The Ultimate Defense
I'm sorry for not updating. I've got this lil' summer job &whatnot &before I was just either too busy or too lazy to write. Sorry but enjoy ;
Disclaimer: hp;jkr.n;mk
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Chapter 5: Spying
"Time for dinner!" Naruto exclaimed, running into the dining hall. Soon after, the whole student body came in, bringing noise and life into the room.
"Couldn't you have waited for the rest of us, dobe?" Sasuke asked, finally making his way out of the crowd.
"You guys were too slow!" Naruto exclaimed. " And I'm hungry!"
Shaking his head, Sasuke sat down next to the blond. The rest of the gang soon appeared and joined them. However, as Neji was walking to the table, Kakashi passed by and slipped a note into his hand.
Neji gave him a slight nod before calling out to Shikamaru about an argument they had. As he got Shikamaru's attention, he signaled for them to meet in Kakashi's room after dinner. Shikamaru nodded and they continued on with the conversation.
As most of the students were in their seats, Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat for attention.
"Students, staff members, I am excited for this new year in Hogwarts. Our rules are the same, you cannot go into the Forest of Death. However, I know that many of you heard about Voldemort and the many problems that are brought up with his resurrection. I just want you to know that you will be perfectly safe within the castle walls. If an attack occurs, however, please, come back to the castle as fast as possible and we will have a trained and trusted staff to protect you. This is a safety procedure, do not worry, your lives are in capable hands. If you have any questions, please ask your Head Girl or Boy. Thank you, you can eat now."
The food appeared and most of the students forgot about Dumbledore's speech. However, the shinobi, who were still a bit confused about the Voldemort subject, had many questions for their fellow classmates.
"I don't understand; why is this... Voldemort feared by so many people?" Neji asked.
"What! You don't know! Where have you been?" Ron exclaimed, "He- who- must — V-voldemort was the one who destroyed the wizarding society about a decade and a half ago. Everyone lived in fear of his name. No one thought he could be defeated until Harry somehow destroyed most of his powers as Voldemort was trying to kill him. Now he's back and stronger than ever. Where have you been! "
"...You don't have to get so wound up over it..." Shikamaru commented dryly. "We understand what you're talking about — more so than maybe yourself. There was a man like him in our village and it was hard for us to defeat him. But, we never gave up and it worked out in the end. You guys are so scared of this guy and you aren't doing anything to make yourself stronger."
"Maybe that's true," Hermione countered, "But we grew up with a different lifestyle than you. It is harder for us to cope after getting used to so many years of peace."
"Don't argue about what is right or wrong," Naruto interrupted, "Different people think in different ways. One way may not be the best, try all the choices. C'mon— let's eat!"
They decided that arguing about morals would just bring more trouble so they followed Naruto's advice and forgot about their argument. Soon the ceiling began to dim and the students started filing out. Hermione, Harry and Ron also started to leave but looked back to find that the shinobi hadn't followed.
"You guys coming?" Harry asked softly.
"Not yet, we have to talk with Ka— Professor Hatake about certain things," Naruto told them, "We'll come soon."
"Alright, we'll wait in the common room," Hermione said.
The four boys nodded and the three wizards left, leaving them alone.
"Ok, now where is Kakashi's room?" Naruto asked.
"He gave me a map before," Neji answered, taking a piece of parchment out of his bag. "He told me that he scouted the castle out yesterday and wants us to check it for more detail."
They nodded and looked at the map, Kakashi's room was located in the South Tower. They all checked for chakra signs and after finding none, they performed the seals to teleport and disappeared in a small whirl of dust.
Kakashi was alert as his four comrades appeared in the room.
"Yo," he greeted them.
They all took comfortable seats around the room — on the bed, the chairs, the rugs — Kakashi definitely had a better room than they did.
"What are we here for?" Shikamaru asked.
"I just wanted to keep you on alert," Kakashi announced. "Nothing seems to be going on right now and Voldemorte is in one of his quieter phases. But that also means he might be planning something big for later on."
"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "It does seem weird, but we've only been in England for a few weeks."
"I don't like waiting here," Sasuke commented, "It makes me uneasy, not knowing when the enemy will attack and not knowing their strategies beforehand. Why can't we just find this Voldemorte and kill him?"
"Because this is a mission to protect— not to assassinate, Sasuke," Kakashi said sternly. "Anyway, I want you to lay some traps around, and in, Harry's room. Subtle ones so that he and his room mates won't notice. Nothing much, just something that will alert you if someone with a harmful intention goes into the room. And just some scooping around the school at night. Go in groups of two and check for good hiding place and escape routes."
"That's easy enough," Shikamaru stated. "How about Sasuke and Neji take every other night starting Monday and Naruto and I will take the other ones. Is it okay if you take the Sunday shift, Kakashi?"
"No problem," Kakashi replied, reading while leaning against the wall and waved for his 'students' to leave.
They teleported out of the room, this time without any sound and reappeared in their own. Shikamaru fell upon his bed just as Naruto lit a small fire in the fireplace. Sasuke and Neji disappeared into the bathroom and reappeared, fully dressed in their anbu armor. As Neji tied his bird-like mask on, Shikamaru reached into the drawer next to his bed and threw another bird-like mask behind him. Sasuke caught it and tied it on in one fluid motion. In the place where Sasuke and Neji were, now stood two trained ninja, ready for anything that came their way.
"We won't wait up, k'?" Naruto informed them, yawning as he donned his walrus-like sleeping cap and walked into the bathroom while rubbing his eyes. Behind their masks, the two ninjas' expressions softened before they nodded once at Shikamaru and disappeared. They reappeared at opposite ends of the castle.
"I'm on the 2nd floor, over," Sasuke said, blending into the shadows.
"Got it, I'm going up to the 3rd," Neji responded, jumping up a flight a stairs as it started off in another direction. "Watch for the paintings."
"We need to talk to the headmaster about them," Sasuke noted, layering a 3-part wire trap within the vault of the ceiling. Suddenly a white figure turned into the hallway as Sasuke quickly crouched within the shadows once again.
"Gotta do something about that damn ghost, too," Sasuke hissed, ready to throw a kunai at the poltergeist if it made any more noise throwing mini firecrackers around the hall. Too bad he couldn't kill it as it was dead already.
"Which one?" Neji asked as he went to add another window trap.
"Peeves..." Sasuke jumped down as the ghost turned the corner and started off for the main hall.
"Agreed," Neji replied as he jumped down from his window perch, landing in the hallway and scanning the shadows, "There's a lot of places you can hide in on this landing. I'll mark them down tomorrow. It's kind of useless though, this place is shrouded in shadows, only an idiot wouldn't be able to hide."
"Like Naruto?" Sasuke asked.
"Naruto's gotten smarter, he can probably find them," Neji said, smirking under his mask.
"Let's hope so. I'm finished with the 2nd floor and I'm going down," Sasuke stated, jumping down from the banister onto a statue near the front entrance.
"I'm going up to the towers, we'll leave the rest to Shikamaru and Naruto," Neji responded, crawling out of a window and running up the side.
"Do some of the bigger windows on the top landing, too," Sasuke said, "I'll do Potter's room when I'm done here."
"Sure," Neji landed on the Astronomy Tower, grimacing as he saw the mess the students left behind.
Soon after, they both transported back into their room. Nodding at each other, they went off to do their separate things before falling onto the bed. They both did, however, while the other was in the bathroom, kiss Naruto on the cheek.
The clock struck two and in the midst of the night, nearly unheard through Naruto's snores, were two quiet "good nights."
End chapter
It's really short for what I usually write but I just wanted to get something out. I was planning something but I seriously forgot so I gotta wing it 'til I remember. &my internet's got problems so all's not well. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Please review because you know... it makes me happy so I can write & people can read, I guess xD
