A big thank-you to everyone who reviewed! Arigatou gozaimas:D
"I really think we should talk to the Ministry, Arthur," a plump, red-haired woman known as Molly Weasley told her husband.
"That Scrimgeour won't be any help, and you know that," Arthur Weasley, a thin, balding man with glasses, answered.
"We're worried about them, too, mum," her son, a young man with red hair named Fred assured her, "but we're not that desperate."
"They'll turn up," agreed his identical twin George, "They're not kids anymore."
"We promised Hermione's parents she'd be okay," sobbed Molly Weasley, "And we still have to break the horrible news to Luna!"
"Incoming!" a voice from above yelled down. All four Weasleys looked up in shock. Eight figures dropped out of the sky. Five of them landed quite nicely on their feet, but two of them crashed quite painfully with the ground. The final one looked like he had a good landing coming, but he sort of tripped over the two that fell, and landed on top of them.
"Great landing, Narutard," Ed snarled, sandwiched uncomfortably between armour and ninja.
"Shut up, shorty! You made me trip!" Naruto yelled, picking himself up.
"Don't call me short!" Ed jumped up.
"Why not? You are!" Naruto answered. They came to blows, starting up a big dust storm. Alphonse, Sakura and Sasuke sighed.
"Midget! Dropout! Stop fighting! You're making the rest of us look bad," Neji yelled at them.
"Shut up, girly man!" Edward and Naruto snapped, dragging Neji in with them. A large amount of dust gathered around them. It took the joint efforts of Sakura, Alphonse, Tenten and Lee to pry them all apart, while Sasuke watched with a repulsed expression on his face. Alphonse restrained Ed while Sakura and Lee held Naruto back.
Molly, Arthur, Fred and George were now staring at them with alarmed look on their faces. They had drawn their wands, and were pointing them at the group. Tenten and Neji sighed. They stepped forward, holding their hands up in peace.
"Who are you?" Arthur Weasley demanded, "What do you want?"
"We're awfully sorry about our comrades," said Tenten, "My name's Tenten, and this is my friend, Neji Hyuga."
"Are you working for the Death Eaters?" Molly added.
"We're here to look for our teachers," Lee explained.
"And to find the Philosopher's Stone!" Ed yelled.
"We're not enemies," said Tenten.
"How do we know we can trust you?" asked George.
"Here, this should explain everything," Neji took out the three-way mirror, and shook it. "Hermione?"
"Neji… okay?" the connection was very staticky.
"Hermione?" the Weasleys lowered their wands.
"Are you okay, dear? Where's Harry? Where's Luna? Where's my ickle sweetie Ronnikens?" Mrs Weasley asked. Fred and George snickered.
"Fine… I think… say hi, Lun…"
"Hi… okay?" Luna's staticky voice called somewhere from behind Hermione.
"Luna! My love!" Lee cried.
"Connection bad… listen to Neji… allies…" Hermione started to fade. Neji gave the mirror a good shake. Hermione came back, slightly clearer than before.
"These people landed in our yard, Hermione!" Authur told her.
"They're friends, Mr. Weasley. I can explain…" Hermione's picture started to get staticky again.
"Terrible connection," commented Tenten.
"Never mind! Ask them… tell you… I'll see… soon…" the mirror went dead.
Tenten and Neji gave the family a look that said, "I told you".
"Well, I suppose we can trust you…" said Mr. Weasley slowly, "It's going to get dark soon. Perhaps it would be better if we all went inside."
Arthur, Molly, Fred, George, Ginny, Team 7, Team Gai and the Elrics were sitting in the Weasley's living room. An old woman with sharp eyes and grey hair, a woman with limp brown hair and a weary-looking man who introduced themselves as Professor McGonagall, Tonks and Remus Lupin were also there. Neji had told them their story, and the Weasleys had talked about their own problems. The adults were discussing the situation with Neji and Alphonse, while Sasuke listened silently. Neji noticed that Tonks kept on shooting hurt looks at Remus. Naruto, Lee and Edward were shoving Molly's home-cooked meal into their mouths at the speed of lightening. Sakura and Ginny were discussing the various aspects of their lives, and Fred, George and Tenten were amusing themselves with a game of Exploding Snap.
"The Chamber of Secrets, you say?" Mr. Weasley pondered out loud. Ginny's head snapped in his direction. Her eyes flashed.
"That's where Gai-Sensei is!" Lee yelled with a mouth full of spaghetti.
"The chamber of secrets is in a school named Hogwarts," explained Mr. Weasley. "We're on holiday right now, so it's closed."
"We must go rescue him," said Neji. "Will you take us there?"
"Your story seems legitimate," McGonagall peered at Neji and Alphonse closely. Neji stared back. "It's too late tonight, but I suppose I could take you there tomorrow."
"I don't believe it! It's almost ten o'clock!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, looking at the clock. She started to shepherd her guests to their feet. "Off to bed with all of you!"
"Do we have enough room?" asked Mr. Weasley.
"Sakura and Tenten can share Ginny's room, Naruto and Sasuke can sleep in Ron's room, Neji and Lee can sleep in Percy's room, and Ed and Al can take the guest room." Mrs. Weasley ticked off the names on her hand. "Would anyone else like to stay?"
"It's alright," Lupin told her. "Thank you for the meal, Molly. Goodnight, everyone." He Disapparated, leaving Tonks staring painfully at the space where he was.
"I think I'll go, too." McGonogall said. "Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning." She Disapparated, too.
"'Night." Tonks seemed very downcast as she left.
"Off to bed! Children need sleep to grow, you know!" Mrs. Weasley looked at Ed in particular. However, her words did not register, as Ed, Naruto and Lee were all snoring soundly.
"I'll show you where you're sleeping," Ginny volunteered.
"Brother fell asleep with his stomach out again." Alphonse shook his head, picking Ed up and following her.
"I guess we can't really blame them." Sakura and Sasuke hoisted Naruto up. "We've all barely slept the last few days."
"Poor Lee. I hope he has enough energy tomorrow." Tenten added, supporting Lee.
"A true shinobi would not have any problems." Neji replied, bringing up the rear. Molly, Arthur, Fred and George watched them all disappear up the stairs.
"What a strange bunch of children." Molly shook her head.
"So this is the great and wonderful Hogwarts," muttered Ed as they trudged through the school.
"It's not bad," complimented Tenten.
"We must find Gai-Sensei!" Lee yelled.
"Quiet down! We'll reach Moaning Myrtle's bathroom soon!" McGonogall shot him her best teacher's eye. Lee silenced. They turned a few corridors and walked quite a ways before they arrived at Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Ed, Al, McGonogall, Team 7, Team Gai and Remus Lupin all crowded in.
"Who's Moaning Myrtle?" Ed grumbled, stuck between Al and Naruto. He really shouldn't have asked. The ghost of a pale girl with glasses appeared headfirst out of the ground beneath Ed. Ed shrieked and jumped Scooby-like into Al's arms. Everyone else looked at her with shock on their faces, while McGonogall and Lupin simply sweatdropped.
"Now you know." McGonogall told Ed.
"Oooh, visitors! And so many!" Myrtle cooed, traveling through the crowd to examine everyone. She stopped as Sasuke, and patted her eyelashes at him. "My name's Myrtle. What's yours?"
"Back off!" Sakura snarled. "He's mine!" Myrtle floated back a few paces with an offended look on her face.
"Where's the Chamber of Secrets!" demanded Lee.
"Well, see those sinks? There's supposed to be a snake carved onto one of the spouts." McGonogall pointed.
Neji activated his Byakugan, "Yeah, I see it."
"That's the only way to get in. But it's protected by a special magic, and only those who speak Parseltongue-"
"Oh, give me a break!" Ed stomped towards the sinks. He adjusted his gloves and held his arms out. "Everybody, stand back!" Edward clapped his hands, and slammed them down onto the entrance. It crumbled, and a long, dark passageway was revealed.
"Impressive," complimented McGonogall.
"See you in a bit!" Ed yelled, jumping into his handiwork. Alphonse and Lee followed suit. Tenten was about to go in after them, but Neji stopped her.
"How do we know it's safe?"
"It's not, but we have to help Gai-Sensei," answered Tenten, jumping in.
"The rest of you stay here. There's no point in all of us going down at once." Neji commanded the rest of the group, and followed Tenten.
Ed and Alphonse had better landings this time. The passageway was pitch-black, but Edward was able to make a light. They walked for nearly the whole morning. They saw many things, including but not limited to a large, rotting basilisk. They finally came to the room with the state of Salazar Slytherin. Two men were tied back-to-back. One was a thick-browed man that looked like an older version of Lee, and the other was a dark-haired man with glasses wearing a blue military uniform. They were having a very lively conversation.
"Gai-sensei!" yelled Lee.
"Maes Hughes?" gasped Ed.
"You came!" Gai grinned happily.
"Ed! Al!" Lieutenant Colonel Hughes was as surprised as Ed. Ed changed his automail and quickly severed their ropes.
"Lee!"
"Gai-Sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-Sensei!"
Enter tears, hugging, pretty background and much sweatdropping.
"So this is your son, Lee!" Hughes exclaimed. "He looks like you, Gai!"
"Thank you!" Lee answered tearfully.
"And those must be your daughters Tenten and Neji. I've heard so much about you!"
Tenten and Neji's jaws dropped open.
"Excuse me?" Tenten gasped.
"Daughter!" Neji snarled.
"Oh, they're not really my children, Maes, they're my students. But we really are like one big, happy family!" Maito Gai enclosed Tenten and Neji in a hug, too. He let go after awhile, then pointed at Al. "That must be the Fullmetal Alchemist!"
"Me?" Al pointed at himself, sweatdropping.
"No, no! The blonde one!" Hughes informed his friend.
"What! But he's so short!"
"Who are you calling a lawn gnome so small he could play hide and seek in the flower bed!"
"Anyways, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, what are you doing here?" asked Alphonse.
"Funny story, actually. The other day, I went over to my old pal Mustang's office to visit. I went in, and him and Major Armstrong were there, out cold! This blonde kid and a guy with really greasy hair were there, drawing a circle around them. Then, the next thing I know, I'm here!" explained Hughes. "That's my story. How about you?"
Al told him what happened to them.
"What happened to you, Gai-Sensei?" asked Lee.
"Asuma, Kakashi, Kurenai and I all went to have lunch while you were competing in the exams. On our way back to the village, a bunch of people in black robes attacked us. Don't remember much after that, but here I am." Gai shrugged.
"Well, 'here' is a little freaky," said Tenten, "We should probably get out of here."
"Yes. This place bears an evil Chakra." Neji looked carefully around. "Many evil acts were performed here."
"Let's go, then!" Ed raced off toward the direction they came from. "We still need to find the Philosopher's Stone!"
"We're here to visit Lucius Malfoy," Tonks told the Azkaban receptionist. It was the afternoon of the same day, and they were now onto Rescue Mission #2.
"What is the purpose of this visit, ma'am?" the witch behind the reception desk peered suspiciously at her.
"Can't I visit my uncle without a whole interrogation?" asked Tonks.
"Considering who your uncle is, no."
"C'mon, grandma! What's the holdup!" Naruto demanded. Neji, Sakura and Sasuke had come along, but everyone else had stayed back because McGonogall had deemed it too suspicious if they all came.
"What did you call me, young man?" the receptionist glared at the boy.
"Baka Naruto! We're trying to make a good impression!" Sakura hit him.
"Narutard." Sasuke muttered under his breath.
"Hogwarts is running a course on teaching young children to stay away from the Dark Arts," Tonks pulled out a note McGonogall had written. The receptionist went over the note several times. She finally nodded grudgingly.
"Fine. One of our interns will take you to his cell. Hercule?"
A young wizard led the group through the gloomy prison. They finally arrived at a cell holding what appeared to be Lucius Malfoy. The blonde-haired man was sleeping. A wizard stood guard. Hercule talked with the guard for a bit. The guard gruffly nodded, and unlocked the cell.
"Is it the teacher?" Tonks asked Neji. Neji nodded.
"Kakashi-Sensei!" yelled Naruto. The man woke up, and blinked in surprise.
"Naruto?"
Tonks cast a spell to lift the transformation. Lucius Malfoy changed into a good-looking man with wild silver hair. There seemed to be something wrong with one of his eyes. Neji and Team 7 gasped at the sight of him without his mask, and Tonks blushed furiously. Her hair turned pink to match her face. Hercule and the guard stared at Kakashi in shock.
"How did you find me?" Kakashi asked.
"Because I'm a genius!" declared Naruto. Sasuke, Neji and Sakura rolled their eyes.
"What's going on!" demanded the guard wizard.
"I guess we have some explaining to do," sighed Tonks.
Note(s): To keep things simple, East City, Konoha and England have the same timelines. Team Harry and Team Ed left at about the same time, which is around 5:30.
Team Ed (or Team Neji? Which one seems more appropriate?) contacted Hermione before they found Roy, and Team Harry, after.
The explaining of the Final Exam and Luna's encounter with Gaara are on the second day, when Team Harry draws the circle and Team Ed finds Gai, Hughes and Kakashi.
The person announcing the fight back in Chapter 2 was not Hughes.
And that's all for now, I think… :3
In the Next Chapter: Veritaserum used! Schemes uncovered! Loyalties revealed!
