"I never realized how creepy Hogwarts is," Fred commented to his brothers as they tiptoed carefully through the school.
"Is it really supposed to be this dark during the day?" added George. The presence of so many Dementors made it seem more like night.
"Keep quiet," Bill hissed. "We don't want to be found first."
The three of them approached a corner. Carefully looking both ways and seeing nothing, they turned. And bumped right into somebody. Fred, George and the opposite party jumped up and screamed.
"Shut up! Calm down! It's just the ninjas!" Bill yanked down their collars to suppress them.
"Tenten! Quiet! It's just the Weasleys!" a voice that sounded like Hayate Gekko's shushed the Genin.
"You're both okay? Did you run into anyone?" asked Bill.
"No. You?"
"No. This is ridiculous. I'm going to make a light," decided Bill, taking out his wand. "Lumos!"
"But doesn't that give the enemy an advantage?" Tenten's nervous face was illuminated by the wand.
Hayate had a look of utmost concentration on his face. He held up a finger. "Get ready. Something's coming." Fred, George and Bill brandished their wands, and Tenten grabbed her weapons. They could hear heavy footsteps thudding towards them. With banshee yells, three men dressed in black charged at them.
A sword-wielding Hayate charged at one of the heavyset men who looked an awful lot like Gregory Goyle.
"Dance of the Crescent Moon!" Hayate shouted, and shadow clones appeared alongside him.
"Crucio!" Goyle Sr. yelled. Fortunately, he hit the wrong person, and the shadow clone dissolved in a puff of smoke. Goyle Sr. and Hayate fought on like this, while Bill dueled Rabastan Lestrange. That left Crabbe Sr.
"Expelliarmus!" George cried, making Crabbe lose his wand. George quickly ran over and took it before Crabbe could reach.
"Damn kids! Give it back!" Crabbe screeched.
"Tenten! Catch!" George threw it at the Genin.
"Don't mess with things that are none of your business, little girl!" Crabbe yelled, running towards her. "Give me my wand back!"
"No way!" Tenten leapt high into the air and threw a fistful of kunai at the man. Her aim was perfect as usual, even in the dark. Within seconds, she had managed to pin him to the wall. She handed Fred Crabbe's wand, and the three of them approached him, smirking. George cast a spell that summoned chains, bounding the Death Eater to the wall.
"Who else is here?" Fred demanded as he snapped his wand in half.
Something suddenly crashed through the wall. Another Death Eater uttered a spell that freed Crabbe.
"Get out of here!" he barked at Goyle and Rabastan, who were obviously losing. "We're going back to the hideout!" The four of them crashed through another wall, and fled into the glorious morning.
"Dolohov! Bastard!" Moody came running into the scene. "Damn! I'm not as young as I used to be, or I'd have ripped his head off! You're all okay?"
"Yeah, fine. We'd have finished Crabbe if he hadn't run away," Fred scowled.
Shino, Kiba, Akamaru and Shacklebolt dropped in on them from above. A sea of tiny black beetles were carrying the body of a large Death Eater.
"You got Avery," Moody praised them.
"Jugson got away, though," answered Shacklebolt. "It seems they know they strength of these young shinobi."
"So where's the astrology tower?" asked Tenten. "That's where the real bad guys are, right?"
"I can show you," Luna and Gaara dropped in on them as well. Gaara's sand was towing a body. It appeared to have had all of its body fluids drained, but Moody was still able to identify it as Mulciber.
"We should go help Harry and them," suggested George.
"No time to waste, then. Let's go!" The ones who didn't know the way followed after Luna and the Weasleys. They didn't get very far when they were greeted by another spectacle.
"Damn you! You bastards killed Dumbledore! You killed James and Lily! You bastard!" Hagrid was busy pounding a brutal-faced Death Eater to pulp. His wand lay a few feet away from them, smashed into pieces.
"Hagrid! Stop!" Shacklebolt and Bill ran over to restrain him. "He's already dead!"
"Oh…" Hagrid calmed down at the sight of his allies. "I guess I've been hitting him for a pretty long time."
"Travers," with difficulty, Shacklebolt was able to identify the body.
"You cracked his skull bloody open," Moody noted. "Oh well. He got what was coming."
"We have to get to the Astrology tower!" Luna reminded them.
"Right!" agreed Bill, and they continued towards their destination.
-------------
"It's you!" Tonks pointed her wand at the pale, dark-haired woman who stood in front of her. They had found her inside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Oh, don't waste my time, stupid niece. You could never hope to defeat me," Bellatrix Lestrange scoffed.
"Wait… she's your aunt?" Kakashi pointed at Bella.
"And also Voldemort's right-hand woman. Move aside, Kakashi." Tonks stepped foreward. "I want to deal with her myself."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Tonks pushed Kakashi back.
"Come and play, little mouse," Bellatrix smirked, waving her over. Kakashi stood off to the side as the two witches faced each other. They bowed. When they straightened up, they pointed their wands at each other. And it began.
"Crucio!" Bellatrix yelled. Tonks dropped and rolled, managing to avoid the curse.
"Levicorpus!" Tonks shot the spell at Bellatrix. She was yanked up into the air by her ankle.
"You can't win with a trick this simple! Crucio! Crucio! Avada Kedavra!" Bella screamed, aiming her wand every which way. Large chunks of the wall were blasted off, and even Kakashi had to duck from the last curse.
"Incarcerous!" Tonks yelled, binding Bellatrix up with ropes.
"Damn brat! Liberacorpus!" Bella freed herself. And so, they battled on. Several times, it looked like Tonks was about to lose. However, just when Kakashi was about to step in, she always picked herself up.
"Not bad, little mouse. Is your anger driving you on?" Bellatrix laughed. "Your hatred for me is the only thing keeping you alive in this battle! You hate me for killing your ickle cousin!"
"Shut up!" Tonks screamed. "Avada Kedavra!"
"You've got to mean it! You've got to say it with hate!" Bellatrix seemed to enjoy this immensely. "Like this! Crucio!"
This time, the spell hit Tonks. She screamed as pain ripped through her body. A million needles stabbed at her. It felt like her muscles were being twisted and stretched. Claws cut her and fangs bit her. Knives and swords slashed through her and morning starts bludgeoned her. There was no earthly world to describe her agony. She screamed for it to stop. Her mind screamed for it to all go away.
"You have to want to hurt me! Don't you hate me for killing your cousin?" Bellatrix shrieked in glee. "I'm going to finish you like I finished Sirius!"
"What are you talking about? I'm not dead," Sirius casually strolled in. He looked at the state of the room, and whistled. "Lust's going to be mad, Bella. Better run before she makes pork chops out of you and feeds you to Gluttony."
"You… you… how the hell…" Bella gaped at him.
"I can't say I'm too pleased to see you, Bella! I have to admit, you're definitely not one of my favourite relatives," said Sirius. He nodded slightly at Kakashi, who was starting to gather his Chakra into his right hand.
"You're supposed to be dead! I killed you!" Bellatrix screamed. "How the hell did this happen?"
"It's a long story," Kakashi informed her. The ball of Chakra in his hand was quite large now. It was making a loud chirping sound. "But you don't need to know it. Raikiri!" Kakashi charged at the Death Eater. Bella was frozen in place by her shock at her cousin's return. Kakashi plunged his fist into Bellatrix's heart. It came out through the other side. Bellatrix stumbled backwards, and coughed out some blood.
"Don't worry. You'll be joining your husband," Sirius assured her. "And we're sending your beloved master to you soon."
"Rodolphus…?" Bella gasped.
"Yes. I put him out of his misery." Sirius glared at Bella. "Good-bye, Bella."
Kakashi swiftly withdrew his arm. Bellatrix gave one last bloody cough, and toppled over. Kakashi tossed aside the slimy, bloody thing he'd pulled out, and rushed to Tonk's side. She had stopped screaming now, but her struggling breaths told him she was still in pain.
"Finite Incantum," Sirius ended the curse.
"Tonks? Are you okay?" Kakashi helped her up.
"Yeah, I think so. Is she dead?" Tonks pointed at Bellatrix.
"Judging by the fact that he pulled out her heart, I'd say so," Sirius grinned at Kakashi appreciatively.
"Kakashi! I told you I wanted to kill her!" Tonks frowned.
"Sorry. She was getting on my nerves. I couldn't resist," Kakashi shrugged apologetically.
"Never mind. The important thing is that she's dead. We should go help Harry deal with You-Know-Who," Tonks picked up her wand.
"Sirius? I found you!" Lupin ran into the room.
"How was it? Did you win?" asked Sirius.
"Rookwood got away," replied Lupin. "But you beat Lestrange, right?"
"Yeah. Both of them are dead!" Sirius waved his hand towards Bella's direction.
"Good. We shouldn't stop at just that. Let's go find Fenrir Greyback!" proclaimed Lupin, and the four of them exited the room.
-------------
"We have to be careful," hissed Izumi. "They could sneak up on us any second."
"Are they here, mommy? Voldemort, Dante and Orochimaru?" Wrath seemed genuinely frightened.
"You've met them, haven't you?" Izumi stroked his head.
"I hate them," Wrath scowled.
"So it all comes down to this," Gai exhaled.
"We'll win, won't we?" asked Wrath.
"We're not giving up until we do!" declared Lee. "Everyone, be alert. We don't want them to sneak up on us."
"I see something up ahead," Wrath peered into the darkness.
"What?" asked Gai.
"Four men… two Death Eaters and two shinobi… I think the Death Eaters are named Nott and Macnair…" Wrath squinted.
"Get ready. We're going to attack them," decided Izumi.
"What?" gasped Wrath.
"Hai, Izumi-sensei! We will not let them attack first!" agreed Lee.
"Let's go!" Gai shouted. He and Lee charged ahead. Izumi quickly followed. Wrath sighed and tagged alone. The enemies ahead of them were indeed Nott and Macnair. Zaku and Dosu, the otonin Lee met before were also there.
"In the name of youth I command you to stop these criminal activities!" Gai shouted, kicking Nott in the face. He stumbled back, covering his mouth with his hand. Nott spat several teeth out.
"Well said, Gai-sensei!" Lee kicked Macnair in the same fashion.
"Stupid kids! I told you not to talk so loud!" Macnair snarled at Zaku and Dosu.
"We weren't the ones talking! You're the idiots that were arguing because you forgot the layout of Hogwarts!" Zaku snapped.
"It doesn't matter now! No one's coming out of this alive! Kill them!" commanded Nott, spitting out blood. "Crucio!" Gai managed to dodge the curse. He also pushed Wrath out of the way.
"Remember, boy! You're human now!" he reminded Wrath. "We didn't cover that much today, but show them what I taught you!"
Wrath nodded. He made a few hand signals, and yelled, "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Immediately, clones of Wrath popped up all over the place. Nott and Macnair blinked in confusion.
"Never take your eyes off your opponent!" Gai announced, kicking Nott in the face again.
"Baka! This is the oldest trick in the book!" Dosu directed his sound waves at a group of Wrath-clones, making them disappear in puffs of smoke. The real Wrath charged at Dosu. He was quick, and managed to give him a good punch before he was thrown backwards. "Stupid boy! You'll regret betraying us!"
"I don't regret anything!" Wrath snarled. Some of his shadow clones were now losing a battle against Zaku.
"You should have stayed the way you were! Now, you have no powers! You couldn't die before, either!" Zaku sneered, destroying the last of the clones. He and Dosu stood on both sides of Wrath. "You've lost it all!"
"I don't care… if I get to be with the people I care about!" Wrath seized some shuriken that Gai gave him, and flung them at the otonin. Of course, they merely blocked the weapons.
"That woman's not really your mother! You're not really human, and you never will be!" Macnair cackled.
"Don't turn away from me! I'm your opponent!" Lee yelled, clapping his hands down onto the floor. A large fist shot up, punching Macnair in the stomach. He was shot clear into the ceiling. As he bounced back down, Izumi slapped the ground as well. Blue sparks shot towards the fist, changing it into a spike. Macnair landed on it. He gave a great yell, and tried to struggle, but to no avail. Macnair looked rather grotesque, impaled onto the spike with the bloody point sticking out of his back.
"Shut up! I am human! The Philosopher's Stone made me a human!" Wrath yelled at Macnair's corpse. He interpreted its silence as ridicule, and angrily shot his shuriken at it.
"Don't kid yourself. You'll never be human." Dosu crossed his arms knowingly. "You're a freak, with a human's pathetic powers."
"Stop teasing my son!" Izumi yelled. She made a gesture like she was about to clap her hands together, but stopped.
"Sensei?" Lee approached her. Izumi's shoulders began to shake. She coughed intensely, spitting gobs of blood all over her hands.
"Pathetic," Zaku scoffed. He and his friend turned away from Izumi. That was their last mistake. Izumi finished coughing, and spat the last of the blood out onto her hands. She clapped her hands together, and produced alchemical sparks. With one swift movement, she flung the blood at the otonin. They left her hands as red, goopy liquid, but changed into thick, sharp needles mid-air. They lunged into Zaku and Dosu's hearts through their backs. The two were caught totally off guard, and had no time to deflect her attack.
"Lady… who the hell are you…?" gasped Dosu. He and Zaku crashed down onto their knees.
"Just a housewife," Izumi walked between them and took their heads into her hands. "And a really pissed off mother." She sharply twisted. Ugly cracking sounds told of the fact that their necks were broken. Izumi let go, and both flopped down to the ground unconsciously. Gai sharply elbowed Nott, as if punctuating the story. Nott slithered to the ground, passed out as well.
"Sugoi, Izumi-sensei! That was amazing!" gasped Lee.
"Thanks. We should go," Izumi waved her companions over. "I know those aren't the only enemies here."
-------------
"Hinata! Stupid idiot! Do you even know where we are?" Neji snarled.
"W-well… we have the Byakugan… we can check, right?" Hinata was careful to make sure Al stood between she and her cousin.
"Wow, it's sure dark for this time of day," Al remarked. "Neji, those comments aren't really helping."
"It's none of your business," Neji crossed his arms.
"Hinata's my friend. When you harass her, I make it my business," Al frowned at Neji.
"Guys… don't fight…" Hinata urged them.
"Hinata, aren't you tired of him being so rude to you?" asked Al.
"I've got it under control, Alphonse. Really, it's okay," insisted Hinata.
"No, you know what? It's not! I know you're bitter about your circumstances, Neji! But it's not Hinata's fault, okay?" Al yelled at Neji.
"You know, if we just stand here and chat, we're easy targets. Why don't we talk and walk?" Neji started to walk away. Alphonse grabbed his hair and pulled him back. Both Neji and Hinata gasped. "Did you just do what I think you did?"
"Yes. I grabbed your hair. We're not going anywhere until this matter is resolved." Alphonse informed him.
"Shut up! You don't tell me what to do!" Neji shoved Alphonse.
"Don't push me!" Alphonse shoved him back.
"Guys! Please stop!" Hinata pleaded.
"Maybe you got a happy ending, Alphonse! You got out of your cage! But not everyone gets a happy ending like that! The one who put you in helped get you out! But the ones who locked me in made an irreversible decision!" Neji shouted, grabbing Al by the collar. "Not everyone gets a happy ending! I know I won't! I know I'm going to be stuck here forever!"
"Happiness isn't determined by what you have, Neji. It's determined by what you do with what you have," Alphonse told him gently.
"So you're telling me you'd be happy in your old body?" Neji demanded.
"Sure," shrugged Alphonse. "Doubts about my existence aside, it certainly had its perks. It was really strong and sturdy, ten times stronger than the body I have right now! I never got tired, or felt hungry, or any of those things. I made a lot of friends while I lived in that body. And even though I was somewhat of a freak, there were people who loved me and cared about me."
"I don't have that!" Neji yelled. "I'm just a weapon! A tool for the Hyuga family!"
"Gai and Lee respect you. Tenten obviously cares about you," Al comforted him. "You have lots of friends. Why aren't you happy?"
"I'm a bird trapped in a cage, Alphonse. There are plenty of people who admire the bird, but they can only look from a distance. I live for those that trapped me, and I'll die for them, too. Just like…" the tears he'd been struggling to hold back broke free and streamed down his face. "Like my father."
"Neji! I'm so sorry!" Hinata began sobbing as well. She ran over and embraced her cousin. Neji didn't resist. "I know my skills are nothing compared to yours! You've already mastered so many of the Hyugas' techniques, and I've only begun to scratch the surface. I know how unfair it is that I'm the Hyugas' main priority, while you're pushed to the side as only a bodyguard. I wish I could change it…"
"Me too…" Neji saw that Hinata meant no harm. His situation really wasn't her fault. And he believed that she would have changed it if she could.
"Wait a second. Hinata, you're the heir of the Hyuga Clan, right? Meaning, you'll be the head of the Hyuga family when your father passes away?" Alphonse observed.
"Well, I don't know. My father's not very fond of my lack of skills, and my younger sister Hanabi is already stronger than me…" Hinata blushed, realizing how pitiable she sounded.
"If you become the Head, then you can just change the laws of the Hyuga Clan, can't you?"
"I don't know… I could try… our clan and its rules go back a long way…" Hinata stuttered.
"You would be willing to try?" Neji asked her.
"Yes! Of course!" Hinata nodded vigorously. For a moment, a look of happiness shined on Neji's face. But that was quickly interrupted by a ferocious roar.
"Children! Little muggle children! Oh, how tender and delicious your flesh must be!" a huge grey-haired man hurtled towards them.
"Who the hell are you?" demanded Neji.
"I am Fenrir Greyback! I am a werewolf! Do you foreign muggles know what that is?" Greyback grinned manically. "I eat humans!"
"I think this is the guy Ron's brother told us to avoid," said Al.
"Children are always the best prey! I will turn all of you into werewolves! Well, except for the girl. She looks very juicy," Greyback licked his lips.
"Oh no… this is like Barry the Chopper all over again!" Hinata groaned.
"Stay away from her!" Al commanded.
"Just try and stop me!" Greyback licked his lips. He snatched Hinata. He wrapped an arm around her neck, and picked her off the floor. "I can smell you so clearly! You smell so good!"
"EEEK! Pervert! Keep your hands off of me!" Hinata shrieked, struggling to get free.
"Silence, little girl!" Greyback roared. "Has anyone here ever read 'Snow white'?"
"Get away!" Hinata willed her Chakra into her fist again, making her hand glow red. She lifted up her arm, and punched Greyback in the eye with all her might. Greyback roared in pain, dropping Hinata. She landed on her feet and rushed behind her friends.
"I've been meaning to ask you, Hinata. Where did you learn that move?" asked Neji, remembering his own encounter with it.
"Oh… it's not totally original. I'm sure other people thought of it before me, but I got my inspiration from watching Al concentrate his Chakra into his hands when he does alchemy," shrugged Hinata.
"You guys know how to use weapons, right?" asked Al. The Hyugas nodded. Al slapped the floor with both hands. Something cylindrical and thin formed, and Al pulled them out. When he was done, there was a spear in either hand. He tossed one to Neji, and brandished the other before him.
"Oh! You bloody brat!" Greyback uttered some cuss words while jumping up and down, holding his watery eye. "Imperio!" The three kids dodged the curse, and it hit a wall instead.
Alphonse leapt forward, swinging at Greyback with his spear. Greyback stepped back. Neji jumped behind him, and delivered him a few blows to his Chakra points. Greyback clawed at him, but Neji easily dodged it. Greyback attempted to curse them again, and they evaded his attack again. Alphonse threw his spear at him, and it pierced his arm. Greyback howled in pain and dropped his wand. Neji quickly caught it. He broke it with one hand.
"Don't think you've won! I'm different from those other Death Eaters!"
Greyback charged at Alphonse, bearing his fangs. Neji flew at Greyback, hitting him in the back of his neck. Momentarily losing all feeling in his body, Greyback crashed. Alphonse dropkicked him in the stomach. Greyback roared, and stumbled away from him. Hinata screamed in fear when she realized he was stumbling towards her direction. Greyback realized this, too, and kept on going. He grinned madly with his tongue hanging out, drooling over the meal he planned to make of her. Hinata instinctively thrust her spear at him. The point disappeared into his chest… and reemerged, blood red, through his back. An expression of shock overtook Greyback's face. He toppled for a moment, and fell forwards. Hinata escaped just in time.
Neji retrieved the spear Alphonse had thrown. Standing over Greyback, he plunged it into his neck. Bright crimson liquid squirted out. Neji dragged the spear to the other side of his neck. The light in Greyback's yellow eyes faded as his head rolled off his shoulders. A bucket's worth of blood leaked out of his neck. Hinata gave a choked cry and buried her face in Alphonse's chest.
"A true shinobi makes sure their enemy is dead," Neji told his companions matter-of-factly. Footsteps sounded down the hall. His ears pricked up and he squinted into the darkness. "Iruka-sensei is coming."
Sure enough, Iruka, Hermione and Ron appeared. They joined the group. They were panting, indicating that they had run the whole way.
"Is that Greyback?" Ron pointed at the Death Eater they had just defeated.
"That's what he called himself," said Neji.
"Good! He had it coming for what he did to Bill and Lupin!" Ron gave his body a kick.
"We ran into Lucius Malfoy," said Hermione.
"His corpse is lying in front of the Prefect's bathroom," added Iruka.
"He had it coming, too," said Ron. "Let's go to the astronomy tower. Harry probably needs some help."
The six of them trotted towards the direction of the tower. On the way, they ran into Temari delivering a last blow to a sunglasses-wearing man with a piece of cloth covering his mouth. His companion, who wore a similar cloth and glasses, lay on the ground a few feet away, with all of his bones crushed into tiny bits… again. Kankurou stood a few feet away from him, with his arms crossed and looking pleased as punch.
"Aren't those the Misumi and Yoroi guys from the exam?" Hermione recalled.
"Turns out they were working for Orochimaru. We took care of them," Edward assured them. "Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah. We're just on our way to the astronomy tower," said Ron.
"We'll come with you," decided Temari.
"Let's hurry. Something tells me we have no time to waste," said Ed, and they took off towards the direction of the tower.
