A/N: Well hello everyone. It's been a while. Unfortunately, being a senior in high school sucks, and have only recently been able to surface for air underneath the mountain of homework they have been assigning us. I have had to write at least eight ten page minimum papers over the past two weeks, and the other "normal" homework as well. Anyways I'm back now. For the moment at least, hehe.
HPRS 13 should be up in another week or so, provided I don't get buried by schoolwork again... knock on wood!
Now for some reviewer responses:
Grumpywinter: I know the fox mask is way overused, but that's because, wefll, if Naruto were to have a totem animal, it would be a fox, for obvious reasons. Sorry, it ain't gonna change. And where did you get that wolf-masked ANBU were the strongest? That's new to me... I'm not saying you're wrong, just that I have never heard that before.
Scione: No they won't be learning magic, as such. Sakura will be genjutsu-ing everyone so that it looks like they are doing it, but they wont.
Chris Redfield-General Chaos: I doubt that there will be any HP pairings here. Harry is still just friends with Ginny, and Ron and Hermione haven't realized that they like one another yet. As for Harry/Hermione, there are very few good H/Hr fics out there IMO. Besides, I don't think I could write H/Hr well enough to do it justice.
Rsfan: I don't think Harry and Co. will be learning nin/genjutsu, but they will learn some taijutsu, mostly to learn to fight on their feet, that kind of thing. They aren't gonna be supa-ninja-wizards. I leave that to my other story. Naruto and Sakura are the only ninja that will be appearing in this story as main characters. Others might appear in flashbacks, but that's it. I learned my lesson from HPRS in making too large a cast...
Judedeath: sorry no crossover pairings here, this firmly Naru/Saku
Also, there Naruto and Sakura aren't going to be using many Japanese flavor-words when speaking in English. The enchantment on their necklaces turn all their suffixes and such into the proper English title, if applicable.
Finally, send thanks to mangamaniacgurl, my new beta! She drew me a pretty accurate fanart of Naruto and Sakura an their Jpanese getup (although I'm not really sure she could be classified as a fan, more like a partner in crime...) check my profile for the link.
Chapter 2: Detention with Dolores
Tom had knocked on their door a few minutes prior to let them know that the Ministry car had arrived to take them to Kings Cross Station. Sakura had packed all of her belongings in her new travel trunk the night before. Predictably, Naruto hadn't. He had been scrambling for five minutes now, just throwing every possession he had haphazardly into his trunk, with no care for any kind of order. Once everything had been piled up in the trunk, he leaped on it, weighing the lid down and allowing him to latch the lock in place.
Hefting trunks over their shoulders, Naruto kicked the door open and walked out to the car. The driver offered to help them with their trunks, but looked surprised when both declined, even the girl. He wasn't being sexist or anything, but he was surprised that the pink haired girl, if anything, carried hers more easily than the guy did. He knew from experience that student's trunks could weigh a good bit, but he shrugged it off.
The trip to Kings Cross Station passed quickly enough, with the two teenagers talking quietly to one another in what the driver assumed to be Japanese. Naruto was staring out the window in amazement, childlike wonder suffusing his face at all the modern technology and buildings. Naruto had seen most before; it was just that Konohagakure was so small that no one needed a vehicle of any kind to get around. The trains elicited less amazement than the cars however, because he had used trains to get to a mission several times where time was of the essence and foot power was simply not sufficient.
Noting the crowds milling around the platforms, Sakura surmised that it would be pretty easy to just slip through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. The two just leaned against the brick pillar and... vanished. Naruto grinned when he saw the paint scheme of the Hogwarts Express, red and gold being the primary colors. Looking around, Naruto noticed that the platform was relatively empty, a bare handful of parents chatting with children inhabiting the platform.
"Let's just wait here for the principle to arrive, that way we don't risk choosing another compartment than they do."
"Good idea Sakura-chan. We can also take a rough head count of the students on the train." But as time progressed getting nearer to the departure point, Naruto quickly gave up hope on that: at a little over two hundred, he was less than halfway done. The nature of the shifting crowd also discouraged an accurate head count, because people were constantly moving and getting on and off the train. The platform, which he had thought to be rather appropriately sized, got extremely crowded for the few minutes immediately before the trains whistle, signaling that it was preparing to leave. Sakura tapped his shoulder, pointing to the train, gesturing that she had seen the boy they were supposed to be protecting. Letting Naruto's much bulkier frame cut through the rapidly thinning crowd, they caught three mops of red being attacked by a fourth red mop. The redheads disengaged themselves from who Naruto assumed to be their mother; surely that shade of red hair couldn't be too common here. The train left the platform moments after Naruto and Sakura stepped on board. It took the pair a while find the compartment which Harry Potter was sitting in. Naruto knocked and opened the door slightly so that he could converse with the occupants. There were three boys and three girls in the compartment, half the group the students they had been hired to protect.
Bending slightly at the waist he introduced himself. "Hello, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, and this is Haruno Sakura," pulling the kunoichi into view. "All the other compartments seem to be full, I was wondering if we could join you."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville looked up at the newcomers, while Luna continued to read her magazine upside down. Harry and Ron took in the pair's clothes with an arched eyebrow, the girls similarly intrigued. Naruto and Sakura wore their new greatcoats, open and hanging to just above the ankle. Sakura wore a rather tight, red crew necked, short sleeved tee shirt, not tight enough for her to poke through, but still showing her athletic physique to the boys' appreciative eyes. She also wore a black pair of pants made of the same rugged material as the ridiculously low slung pants she had worn the first day in London, although these required no belt to prevent any embarrassing accidents, tucked into what appeared to be shin high combat boots, complete with the steel toe and long laces. Her jaw-length, pink hair was held back with a red band, leaving a few strands to frame her face. Naruto was wearing a painfully orange skintight tank top, and beige cargo shorts, which looked somewhat odd with his black combat boots and coat. Naruto had allowed his bright blond hair to grow out slightly, about six inches, so that it no longer stood up in tufts, instead darkening a bit, looking vaguely like fur. Sakura's pink hair and Naruto's blond was considered also, mostly by Harry and Ron, both wondering what they used to get those particular shades. Hermione and Ginny's gazes lingered on the half pendants each wore, and the odd green crystal resting against Naruto's chest.
Hermione ignored the two boys who were apparently content to just gape at the new arrivals. She smiled and waved them in. Naruto walked in and hefted his traveling trunk and swung it up with one hand with no apparent effort on his part, a feat which he repeated with Sakura's trunk. Everyone in the compartment stared at the newcomer with some amount of awe and disbelief given that the two newcomer's trunks were at least half again as large as their own.
"Jeez man, how'd you do that?" Ron finally managed to croak as they found their seats.
"Eh, what do you mean 'do that'?"
"I think he means that your trunks are a good bit larger than ours, and you swung them up on the cargo racks pretty easily," Hermione clarified.
"Well, I am pretty strong I guess."
"Do you work out?" Neville asked.
"Yeah, we both do. We go running every morning and then lift weights for an hour after that," expounding on some of the back story the two had concocted between them.
"How much can you bench?" Ron asked curiously.
"I don't really know. I've never gone over two hundred."
"You bench press two hundred pounds? That's pretty impressive, man."
"Yeah, but that is nothing compared to Sakura-chan. She can do over three." Sakura scowled at her boyfriend, cursing his big mouth. They were supposed to blend in, and the first chance he get he starts bragging about how strong he was.
"Naruto is just exaggerating. I do about one hundred." The intensely curious looks subsided slightly at that, hearing that Naruto was just exaggerating.
"If you don't mind my asking, what are you two doing at Hogwarts? No offense, but you are obviously foreigners," Neville questioned them, changing the subject.
Grinning, Naruto told them, "We are from the Imperial Institute of Magic, in Japan. Your Headmaster contacted ours earlier in the year and proposed an exchange program, to promote peace, prosperity, and better relationships with other schools of magic. Well, that's what Tsunade-obaa-chan said anyways." Sakura rolled her eyes at Naruto's fabrications; she resisted the urge to pound her boyfriend into unconsciousness.
Sakura continued from where he left off. "Tsunade-shishou chose us because I was third in my class, and Naruto was dead-last, to show one of the best, and worst from our school."
Naruto immediately made his objections known about being referred to by his old school nickname. "Hey Sakura-chan, they didn't need to know that! It was mostly the teacher's fault I sucked so bad." Their argument rapidly devolved from there, Sakura cocking her arm back to slug Naruto, when she noticed their bewildered spectators. The other six students were watching the two yell at each other, the requisite concentration to activate the translation spell cast on their necklaces so negligible to the pair's trained mind that with the last week or so to practice that it had become an unconscious effort to them.
As Sakura lowered her fist, Harry said, "You two aren't married by any chance?" fighting to contain a grin, voicing everyone's sentiment.
Grinning again, their fight completely forgotten, Naruto replied, "Nope. Although it took almost five years before Sakura agreed to go out with me, Konoha's Number One Most Surprising N-mph!"
Sakura smiled weakly at the others while he clamped a hand over Naruto's mouth before he could ruin their cover. In response to their confused looks, she said "Number One Most Surprising Student, right Naruto?" giving a subtle emphasis on the word student. He quickly nodded his acquiescence, realizing how close he came to majorly screwing up.
Ginny turned to Sakura and said with a wry twist to her mouth, "I can see why it took you so long to agree to date him Haruno. He surely thinks a lot of himself, doesn't he?"
"Of course I do. Back home, I was the Prank Master, before I graduated the Academy. But you know you don't have to call her by her surname."
"Eh, what? You said your name was Haruno," Ron stated, confused.
Suddenly remembering, Sakura clarified, "At home, we give our surnames before our given names. Sorry, I forgot." Sakura continued Naruto's explanation, when she told them about her name. "Back home, we start school at six, and graduate at twelve. Then we are grouped by three and given a personal teacher, who teaches us more advanced magic," further expounding the back story that Naruto had begun to tell earlier. Naruto let his gaze wander around the compartment, gaze latching onto a particularly disgusting thing.
Seeing where Naruto's gaze had fallen, Neville proudly whipped out the plant he called the Mimbulus mimbletonia. It was the single ugliest plant that anyone in the compartment had ever seen, most closely resembling a diseased, necrotic internal organ, pulsating in a rather sickening manner. Apparently it was really rare, for abundantly clear reasons, and when Neville prodded the thing with a quill to show off its plentiful defensive mechanisms, it ejected rather copious amounts of Stinksap. Ginny used a quick Scourgify Spell to destroy the vile substance, much to the relief of the cabin at large.
A couple hours after the incident with the thing, for Naruto was hesitant to actually call it a plant, the compartment door slid open and a pale, platinum-blond boy. Harry's eyes narrowed behind his glasses, practically shouting "What?" at the newcomer, with two boys Naruto could only label as goons flanking him.
"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention," the boy drawled. "See, unlike you, I have been made a prefect, which means that, I unlike you can hand out punishment." Ignoring Harry's retort, the boy just then noticed the two shinobi. Bowing slightly in Sakura's direction, he smiled. "My name is Draco Malfoy. I can tell that you are new here, so why don't you come with me, away from these Mudbloods and bloodtraitors, so I can show you what a real wizard is."
"Leave Sakura alone Malfoy," Hermione stated coldly.
"What, did I hit a nerve, Mudblood?"
"No, it's that this is a git-free area, so you're not allowed in here." Ron's face was quickly approaching his hair tone, a danger sign that Malfoy ignored.
"Watch it, Weasel. We all know who the better wizard, between us, is. You shouldn't interfere with your superiors."
As both Harry and Ron opened their mouths to retort, Naruto stood up, his normally bright blue eyes now hard and cold. "Leave now Malfoy. I'm only going to tell you once."
The two goons tensed at the tiny killing intent Naruto was exuding, and though Malfoy felt it, he shrugged it off with some difficulty. Looking down at the five inches separating their eyes, he sneered, "Oh yeah, and what are you going to do, runt?"
Ignoring the insult, Naruto instead jacked Malfoy in the face with a light punch, quick enough that Malfoy didn't even have time to blink. Landing hard on his ass, Malfoy reached up and covered the profuse stream of blood that was issuing from his flattened nose. The goons looked like they were about to do something extremely stupid, when Naruto faced them. "That's what I will do. Now, get your boss back to whatever hole you three crawled out of." Flicking another disdainful glance at the prone boy, he slammed the compartment door closed.
"Nice job Naruto," Ron was grinning enough for everyone in the compartment combined.
"You know, Naruto, he's just going to report you to one of the professors. You'll have detention before you're even Sorted." She had her arms crossed under her breasts, a scowl etched into her features.
"Eh, it can't be anything worse than what Perverted Sage has done to me before."
"Did you say 'Perverted Sage' Naruto?" Ron managed to choke out.
"Yeah. He was my teacher for a couple of years. He's a pervert, likes to watch women in the bath, for his dirty books." At this Hermione was torn between anger at Naruto's teacher and laughter as Naruto told a few anecdotes of a couple of times he had gotten caught.
Hermione checked her watch and looked outside. "We better change. We are going to arrive at Hogwarts soon." Naruto and Sakura left the compartment, each with a bundle under their arms, and returned fifteen minutes later, with their greatcoats slung over their arms. Ron and Hermione departed among the racket of students retrieving their luggage and pets ready for departure. Naruto held his trunk in one hand, and Sasuke's cage in the other, while Tora wrapped itself around Sakura's shoulders. Luna took Ron's miniature owl, Pigwidgeon, fluttering and shrieking madly until Sasuke let out a particularly piercing hoot.
Harry was looking for Ron and Hermione, wanting to comment about Professor Grubbly-Plank gathering the first years instead of Hagrid. As the group approached the formerly horseless carriages, shuffling pets among themselves Harry commented on the steeds. They were completely black, fleshless parodies of horses, with reptilian skin stretched taught across their frames. "What are those things you reckon?"
"What things?" Ron replied.
"The horse thing pulling the carriages", drawing the attention of the rest of the group.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about -- look!" Harry grabbed Ron's arm and set him in front of the skeletal horse.
"What am I supposed to be seeing?"
"At the -- there, between the shafts, pulling the carriages." As Ron continued to stare at him bemusedly, Harry had a thought. "Can't you see them?"
"Harry there is nothing there."
"No, I see them too," Naruto interjected.
"As do I," Luna murmured.
"And me, I see them," Sakura continued. That just confused the other Hogwarts students even more, as Harry, Luna and the new students could see them, but no one else could. With Luna, that wasn't anything unexpected, as she believed in anything that required a suspension of reality, but for Harry, Naruto, and Sakura to see them also was just plain odd.
"Well, whatever they are, we should get going, we don't want to be late to the feast." Hermione had a look of intense concentration, trying to decipher the reason why some of them could see the beasts and some couldn't.
As the coach swayed its way up to the castle with the strange beasts, conversation turned to Professor Grubbly-Plank, and the conspicuous absence of a certain half giant. Naruto and Sakura sat silently with Harry, while Ron and Hermione defended Hagrid's teaching practices from Luna. Harry tried to spot lights coming from Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, but the grounds were completely dark.
Luna, Naruto and Sakura left the Gryffindors, Luna for the Ravenclaw table and the two shinobi lingering by the great double doors waiting for the Deputy Headmistress to enter with the first years. The first years and ninja marched up to the raised dais at the opposite end of the room. Whispers erupted at the sight of the two Japanese people, towering over the much shorter first years, and their peculiar mode of dress.
Naruto was wearing a male kimono, orange of course, with swirling flame decals along the hem and sleeves. There was a large black fox embroidered across the chest, and wrapping around the back. A red, thigh-length haori, with a white haori-himo, was draped over the kimono. His obi sash was a light blue, with a light green datjime. Naruto had four kamon, swirling red circles embroidered onto his clothes, one on the back on his haori, one on ech of the sleeves, and on over his left breast, over his heart on his orange kimono.
Sakura was wearing a pink kimono, with red Japanese maple leaves embroidered on, as if floating on the wind. Her obi sash was the same shade of green as her eyes, and a light blue datejime, and had her hair tied up by a silk sakura kanzashi. Sakura had her Both wore white tabi, and brown leather zori. Sakura had her kamon in the same places as Naruto, but hers were white rings, instead of the circle.
Professor McGonagall set a worn hat on a three legged stool. Naruto started at the abrupt voice emanating from a rip near the brim. However, the longer the song went on, the more she frowned, telling Naruto that it was supposed to tell the qualities of each House, rather give warnings against the Sorting itself.
"Abercrombie, Euan," was called first, and the hat considered a moment before bellowing "GRYFFINDOR!" Gradually, the line of first years shrunk, and when "Zeller, Rose" was Sorted into Hufflepuff, that left Naruto and Sakura alone on the dais. The whispers increased, as McGonagall had never Sorted two students out of alphabetical order. The Headmaster rose and spread his arms for his usual start of term speech.
"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore, gaze falling across the newly Sorted first years and as-yet unsorted shinobi, "welcome! To our old hands, welcome back. This year I am extremely pleased to say that we are hosting two foreign exchange students, from the Imperial Institute of Mana, located in far-away Japan."
Waving to Professor McGonagall and bowing slightly, he gestured for them to be Sorted. McGonagall called "Haruno, Sakura," and placed the over sized wizard's hat up her head, she heard a voice inside her head, and was barely able to restrain the knee-jerk reflex that would have had her attempting to expel the Hat's consciousness from her mind.
"Hm... a shinobi I see. You are the first of your kind that I have ever met. Very astute I see, plenty of courage, a determination to prove yourself. And a bit of a temper too. I would say you would be perfect for Ravenclaw if not for my instructions to place you in Gryffindor."
"Instructions?"
"Oh yes. I know why you are here Haruno-san" the hat replied, revealing a surprising knowledge of Japanese language. "You are here to protect Harry Potter, and you can't do that very well if you are in a separate House. Oh well, it must be GRYFFINDOR" the hat roaring the last word.
A vigorous round of applause erupted from the red and gold decorated table, as Sakura got a seat near Hermione. McGonagall said "Uzumaki, Naruto" and his golden blond hair was hidden under the ebony hat.
"And you are the other shinobi I see, and a Jinchuuriki." At this Naruto bristled. "Nearly genius intellect I see, even if you haven't used it all. And more courage than anyone I have ever sorted, willing to sacrifice yourself for your friends without a second thought. Fierce determination. You want to prove yourself to your village almost more than anything else in the world. My, my. Even if I didn't have instructions to put you there, you are most certainly a GRYFFINDOR!" Before Naruto could ask what that last meant, the hat was yanked off his head, and directed to where he was to sit. This time a loud buzz arose with the pronouncement, everyone surprised that Gryffindor got both of the new students.
Dumbledore stood up again and said, "I know you all must be bursting with questions, but now is not the time to ask them, so tuck in!"
Naruto strode over to the Gryffindor table trying to avoid from treading on the hem of his kimono and doing a face plant in front of the entire student body. Sakura was able to hold herself with considerably more grace than he was, as Naruto could count on one hand the number of times he had been forced to dress up. Naruto paused at the bench, trying to figure out how to get over it without messing up his carefully folded and layered clothes. After a moment he shrugged and simply hopped up on the bench and slid off it into a sitting position.
"Those are really pretty clothes you two are wearing." Ginny was seated next to Harry, across from Naruto and Sakura.
"Thanks," Naruto replied, blushing a little.
Hermione was examining them closely. Sakura smiled and tilted her head. "These are called kimono." Sakura quickly gave a brief description of all the varied pieces of the formal kimono.
"Hey Sakura, hey Sakura, look they have ramen!" waving a steaming bowl of noodles in her face, nearly scalding her when the food finally appeared. Sakura helped herself to the ramen also. Setting their bowls down they clapped their hands before them and said "itadakimasu." The table had been set with many traditional Japanese foods, including ramen, various donburi, steamed rice with various toppings, nimono, stewed meat, and itamemono, stir fried vegetables. There were sets of chopsticks set by each place, as well as spoons, forks, and knives. Twenty minutes into the meal, a significant portion of the student body had given up trying to use the chopsticks, or were using them improperly, such as using them to spear their food. Harry and the rest were being shown how to hold the twin pieces of wood properly to eat with.
When the two shinobi had finished their meal, they clapped hands again and said "gochisōsama deshita." When Ginny asked what that meant, Naruto told her that it was polite to give thanks for a meal.
Ron got into an argument with the Gryffindor House ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, and most of the meal was spent in silence between Hermione and the aforementioned redhead. As the students gradually finished their meal, and the volume level rose but was cut off abruptly as Dumbledore rose to make his traditional post-feast speech.
"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg your attention for a few start of term announcements. First I am sure that you all are wondering who our guests are. Mister Uzumaki and Miss Haruno are going to be joining our fifth years this term in an effort to promote international friendship and exchange of information. Please show them your every kindness, as I am sure that they will need it. We have had two changes of staff this year. We are very pleased to welcome Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be filling the position of Care of Magical Creatures instructor this term. Also, we are delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." After a round of decidedly unenthusiastic clapping, Dumbledore was interrupted from Quidditch announcements by soft cough. Professor Umbridge had gotten to her feet, unnoticed at first, because she was not much taller standing than sitting. Abruptly he sat down, an expression that said he wanted nothing more than to hear what she had to say on his face, while the other members of staff looked extremely surprised.
"Thank you Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome. Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me," She spoke to an extremely surprised audience, who realized that they were being addressed as if they were five years old. "The Ministry of Magic has always considered the educations of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those called to the noble profession of teaching.
"Every headmaster and headmistress has brought something new to the school, and that should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. But progress for progress's sake is to be discouraged, for tried and true traditions require no improvement. A balance must be maintained between the old and the new, between tradition and innovations..."
At the end of her speech Dumbledore clapped, with the rest of the staff slowly following. Naruto and Sakura looked at one another. They had found their interference alright. Seeing that most of the students were starting to nod off, Dumbledore dismissed the students. Following the Golden Trio in the roar of benches scraping back and chatter of hundreds of mouths, Naruto and Sakura kept an eye out for Malfoy, for they were certain that they hadn't seen the last of him.
The two ninja, who had mostly adjusted to the surprise of the paintings talking to passersby, just blinked when Harry stopped in front of the painting of the Fat Lady, stepping through the narrow tunnel behind her. Harry went straight to the fifth year's dormitory, followed closely by Naruto. Harry greeted two of his dorm mates, Seamus and Dean. Unnoticed by Harry, Naruto stepped up behind him when Seamus mentioned that his mother hadn't wanted him to come back to Hogwarts. Naruto wasn't particularly large, at five foot four, but he had years of experience at being intimidating. He had a freaking demon sealed in him. If he couldn't scare a pair of teenage civilians, then he had no business being a shinobi.
Seamus quickly backed down, much to Harry's confusion. He turned around, but all he saw was a grinning Naruto. However, Seamus managed to tear down the hangings on his four poster before repairing them. Naruto carefully opened his trunk, hoping that when he had packed earlier, he had stuck all his ninja stuff down at the bottom. Removing his orange pants and cat nightcap, he climbed in bed and closed the hangings. He came out a minute later, in his sleep clothes, greatcoat rolled into a bundle to protect his ninja-to from wandering eyes.
When he stood up to go perform his evening toilet, he looked in confusion at the other four boys who were staring at him. "What?"
"Dude, you're ripped! You have a frigging eight pack man!"
"Uh, yeah, I guess so." Naruto smiled hesitantly, scratching the back of his head in a nervous tic.
"How often do you work out Naruto?" Neville asked.
"Every day, pretty much." Quickly, Naruto dashed into the bathroom and locked it behind him, escaping the impressed eyes of the other boys. Fortunately, when he reemerged from the bathroom, his dorm mates had already gone to bed.
Naruto awoke well before the sun was up the next morning, shocked awake by his shinobi alarm clock. Some enterprising soul had created a silent alarm clock for ninjas to use on missions, where a noisy alarm clock was prohibitive. This model had two rings attached by wires, where one put the rings around their fingers and when it was time, the clock would deliver slowly escalating electric charges to the person. Naruto silently slipped through his hanging and into the bathroom where he performed his morning ablutions and got dressed. When he descended the stairs to the common room, Sakura was already there, dressed in her training uniform, which was really just her ninja outfit, for both of them. Together they exited the common room, ignoring the Fat Lady's protesting squawk. Quickly, the pair made their way down to the ground floor and dashed to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Going through their warm up exercises, the two shinobi set themselves into matching Goken stances. Naruto struck first, with a straight right jab aimed at Sakura's temple. Sakura twisted a hand slightly and drew on her chakra enhanced strength, stopping the stone crushing blow cold. Before she could retaliate, Naruto drove a sweeping kick towards her short ribs, aiming to drive her back to gain some space to get some momentum. Sakura however, was not one to comply. Instead, she angled her other arm, catching the kick on her forearm and redirecting it up and over her head, causing Naruto to rotate around his still captured fist. Right as she sensed his forearm reaching the breaking point, she released him scuttling closer to drive a short punch to his solar plexus.
Naruto twisted to one side, deftly rolling up her extended arm and around her shoulder, aiming a sharp elbow blow to her left kidney. However, Sakura followed him in his twirling dodge, so instead of his elbow colliding with her flesh, he found her hand on his throat. "Getting slow Naruto," Sakura said with a grin. Naruto grinned right back. Naruto replied by grabbing her thumb and pulling back to breal the lock, flipping backwards to gain some breathing room. Charging again, Naruto lead with his fist. Years ago, Sakura would have just scowled and caught his punch again, but over the years, Naruto had become an exceedingly crafty fighter, and the person who accpted his attacks at face value was begging to be beaten mercilessly. So that is why instead of blocking or parrying his hammerfisted strike she danced away. I was a damn good thing too, because as Naruto reached the spot where she had been before, he exploded. To be sure, it was a small explosion, barely stroger than a normal dispel, but would have been enough to stun her for the critical second it would take for Naruto to incapacitate her.
"Hehe, nice dodge of my Kage Bunshin Jisatsu (Kage Bunshin Suicide) Sakura-chan"
"I thought there was no ninjutsu during taijutsu spars?"
"Well, you can't really count Kage Bunshin as ninjutsu with me Sakura-chan. It's my best technique!"
"Yeah, well, whatever." Sakura rolled her eyes. Focusing back on Naruto, she began circling him. Naruto circled the opposite way, and each waiting for the other to strike first. This time, Sakura took the initiative, ducking low and launching herself forward. Predictably, Naruto dodged her by jumping up. Sakura rotated her torso, clamping her fingers around Naruto's ankle, and used her momentum to slam him face first into the soil. Naruto bounched once before flipping to his feet, broken nose rapidly healing. Not wanting to give him the chance to recover, she curled into a ball as she was launched upwards from the reactive force of slamming Naruto into the ground. Sakura landed on fingers and toes behind Naruto as he regained his feet, only to have his ankles painfully swept out from under him.
Naruto thrust one hand to the ground, doing a one-handed cartwheel, narrowly avoiding Sakura's descending fist. A moment alter, both of them were on their feet, Sakura panting slightly harder than Naruto. Sakura knew that he had a nearly infinite well of stamina to draw from, and while her own chakra reserves weren't that bad, if she kept up like this for much longer, Naruto would win by virtue of being able to outlast her. Therefore, it was critical that she end the ficght as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Naruto was not one to oblige her wishes at the moment.
Naruto gradually sped up their sparring session, to the point where it was all Sakura could to dodge and block his attacks. He had trained with Maito Guy and Rock Lee in preparation for the ANBU trials last year, and his taijutsu speed was in the top five shinobi of his generation. He was able to maintain his level of speed for as long as he needed to, thanks to the fox housed in his soul.
They sparred for a good hour, until both were panting and pouring sweat in the cool morning air. As they made their way back to the Gryffindor Tower, they drew quite a few stares, the two of them in training garb and sweating like pigs. Each sported a couple of bruises from when they absolutely could not block an incoming blow. However, it wasn't until they passed the portrait of the Fat Lady and walked into the common room arm in arm that they really got some good looks. Hermione and Ron had cornered two taller boys, kin of Ron, Naruto thought, as all three had what seemed to be the trademark Weasley hair and freckles. Hermione paused in the middle of what looked like a mother berating her misbehaved children, and the twins took the opportunity to escape, each giving Sakura a mischievous wink.
They passed thought the common room quick enough so that they didn't have to answer any awkward questions, escaping into their respective dorms. Naruto and Sakura met back down at the Great Hall. Giving a cursory greeting to his immediate neighbors, Naruto set to his meal with a will, grabbing everything within reach and piling it onto his plate. When it was full, he then set to removing the food. Sakura grinned slightly at the unabashed stares that the fifth years were giving Naruto and a chuckle at Hermione's slightly nauseated look.
"Does he eat like this every day?" the female Gryffindor prefect asked.
"Pretty much, especially after a good work out session."
"Is that where the two of you were?" Ron asked through a mouthful of egg.
"Yeah, we were down by the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Don't worry, we didn't go in," heading off what she saw to be a lecture from Hermione.
"I was wondering what had happened to Naruto when I woke up this morning and he wasn't in his bed." Harry looked over to Naruto, who had yet to slow down in the slightest. "How long were you out there?"
"Only an hour or so. We got a late start today."
"Really?" Sakura was saved from having to answer that as Professor McGonagall came sweeping down the table handing out schedules.
Ron groaned as he realized that he had History of Magic, Potions, Divination and Defense Against the Dark Arts all in one day. However his grief was eased somewhat to know that both Naruto and Harry would be suffering with him. Sakura and Hermione shared all of the courses except for Divination, and had Arithmancy with Hermione.
The five of them made their way down to the dungeons of the castle where Snape held Potions class, probably to avoid unnecessary collateral damage in the likely event that someone's potion went critical. Naruto instantly disliked the Slytherin House Head, as he gave directions to brew the Draught of Peace in his malicious, gravelly voice.
Naruto proved to be a surpisingly good a potioneer, much to Ron and Harry's ire, while Hermione was delighted to discover that Sakura was as academically minded as she was, Hermione and Sakura being the only two students to be able to correctly brew the potion.
The group split up after that, Hermione and Sakura heading to Arithmancy, and Harry, Ron and Naruto ascending the miles of stairs to Professor Trelawney's tower. After browsing disinterestedly through the Dream Oracle searching for ominous portents in each others dreams, the five of them regrouped at the door to Professor Umbridge's class. Bemoaning about how much homework they had on the first day of school, the class entered the room quietly, as Umbridge was an unknown quantity. Harry was rather hoping that she was more like Lupin than Lockhart himself.
Unfortunately, she seemed like neither, first getting the class to respond in unison, and telling everyone to put their wands away, she tapped the black board, cursive script saying 'Defense Against the Dark Arts' and below that 'A Return to the Basics." She set the class to reading chapter one of their textbooks after telling them that they were to be following a strictly Ministry-approved course syllabus. Naruto and Sakura exchanged a look. More interference it seemed.
When everyone had set to their task Hermione patiently raised her hand, waiting to Umbridge to call on her.
"I have a query about the course aims, Professor."
"How so Miss-?"
"Hermione Granger."
"Miss Granger, they seem perfectly clear to me."
"Yes, but there is nothing about using defensive spells."
"Using defensive spells? Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You aren't expecting to be attacked in class, are you?"
"What? We aren't going to be using magic at all in class?" Naruto had stood up, pressing palms to the desk, an angry expression on his face.
"Students raise their hand to be heard in my class, Mister?"
"Uzumaki."
"Well, Mister Uzumaki, I don't know how things are done where you come from, but here, it is the teacher who makes the decisions about how the class will be run."
"But isn't the point of DADA to practice defensive magic?"
"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert Mister Uzumaki?"
"No, but I-"
"Then I have to say that you are not qualified to say what the point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is. Now sit down."
Naruto did so, sullenly. Umbridge went back and forth with various students, all the while preaching Ministry-this and Ministry-that. In fact, it was the Ministry's opinion that they should be able to pass their OWL's with nothing more than a theoretical knowledge of defensive magic.
Umbridge manage to keep her cool for the most part until Harry stood up. "And what good is theory going to do us in the real world?"
"This is not the real world Mister Potter, this is school."
"How are we supposed to be prepared for what is waiting out there?"
"I assure you Mister Potter, that there is absolutely nothing out there, despite what Albus Dumbledore would have you believe."
"Are you sure? Because Voldemort," Harry said, emphasizing the name, "seems like a pretty big something."
"Ten points from Gryffindor for cheek, Mister Potter. Let me explain. There are some who would have you believe that a certain Dark wizard has risen from the dead-"
"He wasn't dead, but he certainly is back!"
Umbridge continued as if she had not heard him. "And that is a lie."
"I'm pretty sure the person that I fought at the end of last year was Voldemort, and he looked pretty healthy to me."
"Detention, Mister Potter. Now I repeat. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is not back, and the Ministry of Magic furthermore assures you all that none of you are in any danger whatsoever from any Dark wizards. If you are still worried, by all means, come and see me after class and I will find out who is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards. I am only here to help. I am your friend. Now, please turn to page five, 'Basics for Beginners.'
However, Naruto was not done. "So you are saying that your Ministry is willing to ignore the death of Cedric Diggory, a British citizen and Hogwarts student without even a cursory investigation?"
"I don't know where you heard that Mister Diggory's death was anything but a tragic accident, Mister Uzumaki, but there was an investigation, settled to the satisfaction of the Minister of Magic."
This time, Naruto pointed to Harry. "This man says that he faced down the greatest threat to your country in the last fifty years and you dismiss his claims out of hand? If Potter says that he faced down Voldemort-" Umbridge gave a small shudder at the name, as did most of the class, "then I see no reason not to believe him. You all fear this Voldemort so badly that you shake at the mention of his name, and refuse to name him. Did you ever think that maybe this is what Voldemort wanted? His greatest nemesis defamed by the very people he is trying to defend?" Most unnerving of all, Naruto's cerulean blue irises seemed to take the faintest violet tinge, as if his anger was spilling out and coloring his eyes slightly. Sakura grabbed his arm, drawing his attention, and the red tinge in his eyes vanished as he calmed down.
Professor Umbridge's face was quite blank for a minute. Harry doubted she had been spoken to like that in a long time. After a minute or so, Professor Umbridge called to him in a deceptively sweet girlish voice, "Come here Mister Uzumaki, Mister Potter." If there was ever one person to drive Naruto from the fairer sex, Professor Umbridge and her sugary sweet voice was the one to do it. A moment later, Umbridge gave him a slip of parchment, directing him to Professor McGonagall.
Naruto and Harry ignored Peeves the Poltergeist as he mocked the Japanese man all the way to the Deputy Headmistresses office. They were admitted after a single knock. Looking up to see who it was and then checking the time, she sighed.
"I suppose it was inevitable."
"Huh?" Naruto asked.
"I was expecting Professor Umbridge to upset Mister Potter, but you seem to have caught her attention also. Let me guess. She started telling you how Voldemort was not coming back, and the Headmaster and Potter were all making it up. So you either get angry enough to try to tell her off, or to protect Harry and divert her anger to yourself."
"Well, yeah, I kinda got carried away."
"I see. In the future, please try to avoid arousing Professor Umbridge's ire any more than necessary. She has been sent here from the Ministry, and can cause all kinds of problems for you. However, whatever you said, must have struck a nerve."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because it says here that you are to serve detention with her every night for the next week. What exactly did you say exactly?"
"Um, I mentioned that Cedric Diggory's death had been dismissed out of hand, and that maybe they were doing exactly what Voldemort wanted them to do, denouncing Harry, and denying that he is back."
Smiling slightly McGonagall said "I see. Yes, I can see why that would have irritated dear Dolores." Just then the bell rang, and she dismissed Naruto and Harry with a smile and a flick of the wrist.
The Great Hall
Dinner in the Great Hall was not a pleasant experience for Harry and Naruto. News of their confrontation with Umbridge seemed to have traveled unnaturally fast, even by Hogwarts standards. Harry heard the whispers all round him, no one really seeming to mind if they were overheard. On the contrary, they seemed to be trying to egg him on, so that they could hear his story first hand.
"What I don't get," Harry growled, clutching his silverware in a white knuckled grip, "is why they believed Dumbledore two months ago."
Hermione, glaring at all the whispering students, got up and the Golden Trio plus two left, Ron gazing sadly at his half finished pie. Hermione stormed all the way to Gryffindor Tower. The three boys shared a confused glance, but Sakura just sighed and rolled her eyes, as if the source of Hermione's ire should be obvious to all. Hermione settled in one of the plush overstuffed chairs by the fireplace, petting Crookshanks when he jumped into her lap.
After sulking for a minute she exploded. "How can Dumbledore allow this to happen? How can he let that woman teach us? And in our OWL year too!"
"Well, it's not like we have ever had a great DADA teacher before, Lupin excepted. Its like Hagrid told us, nobody wants the job because it's jinxed."
"But to employ someone that won't actually let us practice magic? What is Dumbledore playing at?"
"You know Hermione; I had expected you to realize what is going on here." Sakura had crossed her arms and stared levelly at the other woman. "It's obvious that the Ministry has planted her here. Although, I don't know why, but she is definitely Fudge's creature."
However, the conversation was abruptly derailed as Hermione noticed Fred and George handing out suspicious pieces of candy. Sure enough, one by one the first years all slumped over in dead faints.
Marching over to the twins, she demanded they stop.
"Or what Hermione?" Fred asked. "Put us in detention?" he continued in an I-would-like-to-see-you-try voice.
"Make us write lines?" George said smirking.
Onlookers, especially Naruto, laughed thinking that the twins had beaten Hermione, but she drew herself up to her full height, eyes narrowing, her hair seeming to crackle with electricity.
"No, but I will write your mother."
"You wouldn't," Fred gasped, falling back a step, horrified.
"Just try me. I can't stop you from taking them yourselves, but I can put a stop to your 'research.'"
Fred and George looked thunderstruck. it was clear that as far as the twins were concerned, Hermione's threat was way below the belt.
"Thank you for your support," Hermione spat at Ron when she returned to her seat.
Ron had sunk so low in his chair that he was about to fall off. "You handled them pretty well by yourself," he mumbled.
The next day was just as leaden as the previous one, clouds threatening to rain, but still holding off. Hermione ignored Ron during breakfast, much to the secret amusement of the two foreigners. Double Charms and double Transfiguration began in much the same way, with Flitwick and McGonagall spending the first fifteen minutes lecturing about the importance of OWLS. Panicking slightly at the amount of homework assigned already in their first two classes, Harry, Ron and Naruto spent lunch in the library, feverishly working on the essay on the uses of moonstones assigned by Snape. Sakura was whispering at Hermione at the other end of the library.
However, much to the displeasure of everyone, Professor Grubbly-Plank was the one waiting for the Care of Magical Creatures class at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry, Ron and Hermione were worried about the half giant games keeper; they hadn't seen him at all. After introducing the class to bowtruckles and assigning the class to sketch them Harry raised his hand.
"Where is Professor Hagrid?"
"Never you mind," the greying witch replied, efficiently sidestepping the question.
Smirking widely, Draco leaned across the table to grab the largest bowtruckle, and muttered to Harry, "maybe the stupid great oaf's got himself badly injured."
"May you will if you don't shut up," Harry growled back.
"You going to sic your Japanese friend on me, Potter?" With that Malfoy walked away smirked over his shoulder at Harry. Naruto came over to draw Harry's bowtruckle, sporting a grin that guaranteed trouble of some sort.
"Don't worry Harry. I have a feeling that Malfoy is going to be receiving a very unwelcome surprise in the near future." Harry just looked at him with a questioning gaze, but Naruto refused to elucidate.
After Herbology, and yet another essay, Harry and Naruto hurried to the Great Hall, wanting to get some food before their mutual detention with Umbridge at five.
"What now?" Harry muttered wearily seeing a thunderous Angelina Johnson approach.
"I'll tell you what now," she snarled. "How can you have landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?"
"What? Why... Oh yeah, Keeper tryouts."
"Now he remembers," snarled Angelina. "Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team and find someone who fitted with everyone? Didn't I tell you that I'd book the Quidditch pitch specially? And now you've decided that you aren't going to be there?" By this time she had build up some momentum, face red and chest heaving.
"I didn't decide not to be there. Umbridge gave me detention for telling her Voldemort is back."
"Well, you go ask her to let you off Friday, I don't care how. Tell her that You-Know-Who is a figment of your imagination if necessary, just be there."
"You know what," Harry said turning to Ron, "I think we had better check with Puddlemere United and see if Oliver has been killed in training because she seems to be channeling his spirit."
"I agree, with you there. She does seem to be a formidable woman."
"What do you think the odds of Umbridge letting you off Friday?"
"Less than zero." Naruto was grinning.
Harry was immediately suspicious. "Why are you grinning like that Naruto?"
"Oh, it's just that I was thinking that it would be a bit roomier in the dorm after that Angelina chick has killed you." Turning to Ron he said, "What do you think he has that I could claim after his death?"
"Thanks for your vote of confidence Naruto."
"What else are friends for?" At that Harry had to agree.
"Well, with friends like you, who needs enemies?"
"I just hope that she doesn't keep us too late. We have three essays to write, practice Vanishing for McGonagall, do the bowtruckle sketch, and the dream diary."
"And it looks like its going to rain."
"What does that have to do with homework Ron?"
"Nothing" Ron said at once.
At five till five Harry and Naruto bade the others goodbye and headed up to the third floor. When Harry knocked a sugary sweet voice said "come in." Cautiously swinging the door open, the pair examined the room. Harry had known this office under four Defense Professors, but when it came to decorating, Umbridge took the cake for worst interior designer ever.
The surfaces were all draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, each on its own doily, and animated cats meowed and purred from their places on ornamental plates on the walls, each in Technicolor and various colors of bows. Tearing his eyes from the revolting sight, Umbridge greeted them.
"Good evening Mister Potter, Mister Uzumaki." She had been hard to spot at first; her luridly flowered robes were the perfect camouflage for such a room Naruto mused.
"Evening," the two delinquents responded in unison.
Directing them to sit down across the table Harry took a breath and said "Um... Professor Umbridge. May I-I ask a favor?"
Umbridge narrowed her bulging eyes.
"Well, the thing is I am on the Gryffindor Quidditch team... and I was wondering if I could reschedule Friday's detention. There are Keeper tryouts and the Captain wants us all to be there. I would be willing to serve additional detentions at a later date."
Harry's heart sank at Umbridge evil smile. "Oh no, no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking lies, Mister Potter. And punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you and your friend here," she paused slightly at the look in Naruto's eye, but quickly regained her composure, "will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day and on Friday too, and will serve your detentions as planned. I think it is rather good penance that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you nicely."
Harry's face tightened at her accusations. However, he felt a hand clamp onto his shoulder, calming him down somewhat before he could do something that he would regret later. He looked away from her and dropped his schoolbag beside the straight-backed chair and collapsed into it.
"There," Umbridge said sweetly, "we're getting better at controlling our tempers, even if we need some help," she practically sang, shooting a look to Naruto. "Now you two are going to be doing some lines. No not with your quills," she added when her prisoners bent down to open their bags. "You are going to be using a rather special one of mine," she said withdrawing two long thin quills, with an unusually sharp point. Naruto wondered what the quills would do, for he had not missed the malicious gleam shining in her eyes when she spoke of the 'special' quills.
"I want you to write 'I must not tell lies,'" she whispered to them.
"How many times?" Harry asked, with a credible imitation of politeness.
"Oh, however long it takes for the message to sink in." Waving the two off she sat down behind her desk and bent over a stack of what looked to be essays for making. Naruto was especially worried now, not having missed the venomous emphasis that the professor had placed on the last two words. Also she had neglected to provide any ink, and that made Naruto think that it would produce its own, in a no doubtfully unpleasant manner.
Before Harry could ask about the ink, Naruto touched his quill to paper and wrote: I must not tell lies. Sure enough, the 'ink' was a shining red, matching the color of the incisions carved into the back of his hand, spelling the words out. But as Naruto stared at the words carved into his hand, they healed over, and not on any part of the Kyuubi. The back of his palm was perfectly smooth, but slightly reddened.
Harry quickly discovered that his quill was enchanted in a similar fashion, his quill carving the words into his hand and using the blood for ink. Naruto had opened his mouth to question the professor about these quills, because he couldn't imagine the kindly seeming Headmaster approving of such quills used as punishment, when he thought better. If she were truly an agent of the Ministry of Magic, protesting now could cause all sorts of unwanted problems for the Headmaster, and himself and Sakura.
So he lowered his head and wrote out his lines over and over, dismissing the pain. Sasuke had impaled him with his Chidori years ago, and the pain of having the words carved into his hand was that of a mosquito bite compared to that.
Darkness fell outside the windows, but Harry refused to ask when he would be allowed to stop, nor checked his watch, vowing not to show an iota of weakness to the bitch. Finally she called the pair up to her desk.
"Hand," she said, and took theirs in her hands, examining them closely. "Tut tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet. Well, we will just have to try again tomorrow. You may go."
They left her office rapidly, without a word to her or one another. The school was quite deserted fortunately. Harry doubted he would be able to refrain from tearing into any hapless first year should he happen upon someone.
They had not had a chance to practice Vanishing Spells for Transfiguration, had not written anything in his dream diary for Divination, or finished the bowtruckle sketch for care of Magical Creatures. However, he was far too exhausted to care at the moment, and collapsed into his bed as soon as he had stripped out of his dirty clothes.
The next day was almost as unpleasant as their first. Harry and Naruto ended up skipping breakfast to fill out the dream diaries, before meeting up with Ron and heading to the North Tower. When questioned about last night's detention, Harry was strangely reticent to tell exactly what had happened with Professor Umbridge. Harry cut Naruto off when he was about to tell the truth.
The second detention was just as bad as the last one. Harry's hand became irritated more quickly now, and did not heal quite as well, leaving it puffy and inflamed. Naruto's hand, much to Umbridge's consternation, didn't seem to take well to the quill, not a mark remaining on his hand after detention. By Thursday, Harry was living in a haze of weariness. The incision created by the Crutiatus quill was barely healing at all now, still oozing blood slightly after another two hours of carving the words 'I must not tell lies' into his hand. Naruto was the same as ever though, and Umbridge was practically beside herself trying to figure out why her 'special' quill seemed to have no effect on him.
On the pair's way back to Gryffindor tower, they stumbled upon Ron, of all people hiding behind a statue of Lachlan the Lanky, clutching what appeared to be a Cleansweep Eleven. When questioned he responded, "Alright, I'm hiding from Fred and George. they just went by with a group of first years, probably going to test something on them, because they can't do it in the common room with Hermione now." Naruto's expression clearly said that wasn't the only reason why he was hiding.
"That's no the only reason you are hiding," Naruto told him.
When Ron blushed a fierce red, he knew he had struck gold. "Well if you must know, now that I have a decent broom, I thought I would try out for Keeper this year. Just laugh, I know you want to. "
"Ron that's brilliant. I haven't ever seen you fly though. Are you any good?"
"All my brothers made me play Keeper when we played back at the Burrow, so I have some experience. Fred and George are going to tease me mercilessly though when I show up for the tryouts."
"Just let them. If they do, they will have to deal with the Prank Master!"
That's great," Harry replied. Ron however frowned immediately when he saw Harry's hand in the air. "What's wrong with your hand Harry?"
"Oh, it's nothing, just a cut."
"you didn't get that in Umbridge's detention did you?"
"No, why would you say that?" But instead of responding, Ron snatched Harry's hand and examined it closer. "Harry didn't you say that Umbridge was giving you lines?"
Unfortunately for Ron, their conversation was interrupted by their arrival at the painting of the Fat Lady. Harry took the chance to escape into the dorm and feign sleep. Ron followed him up immediately.
Naruto walked over to the overstuffed armchairs by the fire, and the two girls occupying them. "I found a book that talks about that evil quill that Umbridge made you two use Naruto." Naruto had told Sakura of the detentions immediately, and as soon as he finished Sakura insisted that they tell Hermione also. Naruto didn't want to reasoning that there was a reason that Harry didn't want to tell his two friends about the detentions. Sakura wasn't to be denied however. Once she heard of the quills, she wanted to find out exactly what they were, and if they were even allowed to be used. It sounded to her that the quills probably used Dark magic. So, Sakura recruited Hermione. The pair spent a lot of time in the library, researching various magical means of punishment. It wasn't until earlier that day that they had found what they sought.
Naruto read the title of the book, 'A History of Crime and Punishment in Wizarding Britain,' and opened it to the bookmarked section. A picture of the quill occupied half the page. Under the illustration, it read: 'The Crutiatus Quill is a Dark object that was used as a mild torture. The victim is forced to hold it and write what the captor dictates. The quill does not use ink, instead using the blood of the victim, carving the words into the back of the hand at the same time. The quill will then heal the incision so that the words can be cut again. After a period of time the healing will have less and less effect, eventually causing permanent scarring.'
The book went on from there to describe how exactly it was used and how it functioned. Naruto skipped most of the rest of the article until something near the bottom caught his eye. 'Usage of the Crutiatus Quill has been outlawed in Wizarding Britain for fifty years, by Supreme Mugwump Albus Dumbledore in 1942.'
Naruto looked up at Hermione with a decidedly unpleasant grin. "Alright! This is exactly what we need. All we got to do is go to the Headmaster and tell him that Umbridge is forcing us to use Dark magic as punishment."
Unfortunately, Friday morning, Harry wasn't quite so excited.
"But maybe we can get her sacked with this," Ron told him.
"I doubt that. She is here by order of the Ministry, so I doubt that Dumbledore can get rid of her so easily. Besides, I don't want to give that woman the satisfaction of her knowing that she got to me."
Harry spent the rest of the day in anticipating detention at five. He was sustained by the thought of two things, that today was the final day of detentions, and that he might be able to see something of Ron's Quidditch tryouts from a window in Umbridge's room. They were rays of light, however feeble.
Five o'clock arrived and Naruto and Harry dragged themselves to Umbridge's door. Harry paused, took a breath and knocked on the oaken door. The two sat down and the frothy lace-bedecked table. Umbridge smiled sweetly (for her at least) and pointed to the two pieces of parchment and ebony quills. Harry shifted his chair and inch or so and he was able to obtain a distant view of the Quidditch pitch. There were three black figures at the foot of the goal, but he wasn't able to tell which one was Ron. Every few minutes Harry would flick his gaze out the window, whenever he heard Umbridge's quill scritch-scritching, or a drawer opening.
"Let's see if you have gotten the message yet, shall we, Mister Potter, Mister Uzumaki?" said Umbridge's soft voice half an hour after dark.
Harry handed her his blood-dotted paper, but as his fingers touched hers he got a peculiar sensation around his navel, and a searing pain across his curse scar.
"I think you have gotten the message, haven't you Mister Potter?" seeing the deeply etched words in his skin. She tsked when Naruto handed her his paper, frowning at his unmarked hand. "You however, have not. Well, I think I have made my point regardless. You may both leave."
When Harry uttered the password to the Gryffindor common room, pondering the feeling that had come over him at the end of his detention. When the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open, a nearly solid wall of sound washed over him. Ron ran up to greet him, sloshing butterbeer all over the goblet he was holding.
"I did it Harry! I'm the Gryffindor Keeper!" Ron pressed a bottle of Madame Rosmerta's finest butterbeer in to Harry and Ron's hands. "Wonder what happened to Hermione?"
"Over there," Naruto said. Hermione has passed out in one of the armchairs by the fire, her goblet dangerously close to spilling all over the rug. Fred and George hurriedly hushed them up, a gaggle of first years with signs of recent nosebleeds behind them. Katie Bell pulled Ron away to see if Oliver's old Keepers robes would fit him when Angelina strode up.
"Sorry I was short with you earlier in the week Potter. This isn't just a lark, managing a Quidditch team. I'm starting to think that I was a bit hard on Wood sometimes."
Throwing a concerned glance Ron's way she continued. "I'm hoping that he shows a bit more talent then he did today. both Frobisher and Hooper did a bit better, but Frobisher is a whiner, and Hooper is involved with a lot of clubs. Still, with all the Quidditch players in his family, I think he should be okay."
Somewhere in Angelina's speech, Naruto had disappeared, to be chatting Fred and George up, it seemed. Sighing, terrified to think what the Prank Master and the spiritual successors of the Marauders would come up with, Harry collapsed into a chair near Hermione. She jerked up with a yawn. Judging by the pile of misshapen yarn, she had been up making hats for the elves again. He was intrigued to note that not all of them seemed to be made by the same person.
"Those are mine," Sakura said, popping out from behind Harry's chair.
Harry started, nearly falling out of his chair. "Geez, Sakura, you scared me out of ten years of my life! Don't do that please."
"Do what?" she asked, grinning innocently. "Anyways, Hermione got me to help her make some hats for SPEW."
Harry ignored Hermione's protests at the acronym. "How do you know how to knit?"
"Oh, you know, it's a girly thing that my mom wanted me to learn," she lied. Back in Konoha, female ninjas were taught many of what were considered feminine arts, such as flower arranging, fashion, sewing, knitting and the like. Kunoichi were also taught which flowers were poisonous, but pretty, and how to hide a poisoned senbon in a knitted shawl or blanket.
Harry quickly related what had happened at the end of detention to the two females. Sakura suggested that she was being possessed like Quirrell had been in the first year, knowing from both the detailed military dossier on the event, and from getting the trio to expound on their myriad adventures in prior years.
"I don't think she is being possessed. One, Voldemort has his own body now, and two, you can see her whole head. It isn't wrapped up in a turban like Quirrell's was."
"Perhaps she is under the Imperius curse," Hermione suggested. "On the other hand, it could have nothing to do with her. Remember Dumbledore said that sometimes your pain was linked to Voldemort's emotions?"
"She's evil," Harry replied, "Twisted. There is no way she is normal, not with making Naruto and me use those damned Crutiatus Quills in detention."
"Well, either way, I think you should tell Dumbledore."
"No, Dumbledore doesn't need to know every time my scar twinges."
"I think he would want to be bothered by this Harry, especially given when and where it hurt."
"Well, that's the thing now, isn't it, Sakura? That's all he really cares about: when my scar hurts."
"That isn't fair, Harry."
"Alright then. Tell Ron, I'm going to bed."
"Oh, no you don't. If you're going that means I can go without being rude also. I'm terribly exhausted, even with Sakura helping, and I want to make some more hats tomorrow. Listen," she said brightening up, "you can help if you want. It's actually quite fun. I'm getting pretty good now, with Sakura's help."
Harry paused halfway up the stairs, trying to look the least bit interested. "Err... no thanks... I got a lot of homework to do tomorrow."
And he traipsed off to the boys dorm, leaving Hermione slight crestfallen, and Sakura grinning for some reason...
A/N: Well, that's all folks! Please read and review, reviews are nectar and ambrosia to me!
Japanese clothes:
Haori: a hip- or thigh-length kimono jacket which adds formality.
Haori-himo: a tasseled, woven string fastener for the haori. The most formal color is white.
Obi: a sash worn with kimono by both men and women.
Datejime: a thin, sash worn around the obi. This is usually now only used in more formal situations.
Tabi: ankle-high, divided-toe socks usually worn with zōri or geta.
Zōri: cloth, leather or grass-woven sandals. Zōri may be highly decorated with intricate stitching or with no decoration. They are worn by both men and women. Grass woven zōri with white straps, called hanao, are the most formal for men. They are similar in design to flip-flops.