forget this ever happened, and we get on with our lives because its almost time for the race." She walked away, kunai withdrawn into her pouch, figuring she made her point, just to be dragged and pushed against the wall.
"We tried to be nice, now we're telling you. You better throw the race hon, because if you don't..." Jirobo made the slashing gesture on his throat and the buddy made the grip around her throat tighter.
Suddenly, Einjeru got the message that she was in danger and that her windpipe was held closed. She started turning blue and Jirobo asked again. "Just throw the race. You can participate next year."
Somehow her pride was offended and she got ticked, settling for just getting to inflict some pain than just trying to get away. "N-N... Never!" She kicked the buddy in the testacles, causing him to grab them, and she jumped to the rooftops to catch her breath. At this point the relay was almost set to begin and she had no breath. 'Sorry Lee... I'm going to be late.' She collapsed to her knees to be surrounded by familiar masks.
Remaining silent they signal for her to breathe. They give her a soldier pill and usher her back to the arena where the rest of the competitors were ready to start. Noticing the bruises around her neck, no one said a thing. The starting sound went off as Einjeru kept an even pace so her throat didn't burn any more than what it was already. With that being said she was in fourth place, and Lee looked ready to charge into first when she gave him the baton.
The baton got into Lee's hand and a smoke cloud was left as he ran the rest of the distance to the finish, allowing Einjeru to drop to her legs in relief as the side effects of the soldier pill kicked in, due to her lack of chakra.
Yugao went to her after the race to congratulate her on her reactions when she was found and doing as well as she did in the race. Since Lee won, she took them and Chikara out for barbecue and saw that the draining effects from the pill created a ravenous appetite.
"Sorry, Yugao-sensei. I all of a sudden had a crazy appetite."
"No problem at all Einjeru, I'm glad to see that it's a healthy appetite."
"Could you tell your student to slow down Yugao. Some of us would like to enjoy the food." Chikara looked impatient, and Lee kind of glared at her.
"She could have died from that mom. Do you not care?"
"The only one I should care about is you? Now with that being said, why aren't you eating?"
Lee, despite his stomach growling, said he wasn't hungry.
Feeling the tension in the air, Einjeru slowed down considerably and offered some food to Lee. "You do need to keep your strength up."
"I really am fine Einjeru. You need it more than I do."
She stopped eating completely at this point. "Eat. Lee."
Lee couldn't keep it up as his stomach let out a roar. "Let's eat."
Everyone ate until Kakashi came up, saying that team Ro had a mission to go on and that Lee and Einjeru needed to go back to school. Heading to the hokages office, Einjeru started removing her headband from her head and put it in her pouch. Looking up at Kakashi, she smiled. "Aside from the near death experience in the alley, the festival was fun."
"Yeah, don't scare us like that again? It's a hassle trying to stay emotionless when one of our charges does something crazy or stupid." Entering through the door, Kakashi put on decorum and handed the port key to Einjeru and Lee. Upon them disappearing, Team Ro took on their mission.
Appearing in front of the black lake, Angel and Lee heaved a sigh and went to their respective dorms expecting everyone to be doing what they usually did on their off time from classes, but walked into a surprise. There was a banner saying welcome back and it left the two speechless.
Angel stepped forward and saw her meek looking classmate, Susan Bones coming towards her with a cup of water. "Congratulations and welcome back to school."
"Thank you. May I ask what's going on?"
Cedric stepped forth and answered. "We noticed your case was open and we peeked in it. We noticed your uniform was neatly folded on top of what looked to be scrolls. We pulled that out to see vividly colorful pictures of what looked to be your home as well as you and your family. Professor Sprout caught us and chastised us for looking through anothers' belongings before telling us that you had to go home for something. We know that you are trying to embrace what our house represents and we did this to show you that we recognize your hard work as well as respect your homelands habits."
Angel blushed and was about beat someone for going through her belongings before hearing that Professor Sprout did it for her. 'They ought to be lucky that they didn't lose any house points for it...'
With Lee, the Gryffindors surrounded him and gave him pats on the back. Harry hung back, knowing that Lee understood not wanting to be the center of attention and decided to catch up with him later.
"Not that I don't enjoy celebrating something, but what's being celebrated?"
Ron grinned. "We were curious about what happened to you guys when you weren't here the last couple of days. McGonagall told us that you guys had to go home."
Hermione scoffed before continuing. "The boys lost us house points after getting caught looking through your stuff. I admit I was curious about your habits and why you guys risked sneaking out every morning."
Lee gave a sheepish smile before rubbing through his hair. "I guess we weren't as sneaky as we thought we were..."
Harry shook his head. "You guys weren't the only ones sneaking out. Some weird things had happened and well..." He looked to Hermione and Ron.
Ron smiled. "What the mate is trying to say is..."
"We'll discuss this after we get you settled back in." Hermione felt this was the most appropriate action as they had their exam the next day.
In the lovely dungeons, Snape sneered at everyone and started the exam on the Wiggenweld potion. Angel took the liberty of getting the ingredients needed while Lee got the flame going. When she came back, Lee measured and she monitored the flame to make sure it didn't get too hot. When it was measured, they put everything according to directions. They looked at each other and signed.
'You think we got this in the bag Lee?'
'You worry too much Einjeru. We studied our butts off plus we have the best teamwork out of everyone here. Professor knows it too.'
'Ok, also...' Angel paled seeing someone else's potion bubble in a dangerous manner. "Hit the floor!"
Just as everyone hit, the potion got volatile and Snape cast a protection charm to avoid injury. He looked to see whom was at the station to see Susan and Parvati Patil with their arms in front of their face.
Angel looked at Susan to see what happened. The facial expression said everything. "Someone sabotaged the potion." Her eyes darted around the room to see Crabbe and Goyle snickering, but not before hearing Snape losing his temper.
"Everyone. Out. NOW."
Everyone except Angel left as she wasn't taking chances with more explosions taking place. She also wanted to ask Snape something. "Professor?"
"I thought I told you to leave Parker."
"Yes, but I'm hard headed."
"I can see... What do you need?"
"Actually, it's something you need from me. Professor Dumbledore said you had a genealogy potion that required my blood?"
"Ah, so you were the one that Dumbledore spoke of." He pulled out something resembling a spindle. "Prick your finger and it will draw the blood needed."
She did as instructed and noticed the blood went into the scroll revealing both Japanese and English writing and they both saw names they never thought possible. Angel paled. "I'll say nothing if you don't professor."
Snape wanted to break down in tears and instead nodded. "Not a word Parker. I'll not have the rumors that I have a Japanese niece roaming these halls."
"Our relationship does not change professor." In that instance she walked out as if nothing happened.
She catches up to the Gryffindor group to see Hermione running ahead of them and hearing Harry say "I think she heard you."
Lee shook his head. "That was most unyouthful Ron..."
Angel decided to make herself known. "Who messed up and how?"
Everyone looked at Ron who tried to defend himself and failed miserably. "I was frustrated that she was good at everything."
"Yeah, well I am also good everything. I am the daughter of prodigy where I come from and I have to make sure everything I do is the best. I see where Hermione is coming from and what you said was not something that someone from her parentage wants to hear. As well she isn't here to make friends, she is here to learn and if she makes friends along the way, that's fine and dandy, but you don't go insulting someone because of petty jealousy." She stormed off to find Hermione and console her.
Later on at dinner, Einjeru came up to Ron and them to hear Neville say how Hermione wasn't coming out of the girls bathroom. Shaking her head, she speaks. "You messed up big time Ron." She took a piece of his chicken and was about to head to her table when Quirrell ran in.
"TROLL! In the dungeons! Troll in the dungeons! Thought you ought to know..." He then passed out where he stood.
While everyone else started screaming in fear, Einjeru and Lee looked at each other and made their own mission to find Hermione, disappearing amongst the chaos.
After they disappeared, Dumbledore told the prefects to take the students back to the dormitories while the professors headed to the dungeons.
With the Gryffindors, Harry and Ron realized that Hermione was still in danger. They ran towards the girls bathroom to see the troll heading towards there.
"What do we do?"
"He's heading towards the girls bathroom." Harry started running towards there to see Lee and Angel go in there.
Angel saw Hermione come out and tried to get her to follow before the troll came in. "There isn't much time, but we need to get out of here before..." The thuds of giant footsteps caught her attention. "Oh Kami... Lee?!"
Lee charged in just after the troll came in and started to swing its club. Ron and Harry came in as the club hit the stalls. Angel used the opportunity to run up the club and the trolls arm.
"Hey ugly! Try this on for size!" Angel pulled a kunai out of her hidden pouch and jumped off the arm into the chest and stabbing the kunai into it before getting caught by the legs. "Oh hell!" She immediately had to go hold her skirt in place and protect her modesty. "Guys get me down from here!"
In that instance they all had out wands and attempted to cast the levitation spell before the troll actually hit its mark. Angel happened to be lucky that it was stupid. When it attempted to swing again, it noticed the club was floating there.
It then dropped, clunking the troll on the head and knocking it unconscious. Angel landed and pulled the kunai out of the troll. "Dad would probably scold me for that stunt..." In that statement the professors ran in.
Professor McGonagall was flabbergasted. "Oh my goodness! Explain yourselves."
Angel stepped forward. "I confronted the troll. It was about to strike at Hermione who had no idea what was going on since she was in the bathroom. Lee, Harry and Ron came in as I got caught by the leg and they all helped to stop the troll. If it weren't for them working together, I'd probably been worse off."
"Being as that may Ms. Parker, that was a pretty stupid thing to do, and 5 points will be taken from Hufflepuff for your lack of judgment." She looked the four Gryffindors and gave a smile. "You guys are lucky to have been able to take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. 5 points will be awarded to the each of you. For sheer dumb luck!" She left the room with each of the professors in tow, aside from Quirrell ushering them out.
Before leaving, Ron, Harry and Hermione asked Angel why she took the fall.
"It was the truth. Where we come from, we have a profession where we have to accept the consequences of our actions. This is a slap on the wrist compared to what could have happened. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to my dormitory as you guys do too." She left them, and Lee understood pretty well what she meant.
In all of the excitement, no one realized that the first Quidditch game of the year would be upon them, and the craziness involved with a first year seeker and the expectations set for him.