Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the Harry Potter series. Also, I am not making a lick of change out of this. I only wish I did.
Author's Note: As mentioned in the summary, this is a crossover between the Naruto universe and the Harry Potter universe. It unfolds in the HP world, but is Naruto-centric. Although I try to keep with the canon in both worlds as much as possible, it is ultimately AU. Please enjoy.
A shadow puppet does not have a will, a mind, or a
face.
It is solid darkness, dancing to the whim of the puppeteer.
A remarkable resemblance to the perfect ninja, really.
Shadow Play
Act I
Scene i
(It is a clear, midsummer morning. The sun has yet to travel far from the horizon, but already, the air is scorching hot. It is also quite dry; the area had not had any rain for a long time, and plants with shallower roots are already withering. Yet despite such adverse conditions, there in the clear blue sky flies a tawny owl with a handsome gold-brown plumage and great round onyx eyes. Even stranger, there seems to be a rolled up sheet of parchment attached to one of its legs.)
The owl hooted irritably. There was no wind. (He had to flap his wings continuously like some damned sparrow.) There was no restful darkness. (His beautiful eyes were stinging and watering constantly.) There was no time. (By all that was small and furry, the delivery was supposed to be made last week.) But worst of all, there was--
No. Bloody. Owlery.
I mean, what town in their right mind didn't have an owlery? What were the post owls supposed to do? Sit in a tree and wait for the recipient to walk by? Ridiculous. The owl blinked impatiently as he circled the small town that was protected by ridiculously high walls. Nothing. Nothing at all. Not even a smidgeon of--but, ah. Could that be? The owl clacked its beak--which amounted to something of an owlish frown--as it studied a pathetic hut-like structure balanced on top of an old tree. Eurgh.
There. He saw a hawk--nasty things with a nastier temper--land ungracefully onto a wooden perch in the sad structure and waddle its tail for attention. Bloody hell, then it was that hut? Hooting his disgust, the tawny owl followed suit, though with much, much more grace. And minus the tail waddling. He had swept a disparaging glance over the-- the--Eurgh (it had no right to be called an owlery), when an attendant started and looked towards him in confusion. The owl ruffled his feathers in disgust--what, had the human never seen an owl deliver mail before?--and held out his leg. The daft human seemed to take forever before he finally caught on and dubiously approached to remove the parchment. Idiot.
His job finally complete, the owl elegantly swept off his perch and made his way to one of the empty cages. After taking a beakful of water, he buried his head in his wing, completely oblivious to the hopeless confusion of the poor attendant.
Act I
Scene ii
(The sun is slowly peaking over the mountainous horizon of a ninja village, though darkness is still making its last stand in the western sky. A side of an apartment building is illuminated by the pink rays of dawn, the light momentarily chasing away the crumbling corners and the childish chalk graffiti. At the foot of this building stands two young adults; one is a blond male with bright blue eyes wearing a brighter orange outfit, and the other is, interestingly enough, a pink-haired female with lovely green eyes. She is dressed in red clothing that is both pretty and functional. As the two look up, indigo curtains in one of the windows rustle aside a notch, revealing a glimpse of dark hair, dark eyes, and a navy shirt. The blond male grins and shouts to the figure above.)
"Sasuke-bastard!"
"No need to wake the entire neighbourhood, dead last."
"What? Come down here right now!"
Sakura sighed dramatically as her two team mates began bickering yet again. In reality, she was trying to fight down a smile at the antics of an exuberant Naruto and an irritated Sasuke, but of course, she couldn't let them know that. The verbal sparring continued as Sasuke leapt tidily out of his window, and the trio began walking towards the tree near the Hokage's Tower. The fourth member and captain of their team, Kakashi, had promised to meet them there.
It had been three years since Kakashi, Naruto, and she had dragged an unconscious Uchiha Sasuke back to the Hidden Leaf with all four of his limbs and a few ribs broken, plus a concussion and a massive bruise on his right temple. Chaos had ensued when a furious Orochimaru descended on the Leaf with his slithery Soundnins the very next day, but he was soundly defeated by the combined efforts of the two other members of the Legendary Sannin and had not been heard of since.
Thus, instead of being executed, Sasuke had been put under ANBU surveillance for a while, and was required to complete a certain amount of missions without stipend to prove his loyalty to the Leaf. After that, normalcy had begun to return. And now, it almost appeared as if team Kakashi was back in its rookie days again, with a few exceptions; first of all, Naruto had grown to same height as Sasuke (and several inches taller than Sakura). Also, the young trio were now jounin, vying for a position in ANBU, and finally, the great toad boss Gamabunta had officially accepted Naruto as a friend, rather than his subordinate, after a secretly shared bottle of sake. But of course, other things had stayed just the same.
"Ah! Kakashi-sensei! You're late again. By three hours!"
And unfortunately, Hatake Kakashi's tardiness was one of those things.
Act I
Scene iii
(The golden rays of the morning sun splash into the wide circular room through the numerous windows that compose the entire back wall. The illuminating light chases away all shadows and seems to bring life to the otherwise empty room--indeed, the only pieces of furniture in the office are a large semi-circular desk and a comfortable-looking wheeled chair. Covering every inch of the wooden desk and some parts of the surrounding floor are stacks and stacks of reports, treaties and other important documents. However, currently, the attention of the only person in the room is solely focused on the sheet of parchment held in her hand.)
The Godaime Hokage pushed aside a stray blonde lock as her golden-brown eyes flitted over the neat, but troublesome letter once more.
Dear Hokage,
Foremost, it is my utmost urging that you finish this letter before making any judgements. I know the suspicion that entails a letter from an unacquainted person, but let me assure you, I write for peace, not for war.
I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Think of me as the equivalent of the highest ranking instructor of your Ninja Academy. I and my colleagues reside in a different, parallel dimension from your own. We have first discovered your dimension when an inexplicable explosion occurred near one of our towns, flattening a small hill. Ah, in case you worry, no one was hurt; the explosion occurred during night time. We managed to trace the explosion to your dimension, and since then have sent a few people to learn your customs and language. However, I never intended to make our presence known, but for this necessity.
We need your help.
A dark wizard--a chakra user, as you would call--has been regaining power in our world, and I am afraid that some of my students as well as my school will be targeted soon. We are in need of guards for the span of eleven months--yes, there are such guards in my world as well, but they have been... busy of late. Payment can be made in the form of precious stones or metals, as much as you desire. We await a favourable response from you soon.
Ah, to the matter of contacting us; please throw the attached powder into a fireplace, and a representative will arrive shortly at the same location.
Sincerely,
P. S. Please take good care of Karagoz, the tawny owl. I suspect the inter-dimensional travel has been quite hard on him.
Her fingers played with the small pouch of glittering powder as Tsunade pondered. She had already confirmed that the powder was no threat; despite the faint aura of chakra surrounding it, the powder was primarily composed of ash and sand. However, that was the least of her problems right now. People living in another dimension. Chakra-using wizards. And owls! Why would anyone use a slow-moving owl instead of a swift hawk for mail delivery?
Ordinarily, Tsunade would trash such a ridiculous--and likely dangerous--request immediately. However, the Hidden Leaf has been struggling after the second attack of the Hidden Sound; aside from the loss of ninjas and heavy structural damage, Orochimaru's giant snake had destroyed the mines where the Leaf got most of its iron for its weapons. And this Dumbledore had promised a hefty payment. In short, it was an offer that the current Leaf could not refuse. She had already dispatched a squad of genin and found a suitable fireplace far enough from the Leaf's walls in case it was an ambush and--
"Hey, hey Tsunade-baachan! Sorry we're late, but it's all Kakashi-sensei's fault!"
The Hokage looked up at the sudden, loud interruption to find Naruto pointing an accusatory finger at his white-haired sensei, while Sakura grinned sheepishly and Sasuke looked mildly amused. Oh yes, she had almost forgotten about them.
"Ah right. Your mission--," Tsunade began, but was interrupted again by the grumbling of the rambunctious blonde.
"It better be an S-rank this time! We've gotten too many B-rank missions nowadays."
At the Hokage's frown, Sakura winced and hastily moved to cover a hand over Naruto's mouth, forcefully ducking his head with her body weight to make him apologize. Tsunade nodded in stern satisfaction at the young man's muttered 'Sorry Hokage-sama,' and continued. And no, she was not hiding a smile. But she did, in fact, had an S-ranked mission for them right in her hand.
"As I was saying, your mission is to accompany me to meet a foreign envoy, 20 km out from the Hidden Leaf--"
"What? But, Baacha--, I mean, Hokage-sama, that's a B-ranked mission at best!"
Tsunade stood up, the letter and pouch still in hand, and walked towards Naruto, slowly and deliberately. She paused a foot away from the young man--they were almost even in height now--and raised a single finger to hover in front of his forehead. She smiled.
"Problems, brat?"
Naruto visibly recoiled at the painful memory the finger evoked and quickly shook his head.
"None at all, Hokage-sama!"
Retracting her hand, the woman nodded curtly with a suppressed smile and opened the wooden doors of the office.
"Now, let's go!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Four voices replied in unison.
Act I
Scene iv
(A small, run-down, and out-of-the-way cot is playing host to some interesting visitors today. Inside the crumbling walls are five people, gingerly gathered around a stone-and-mud fireplace. A small flame has already been kindled and dances playfully upon the firewood, throwing strange, shifting shadows against the back wall of the hut. With a satisfied nod, the blonde woman--clearly the leader of the group--reaches into a small leather pouch and brings forth a handful of glittery powder. After a moment of hesitation, she tosses it into the fire. Immediately, the flame roars to life and turns bright green, although it does not seem to be consuming the firewood any faster. The five gathered are startled, and kunai and shuriken are immediately drawn, the strange green light silently glinting off the malicious edges. It is such a scene that greets a patchy-robed, ash-brown haired man as stumbles out of the green fire, coughing.)
Remus Lupin was rubbing ashes out of his eyes for several moments before he noticed the rather dangerous predicament he was in. Sharp pointy objects pointed in his direction. Not good. He quickly took a step back--almost singeing the tattered hem of his robes in the process--and raised his empty hands to shoulder-level in what he hoped was a universal sign of peace. It was met with total silence.
Remus' eyes quickly darted from one adversary to another; if he could only get around that table... But when he was just about to dive and reach for his wand, the blonde woman who was standing closest to him made a small motion with her right hand. Seeing this, the rest instantly relaxed and sheathed their weapons. Remus sighed in relief and slowly lowered his hands, though he kept them where they could still be seen. One disaster averted. Remus gathered himself and parted his lips hesitantly.
"Oh, er. Yes. Ah, hello, I am--," he paused at the blank expressions that faced him. What...? Oh, right. Cursing silently at the side-effects of the Lickity-Split Language charm, he cleared his throat again.
"Ah. Ah. I'm speaking your language now, correct? Oh good. I get mixed up sometimes with that." Remus waved his hand in the air in a vague gesture for a brief moment before he caught himself and straightened, attempting to look professional. The others still glanced warily at him; Remus almost winced to see a flicker in the dark eyes of a particularly cold-looking teen that clearly said, 'what an idiot.'
"Ah, yes. I am Remus Lupin, sent by Albus Dumbledore to discuss our possible transaction. And, er, I'm terribly sorry, but which of you is the Hokage-sama again?"
At that, the blonde woman who had signalled the others stepped forward and tilted her head. Remus tried very hard not to notice the Hokage-sama's ample... assets.
"Welcome, Remus-san. I am the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village of the Fire Country. I apologize for the location, but it was the best we could do at such short notice. Here, why don't we take a seat?"
Remus looked dubiously at the two rickety chairs and the wobbly table, but nodded in assent and sat down on the opposite side of the woman. He could only hope that the chair wouldn't collapse under him during the talk.
"Thank you very much, Hokage-sama. I assume this meeting has happened because you are interested?"
"Interested, yes. But the letter wasn't very detailed about the job or did it specify payment. I'm afraid I'll have to know those first before replying." The expression and tone of the woman betrayed nothing but suave politeness.
Nodding, Remus continued. "Ah, yes. About the job, it will have to be undercover--we don't want to alarm the students too much. We're thinking having the guards disguised as exchange students. So, we are looking for around three or four people perhaps, around the age of 1620. Duties will include patrolling the hallways at night and the specific protection of one Harry Potter for the duration of the school year. As for the payment, we are unsure of the price range for these sorts of missions, so it is up to you to lay out your terms..."
So the haggling went. As they talked further, Remus spared a glance at the four others who were accompanying the Hokage. Although they seemed relaxed and one had even flipped open a book to read, he saw that their attention never left his hands. Eventually, the payment was settled to be paid in gold bars with some pearls on the side. Standing with a suppressed wince--the bloody chair had left splinters in his buttocks!--Remus politely bowed. /p
"Thank you again, Hokage-sama. I'm sure Headmaster Dumbledore will be very pleased. Ah, will the rest of the evening give you enough time to select the guards?"
"No, it's fine."
"Er?"
The Hokage grinned for the first time and continued brightly. "I already have them right here. Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura," she pointed them out in turn. "I'm sure you three have listened to Remus-san? Kakashi, if you please."
To the three teens' surprise--and Remus' as well--the white-haired ninja, who until now had been reading without a care in the world, suddenly came to attention and conjured a large wooden box out of seemingly nowhere. He set the box down on the shaky table and then turned towards his team mates, ignoring the loud protesting creak the rotting thing made at the action.
"There's your supply of weapons and a few scrolls. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an S-class mission to attend to." He smiled. And then with a poof and a wisp of smoke, he was gone. Naruto turned scarlet.
"Kakashi-sensei, you traitor!"
Remus looked on with bemusement as the blond male spluttered incoherently; the other two looked rather displeased as well. As the young male began hollering at the Hokage and she began yelling back ("Baachan! How come only Kakashi-sensei gets an S-class while we're stuck with guarding some stupid school for a year?" "Watch your mouth, brat! You should remember that you're still under watch for ANBU qualification!"), Remus pulled out an old grey sock in one hand and muttered as he tapped the smelly thing with his wand to charm it.
"Ah, sorry to interrupt, but we will be leaving in about 30 seconds! Could you all touch this sock please? Excuse me? The sock?"
"But Tsunade-baachan!"
"Naruto! This is an order, and you will follow it if you ever want to be a part of the ANBU!"
Remus thought of shouting again with a Sonorus spell, but luckily, at that moment, Sakura decided to intervene with an odd phrase ("Shannaro!") that Remus could only interpret as a battle cry of sorts. While the remaining teen--Sasuke, was it?--nabbed the supply box with one arm and reached for the sock with a sigh, Sakura forcefully subdued Naruto with a headlock and yanked on one of his hands. (By the odd noise that the blonde's arm made, Remus wouldn't have been surprised if the girl had managed to dislocate the shoulder.)
The three hands of the teens touched the sock simultaneously--and just in time. Within an eyeblink, a familiar jerk to the navel took hold of the wizard and his new companions, taking them away from the tiny hut and into a blur of colours. Besides Remus, Naruto began swearing with such creativity and verbosity that it utterly awed the man. He smiled; Hogwarts would certainly be interesting this year.
Author's Note: I do apologize for the rather dry content of the first act. I'm now thinking that maybe I should have skipped all that explain-what-happened-to-Sasuke stuff and discussing about the job stuff, but I didn't have the heart to delete it all... Oh, and if you're wondering where the explosion that led to the discovery of the ninja dimension came from, it's from Chp. 278 where the gang faces off Deidara. I won't say anymore for those who are not up-to-date. :)
.+Questions:.
a) How is the balance between dialogue
and description? Too much of either?
b) What are your opinions on
the pseudo-play format I chose to write this story in? Original or
just plain confusing?
c) Do you think the characters are in
character? If not, why?
d) Did you enjoy the reading?
Reviews keep the author-monster happy and writing.
