A few wisps of sand blew near the four brooding Kage. Onoki didn't even wonder why there was sand near a forest.

"Kazekage, you finally decided to show your lazy behind," growled A, cracking his knuckles in anger.

The sand solidified into a person. Gaara smirked. "I do need to keep up with my classwork, you know."

Tsunade's eye twitched. "Cut the innocent act. We all know that you are the only Kage that actually does all his paperwork. Schoolwork is nothing in comparison. In fact, how do you get all that work done and still have free time to meditate and stare at the moon every freaking day?!"

Gaara merely smiled mysteriously as the other Kage stared at him jealously. "I have my ways."

Onoki scowled, but didn't say anything. "Hmph. Well, did you do anything remotely useful while masquerading as a student?"

"There is a book," said Gaara calmly. "About the theory of dimension-traveling. The Elemental Countries are in there."

A and Tsunade choked and looked horrified.

Mei was twitching. "W-w-w-we- l-library –a-all n-n-night… HOOOOOOWWWW!"

Gaara smiled mysteriously again. "I have my ways. Now be quiet, you're ruining the view."

Onoki stared at him. "What view?"

"The moon," Gaara answered, his eyes turning silver as his head tipped up towards the full moon. "You know, I think I'll just go to the Astronomy Tower, I heard it's quite a nice view."

With that, the Kazekage of Suna disappeared in a swirl of sand.

"… The Kazekage is even stranger than his father," mumbled Mei.

Tsunade sighed. "Trust me, according to what Naruto told me, he was even stranger before Naruto knocked some sense into him."

"The moon is beautiful tonight."

"EEEK!" screamed Aurora Sinistra along with her second-year class.

Gaara didn't even glance at her.

"H-how," stuttered Professor Sinistra. "I-I didn't even hear you come up the tower…!"

"Because I didn't."

"What do you mean?" asked Sinistra, confused. Unless he flew up here, there was no other way up the tower. Even then, someone would've seen him.

"Teleportation," said Gaara calmly.

Sinistra's eyes bugged. "But that's impossible in Hogwarts! There's no way-"

"Please shut up, I'm trying to enjoy the full moon."

Sinistra slowly turned red, but didn't say anything. He was a fellow astronomer (kind of), which were, for some strange reason, rare. Something about the night sky being a little dull.

Dumbledore sighed inside his office. From what little he knew about ninja, they were mercenaries. He wondered…

Ninja were extremely powerful. It would be beneficial to have even a Genin, a ninja of the lowest rank (and skill), on the Order's side. A Kage, a ninja equal to or even more skilled than an S-ranked ninja would be even better. Heck, they could probably kill Voldemort without breaking sweat.

However…

It was Harry's duty to kill Voldemort. It wasn't like Dumbledore was trying to 'fufill a prophecy' for the 'greater good' or anything, the cold, hard truth was that Voldemort couldn't be killed before, in a sense, Harry was killed.

Still, having ninja on his side would be a huge asset. Making up his mind, Dumbledore decided to call in the five Kage after classes the next day.

"Gaara!" shouted Ron as he spotted the elusive red-head. "Where were you?"

Gaara ate his toast calmly. "Out."

Harry and Hermione, who were flanking Ron, looked curious. "Where did you sleep then?" asked Hermione.

"I don't sleep," said Gaara, sipping a cup of coffee. Shukaku had really liked that stuff and would give him a splitting headache if he didn't drink it every morning as soon as he got up (this is from a fic where Gaara and Hinata switch bodies; I don't remember the author and title, but kudos to you!). Now it was just part of his routine.

Hermione gasped at the sight of the coffee, and snatched it away. "You need sleep! Plus, coffee isn't good for you!"

Gaara just looked at her, then whipped out another cup of coffee out of nowhere.

Harry and Ron just stared at him.

"My sister is always stealing my coffee," he explained, sipping it.

"Um… Okay… Uh… Bye?" said Ron, staring at the cup and slowly backing away.

Up at the staff table, Onoki cackled, Mei dutifully read a dull and dusty book, Tsunade sipped a cup of sake, and A was itching to get outside.

All in all, it was a normal day.

"H-h-hello t-there!" squeaked a midget (A.K.A. a first year), looking terrified.

"Hn," mumbled Gaara, looking at the midget. "What?"

"Ack! I-I mean, here-you-go-bye-my-mum-is-calling-me!" squealed the midget, rushing off to who-knows-where after handing an envelope to Gaara.

Gaara looked curiously at the envelope in his hands and opened it.

Ron snickered. "Ahh, if I could inflict that kind of fear on first years, life at Hogwarts would be perfect." He stopped and pretended to think about it. "Of course, Harry would also have to stop getting into life-threatening situations, but apart from that, life would be perfect. And of course, Hermione-"

"Shut up, Ron," said Harry irritably. He was getting tired of people staring and pointing at him. The phrases he caught from time to time didn't help.

"Harry, something wrong?" asked Ron, concerned. His friend usually didn't have such a short fuse unless something really bad had happened.

"Ron!" hissed Hermione. "Be quiet! Gaara, what does your letter say?"

Gaara had just finished reading his letter. "Hn. Headmaster."

Hermione looked interested. "Oh? Why?"

"I don't know," answered Gaara, preparing to wow the students of Hogwarts by disappearing in a whirl of sand again. "It doesn't say. Bye."

He dissolved into sand.

Ron shook his head. "How in the world does he do that?"

The Kage who were unfortunate enough to have a school full of whiny children dumped on them AND had a massive amount of reading to do were already at Dumbledore's office, relieved to have something else to do. It was almost painful to see students forced to walk after running half a lap around the lake.

The Kage that was lucky enough to get to relax and do nothing at school all day was currently solidifying into a person, his half-formed face looking calm. As usual.

Not for the first time, Onoki cursed his old age and the Kazekage.

"Ah, Lord Kazekage!" said Dumbledore brightly. "You have arrived!"

"Hn," said Lord Kazekage. Ah, the Sasuke Method was so darn useful! Gaara wondered why he hadn't done this before.

Probably because he loathed the Uchiha, but whatever.

Dumbledore merely smiled as Tsunade wondered why Gaara was acting so much like Sasuke.

"Now that we're all here," said Dumbledore. "I will tell you the reason why I have summoned you here."

Tsunade coughed, randomly remembering Naruto summoning toads. Especially Gamabunta.

"I would like to hire you," said Dumbledore, his glasses glinting.

"What?" exclaimed Tsunade. "Did I hear you properly?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Yes. I would like to hire you to protect Harry Potter."

A scowled. "Never heard of him."

Onoki shrugged. "I agree with Lord Raikage."

Mei looked confused. "Harry who?"

Tsunade merely raised an eyebrow.

Gaara 'hn-ed'. The Uchiha were evil, but they were genii (plural for genius) when it came to avoiding conversations. If their side had won the war by the time they got back, he would use this to avoid annoying council members.

Unfortunately, the famous Uchiha "Hn" didn't work on Dumbledore. "I believe you know Mr. Potter?"

Gaara sighed. "Yes."

Dumbledore smiled. "Excellent!"

"Well, since you are hiring us, what are you offering?" asked Tsunade diplomatically.

"I hope this isn't too much to ask for, but if you can, a few hours away from the library, and-"

"We accept!" said Onoki quickly. Tsunade, Mei, and A nodded frantically.

Gaara didn't say anything, but mentally filed the information away for later. Apparently, Kage agreed to anything that involved getting away from paperwork or the library. This could be useful for diplomatic meetings and such.

"And," continued Dumbledore, sounding amused. "A hundred Galleons each. Two hundred for Lord Kazekage."

"Why?" asked Onoki, snapping out of his euphoria.

"Well, as he will be around Mr. Potter the most, he will be the most involved with guarding him," explained Dumbledore. Onoki huffed slightly at the injustice of being inferior to a child like the Kazekage.

Gaara sighed. His nice, relaxing vacation was over. Unless…

"I refuse-"

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" shouted Tsunade, realizing what Gaara was about to do. "Everyone who wants Lord Kazekage to babysit the Potter kid say 'Hai'!"

The other Kage caught on quickly.

"Hai!"

"Hai!"

"Hai!"

"Hai!"

"Traitors," mumbled Gaara, hurt.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Well, off you go then. The mission officially starts today, and ends whenever you find a way to get back. Please just come receive the pay from me before going."

They nodded.

Gaara sighed and disappeared in a whirl of sand. His nice, relaxing vacation was over.

Stupid conniving and jealous Kage.

"So, we should divide the duty into shifts," said Tsunade.

The Kage were by the lake. Again.

A snorted. "Easy. Kazekage takes the brat during school hours and night."

Gaara scowled. "That's about 18 hours!" He froze. "Oh, wait… This is a boarding school!"

Mei smiled sweetly. "Did you just realize that?"

"But that means… Every hour is technically a school hour!" snapped Gaara. "I am not taking Potter 24/7! If you're going to do that, you'd better give all the pay to me!"

A scowled. "And I thought I had you tricked so well…"

Gaara glared at him, sand creeping up on the five ninja.

"Very well," said Onoki. "The Kazekage will take the Potter brat during classes, and we will alternate during the night. We will also take Potter when he has our class. Happy?"

Sand works so well, thought Gaara happily as said sand slithered back into his gourd.

Omake: The Two Counselors

Sasuke Uchiha stepped inside and scowled as he spotted the two 'counselors'.

"What did you do to my counselor?!" snapped Sasuke, shuriken out and ready to be thrown.

Gaara sweat-dropped.

Lee gave Sasuke a thumbs-up. "Do not worry, my youthful charge! We are your youthful counselors!" He winked.

Sasuke froze, then grabbed an ANBU that was waiting outside. "Is this true?!"

The ANBU nodded.

Sasuke twitched. "Why was I not informed of this?!"

The ANBU shrugged.

Lee flashed a smile. "My youthful patient, let us start by doing a few breathing exercises! One, two, one, two…"

Sasuke was busy making an escape plan. All he had to do was run when Lee closed his eyes. However, there was one problem. He glanced at Gaara.

Gaara sighed and nodded. 'I won't stop you.'

He watched unhappily as the lucky Uchiha hared away.

Lee opened his eyes. "Where did our youthful patient go?"

Gaara shrugged. The ANBU sighed.

"The next one is already here," said the masked ninja.

Lee flashed a smile at the poor man. "Of course! Please bring us our youthful charge!"

Gaara face-palmed.

The door slid open again, revealing…

A/N: I'm toying with an idea I had, but I'm not sure if I want to post it since I already have two stories to work on. So I decided to let you all read part of it, then have you tell me whether you want me to continue it or not! (Actually, I have two, so I guess you can read the other one after I get the next chapter done.)

"Kakashi-sensei, you're late!" shouted Naruto, jumping up from his seat and pointing at the grey-haired jōnin.

Kakashi smiled. "I got lost on the road of life."

"LIAR!"

"Ahem," coughed Tsunade. The two ninja turned to her.

Before she could kill them/say anything, Rock Lee burst into the office on crutches.

"I am here, youthful Lady Hokage!" saluted Lee, grinning.

Naruto turned to the Hokage. "Eh?! What's he doing here?! What's going on?"

Tsunade tutted. "There's two more coming."

"Who-" Before Naruto could get his sentence out, a certain sand ninja walked in calmly. Well, actually, appeared in a swirl of sand, but it's really the same thing.

"Gaara! What are you doing here?" shouted Naruto. "WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"

"What is he doing here?" growled Sasuke's voice.

Naruto spotted Sasuke, who has just came in through the window.

Naruto twitched. "OLD LADY, YOU'D BETTER TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING OR I'M RASENGAN-ING YOU TO THE GROUND!"

A vein appeared on Tsunade's face. "SHUT UP, YOU IMBECILE!"

"I was wondering what my mission was as well," said Gaara diplomatically.

Sasuke glared at him, but nodded. Lee grinned youthfully.

Tsunade smiled evilly, making Naruto shiver.

"You four are going on a year-long mission," she began.

Naruto's eyes widened comically, then he sighed in relief as he thought of something. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei, you are so screwed with a team like this!" he said gleefully.

Tsunade shook her head with sadistic glee, making Naruto and Kakashi wonder if she was somehow emulating Shukaku or the Kyūbi.

"Oh, no, Naruto. Kakashi will be staying here," she said, grinning. "The team will consist of you, Lee, Sasuke, and Gaara."

All four of them widened their eyes.

Naruto choked, then shouted, "AHA! I KNEW IT! YOU'RE SECRETLY INSANE, AREN'T YOU?! EVEN WORSE THAN GAARA WAS BEFORE THE CHŪNIN EXAMS!"

Gaara glared at him.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Who are you and where is the Hokage?"

Tsunade glared at them. "Hmph." Then she grinned again, making all of them (including Lee) shiver. "Heh heh, that's not all."

Kakashi smiled at the sight of two of his cute little students being tortured.

"Your mission is to guard a school, and boy named Potter Harry in particular." She paused to let that sink in. "And you are required to go to school."

"What?!" Sasuke shouted. "That's- Do we have to go undercover?"

"No," answered Tsunade, still emulating Shukaku.

Gaara narrowed his eyes. "I request a different mission." He glanced at a hyper and excited Lee. "My mind is... still fragile."

Naruto and Sasuke turned and glared at him furiously.

"Coward!" Sasuke snapped.

Naruto twitched. "WE ALL KNOW THAT ISN'T TRUE, YOU LIAR! USING SHUKAKU TO GET OUT OF BABYSITTING DUTY! WHAT A DIRTY TRICK!"

Tsunade shook her head, still grinning evilly. "Nice try."

Gaara sighed and contemplated going on a 'killing rampage' and 'accidentally' killing the Hokage and that annoying Uchiha as a bonus.

"DO IT!" hissed Shukaku excitedly.

'Hmm... If Shukaku likes it, I probably shouldn't.'

Shukaku sulked disappointedly.

"But why us? Why not someone like... Hyūga, Inuzuka, or even that Tenten girl?" suggested Sasuke desperately.

Tsunade sighed. "Well, you see, we can't really spare ninja of that caliber, plus, the headmaster who is hiring us is paying a lot of money for an A-rank. It also has the benefit of giving Lee a chance to go on a mission."

Gaara looked slightly guilty as Lee's face shone.

"My youthful Lady Hokage, I will not let you down!" he vowed. "I will give this mission my all!"

Tsunade smiled fondly at him, before glaring at the other three. "Why can't you be more like him?"

Naruto looked sick as he imagined Sasuke, Gaara, and himself in green spandex and bowl-cuts.

Sasuke and Gaara looked the same. Kakashi looked green and excused himself to go throw up.

Tsunade smiled nervously as she imagined the same image. "...you know what, never mind. Stay the way you are right now."

"So, wait," said Naruto, thinking back to what Tsunade had said before she had made that disturbing comment. "Basically, you're throwing all of the most useless ninja together to guard a school in exchange for a massive amount of money?"

Tsunade smiled while Sasuke and Gaara looked impressed at Naruto's rare show of intelligence.

"Why, Naruto, I knew you had a brain there somewhere!" said Tsunade brightly. "Yes! What better mission for an invalid nin than a nice, long mission guarding a bunch of fat, lazy civilians who have a little more control over their energy than ours? What better mission to show off your Rasengan and keep you safe from the Akatsuki? What better therapy than a school full of whiny brats?"

"Therapy?" hissed Sasuke, his Sharingan activated.

Gaara huffed slightly. He was better now! He hadn't killed anything in three days! That was a record for him!

...On second thought, maybe he did need it.

"Of course, Suna will be getting one-fourth of the money," continued Tsunade. Gaara blinked.

Tsunade cackled. "There's so much I might as well give you some of it. Besides, a year with a thousand whiny brats is very trying; I wouldn't be surprised if you came back with grey hair, like our famed Copy-nin here," she said, gesturing to Kakashi.

Kakashi waved while the three of the four Genin gulped.

"Also, you will be sending weekly reports to me via the Headmaster's phoenix."

Naruto's eyes widened, but Tsunade cut him off.

"I'd ask if you wanted to accept, but you really have no choice, since I'm your Hokage, and Gaara is here to help us out, so I'm his leader for now as well!" said Tsunade brightly. "Also, there's a language barrier, so your forehead protectors... well, if you wear one," she added, glancing at Gaara and Lee. "Will be 'charmed' by one of the wizards you will meet there."

Naruto choked while Sasuke and Gaara's eyes widened slightly.

"What?! You didn't mention anything about wizards!" yelped Naruto.

Tsunade looked slightly sheepish. "... Oops? Well, the people you'll be protecting are wizards and witches. Their spells are kind of like our jutsu, but much less powerful."

Sasuke scowled. "So basically we're guarding a bunch of magical whiny brats. Why can't we let them die?"

"The money," reminded Tsunade.

"So how are we going to get there?" asked Naruto, looking around wildly.

Lee nodded. "How are we going to get there, youthful Lady Hokage?"

Tsunade tossed Gaara a… sock. "With this."

They all stared at the sock, including Kakashi.

"Ah…. Kakashi-sensei, check to see if there are any sake bottles lying around," hissed Naruto.

Tsunade glared at him. "I am not drunk. In exactly two minutes, everyone and everything touching that sock will be transported to the wizarding world.

"That's it, our Hokage is senile," said Sasuke, shaking his head. "I'm leaving."

Tsunade grabbed him. "Oh no you don't, brat! Hand on the sock, now!"

Relunctantly, Sasuke and Gaara put their hands on the sock along with a cheerful Lee and an excited Naruto.

"Five, four, three, two, one," counted Tsunade.

"Bye-bye!" waved Kakashi as the four Genin disappeared. He turned to Tsunade, who was grinning.

"You know, Ino and Sakura are going to kill you for sending Sasuke away."

Tsunade's smile disappeared. "Darn, didn't think of that."

Harry had just greeted Ron and Hermione and was about to go upstairs when:

BANG.

Everyone froze, their wands out. Moody narrowed his magical eye, then relaxed ever-so-slightly. "It's them," he rasped.

The adults all relaxed.

"Wha?" said Ron, confused. "Who?"

Sirius grinned. "Man, you guys are going to have a fun year."

Harry blinked. "Sirius, what do you-"

Sirius smirked. "Come and see for yourself." He excitedly half-ran towards the sounds of banging and fighting.

Harry stared, then looked at Ron and Hermione.

Actually, only Ron, as Hermione had already disappeared.

Ron shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."

A/N: This is only a rough draft, I'll probably revise it AGAIN, I'm not full satisfied with it.