AN: Well, well, well, I finally updated! Yay! Sorry it took so long.
I would like to say thank you to Vendelareader and bokpricken for being such awesome friends, to Morte Cacciatore for continued support, to my cousin Karolina, to Falcon-Rider for stating such an excellent argument and giving me the pleasure of proving you wrong, and last but certainly not least to SeaDevil. The most awesome beta anyone could wish for and therefore, as queen of this humble land, I dub thee, Ser SeaDevil; master of semicolons, spelling and grammar. I am forever in your debt.
Also, I'm going to start writing another story. A Harry Potter/Darren Shan crossover and I am in desperate need of a beta. If anyone's interested you can pm me about it.
Disclaimer: Nope, it isn't mine.
Chapter two
Guardians.
It was the same place, the high ceiling, the ankle high water and the cracked concrete walls. Everything was the same, the same endless silence, the same dull darkness and the same feeling of dread and hopelessness. It was the innermost place of his mind, the foundation of his being and the worst place he had ever experienced. Though he did not feel as awful coming to this place now, he had been here far too many times. The knot in his stomach did not appear as it used to do, his heart no longer raced as he realized where he was; this time, he felt nothing. He sunk to his knees, paying the water no mind, as it did not matter. He knew where this hallway went, what was waiting for him at the end of it. He would not face it this time, he decided. He would stay here, where the monsters of his mind could not reach him. He would not go around the corner; he knew what waited for him there and he did not want it. He would be safe if he stayed.
A sound rang through the hallway behind him. He could not hear what it was, but it shocked him nonetheless. He had never gone that way; he had never dared. If one chamber held such horrid things, what would the next one hold? He rose to his feet, taking careful steps toward the origin of the sound, wading through the water. He stopped as he got closer to the corner, suddenly struck with uncertainty. He took a breath to calm his nerves, closed his eyes and rounded the corner with one giant step.
Cool air engulfed his body and bird song filled his ears. His eyes snapped open and he leaped to the next branch, crouching as he landed before leaping onwards to the next branch. He wasn't moving quickly enough. He pumped his chakra to his legs, gave out a great roar of frustration and moved with twice the speed through the next leap. He had to get there in time. His legs cried out in pain; he could not keep this pace for long.
His body whirled forward as he crashed on the desert sand. The sun heated surface burned into his skin and he flew to his feet with a cry of pain. He was in the Suna desert. Why was he in the Suna desert? He wasn't supposed to be in the Suna desert. Why the fuck was he in the Suna desert?
His head spun with confusion. He wasn't supposed to be here. It was the wrong direction. Tears welled up in his eyes; he wouldn't make it in time now. He would be too late. Panic rose in his chest, he had to go back. He spun around and darted back towards the forests of the fire country, but the sand muffled the speed of his rampaged sprint, slowing him down to the point where he did not seem to move at all. He made a hopeless attempt to pull his leg away from the sand that was crawling up his thigh, but it simply shot from the ground and swallowed his body hole in response, dragging him down into the ground. He helplessly hit at the sand surrounding him, his heart beating heavily in his ears and panic high in his chest.
He looked around. They were supposed to be here. He turned, jumping up on the high stone pillar to get a better view. There they were. He could have recognized that pink hair from a mile away. He leaped from the pillar dashing to their position. Maybe he wasn't too late after all.
He pushed his chakra to his feet, running across the water, but the sight that met his eyes made him stop a few meters away.
He was too late.
Sakura stood there, on the water, with a kunai thrust into her neck. Blood exploded from the wound, painting the water she stood on red. She choked, blood spitting out from her mouth, her eyes wide with fear. Her hands reached up to what may have been her final attempt to save herself. The chakra left her feet, but Naruto caught her before she could fall into the water. He fell to his knees under her weight; he had little strength left. He tried helplessly to brush the hair from her face, which was now all covered in her blood, so that he could see her eyes. They were wide, filled with disbelief and pain. His tears fell down onto her face.
"Sakura," he tried in despair. "Don't do this to me. Don't leave me." Her blood was on his hands, his lap, his chest, even his face. He cupped her cheek, turning her gaze to his eyes. The tears ran like rivers from his eyes; she was dead. "No," he whispered. "No, no, no, no." He hugged her dead body tightly to his chest. "You can't," he tried to growl through his tears. "You mustn't. I won't let you." He full out sobbed, rocking back and forward, crushing the body in his hug.
She gripped his throat, squeezing it with such strength he could feel his windpipe breaking. She rose to her knees, her empty eyes burning with the flames of anger. With the kunai still in her throat she dragged him underneath the surface. She bared her teeth in a furious growl, crushing his throat with her hands. "You let him kill me." Her hair was floating around her head like a burning pink halo.
Naruto opened his eyes to the warm sunlight of the morning, with bird song outside his window. He blinked. A dream. The usual feeling of self loathing came upon him and his eyes began to water. In vain he tried to blink the tears away before they started to fall, but it did not take long for the lump in his throat to become unbearable. He heaved himself up on his elbows and took a deep breath, trying to ignore the wave of nausea sweeping over him. The world suddenly seemed too bright. The bird song suddenly became too joyful, the air seemed too clean and the sky was too blue.
He sat up in his bed and placed his head in his hands. His bare body was covered in sweat, but Naruto didn't feel warm. He was cold on the inside. He took another quivering breath, begging the tears not to come, but he could feel himself losing the fight.
A hand ran up his back and strong arms pulled him into a warm embrace. Long chocolate brown hair draped over his head and a light kiss was placed on the top of his head.
"The same dream again." Neji said, more a statement than a question. All Naruto had to do was nod into Neji's chest. All of a sudden happiness made its way into Naruto's mind and he let out a weak laugh.
"You see right through me, don't you?" He couldn't help but smile. He wiped away the tears that had escaped the corners of his eyes. He let out another laugh. But the smile soon fell from his face.
"It wasn't exactly the same this time, you know." Neji lightened his embrace to look him in the eye. Naruto snorted to distract his mind from tears. It didn't work. He frowned. "This time she tried to kill me." The words came out with unexpected ease. The pain of the memory was fading. He now felt more shocked than hurt by the act. He raised his gaze to meet Neji's, all the sadness the dream had caused him forgotten. He gave him a warm smile.
Neji gave him a small smile in return and leaned in to steal a kiss. Something made him stop halfway, his eyes darted to the window and his muscles tensed, but just as soon, he relaxed. The smile returned to his lips. "Someone's calling you." he muttered before giving him a peck on his forehead.
Just outside his window, sitting on a branch of a nearby tree, a small bird sat. It jumped over to the window, tapping its beak lightly on the glass. Naruto hunched his shoulders and groaned. She was doing this on purpose.
A grin crept its way across Tsunade's face as they waited. He should come in any moment now and Tsunade couldn't help but feel a little happy; it was quite early in the morning. Her gaze drifted to the man at the other side of her table. Albus, he had told her to call him, saying that it was what he preferred to be called.
His dress seemed to be made of some fine material, she noted absently. It sure didn't look like it had been cheap. Her grin became one millimeter wider. He would pay generously for this, she was sure. She could already picture all the new buildings that money would buy.
Albus, too, seemed absorbed in deep thoughts when a knock on the door was heard. Shizune poked her head in through the door, hoping she wasn't disturbing.
"Cat's here." And in through the door came said person, clad in the traditional ANBU uniform and with a snarling cat mask covering his face. He strode up to her desk and bowed deeply to her.
"Tsunade-sama," said the calm, monotone voice from behind his mask.
"Albus," she said. "This is the captain of the ANBU, Cat." Albus studied him curiously, focusing on the painted lines of his mask. "Cat, this is Albus Dumbledore." Cat bowed politely to him and Albus inclined his head in return. The captain studied the old man quietly, catching a worrying gleam in his eyes, but the gleam disappeared before he could figure out why it was there in the first place.
"He has come to us with a mission request." Tsunade informed him. "He needs to have a certain person protected."
Protection mission, ordinary mission, yes, but not if the ANBU captain was the one given it. A very important person, indeed, Cat thought. This was going to burn a hole in the old man's pocket. He threw a quick glance in said man's direction. There was something off about him; Cat just couldn't put a finger on what it was.
"This would be an eight month mission," She continued. "With thrice the normal pay."
Cat raised his eyebrows behind his mask and looked at the man. A very big hole.
"Located on the outside." Cat's head snapped away from the man before he could stop himself. He stared at her in shock; no one had left the continent in over ten years. The hokage met his gaze calmly; she wasn't kidding. He turned toward the man again, the outsider, again. No wonder he seemed off.
"We haven't gone over the details yet, as we were waiting for you." Now Cat almost felt ashamed he hadn't made it there faster, but he remained steady in his posture and gaze, not letting it affect his exterior. Albus chuckled.
"My school is indeed located on the outside." he smiled. "In a land called Scotland."
The name cut strongly against the language, different tone, different melody, and a different sound. Cat tried to mimic it in his head.
"A student of mine, Harry Potter," Again, the stark contrast of sounds made him frown, "is in great danger. A very powerful wizard," Wizard? "whom we have long thought to be dead, has risen, putting very many people in jeopardy." He paused. "Voldemort, as he is called, aims to kill Harry, as he is the only chance we have to defeat him." He paused again, seemingly puzzled by his own words. "Voldemort," he started again, "uses a form of magic" Magic? "that taints the very soul. He must not succeed in killing Harry." His eyes darkened as he stared into the air.
"The wizards and witches on the outside," he seemed quite absent-minded as he said this, "don't believe that he indeed has returned, leaving me in a very awkward position. Because of that, me hiring your ninja, may be frowned upon. Though it is a chance I will have to take." He looked up at Tsunade, and he smiled once again.
"How large is your school?" Tsunade asked. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, looking as though the thought had never crossed his mind. He frowned and looked blankly at her.
"It is hard to say." Tsunade raised an eyebrow. She leaned forward and placed her elbows on the table. Her face relaxed and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again she was expecting an answer. Dumbledore smiled. "My school is very large, but I could not tell you how large, for I do not know myself. There are tunnels, passageways and even chambers I haven't seen." Tsunade sighed. His gaze turned to Cat and he frowned. "What I am requesting is that you guard young Mr Potter while you make it appear as if you are guarding the whole school. I mean no disrespect, but are you sure Cat-san will be able to do so by himself?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow to Dumbledore and then turned to look up at Cat. Many of his ANBU were off on missions and only a few of them would be returning any time soon. He resisted the urge to frown. Turtle would have been his first choice considering how little he knew about the effect chakra had on wizards, but he was away on a hit mission and wouldn't be back for at least another four weeks. Swan's medical knowledge and interrogation skills would come in handy on a protection mission, but he knew that Dog was planning on proposing to Swan the very next week. Bull lacked the amount of concentration the mission required and Rat would be hospitalized for another month.
He could always bring Owl. His thoughts faded and warmth spread through his body. No, he could not bring him. He went through his mental list of all the ANBU's again, but his mind only wandered back to Owl. He was the best choice; Cat realized at the end. Damn it. He could monitor large areas with his byakugan and his fighting skills were impeccable. He stopped in his thoughts; did the gentle fist work on these wizards? Too bad Hinata wasn't an ANBU. Another thought dawned in his mind.
"Is Stag still in Konoha?" he asked Tsunade. The ANBU's superior intellect was an asset on every mission and his negotiation skills exceeded Cat's own by far. The feeling went numb when Tsunade shook her head.
"He left for Suna yesterday morning for a meeting with the kazekage." Cat wanted nothing more than to groan in frustration, but he remained his calm stature. Was there anyone else he could bring? He went through his mental list of his ANBU agents once more. Damn it.
"Owl" his monotone voice rang through the office. Tsunade seemed surprised at his decision, but she roared for her assistant to come in nonetheless.
Shizune poked her head in through the door and Tsunade told her to send for Owl. "I want him here now," she emphasized in her stern voice.
"Hai!" Shizune answered as she cringed slightly from the hokage's voice.
Owl came through the door three minutes later. His chocolate hair bound in his usual tail, a few strands hanging loose. He had hurried there. Cat was amused. It was not often one could see this man so untidy; with his hair messily bound and his mask crooked on his face. He walked up to the hokage's desk and bowed.
"Tsunade-sama" Said a familiar, calm, monotone voice through the mask.
"Albus, this is Owl" Tsunade said quickly as she motioned with her hand at him. "Owl, this is Albus Dumbledore." Owl bowed and Dumbledore tilted his head towards him just as he had done to Cat.
"Ah," Dumbledore said as if he had just remembered something. "I forgot to mention, there is a language issue. You see, we don't speak Japanese." Tsunade leaned back in her chair and frowned. "There is a spell I could cast on you-"
"No." Tsunade stated. "I will make this perfectly clear. No spells will be deliberately cast on my shinobi. Are we clear?" Dumbledore blinked in surprise, but seemed to take no offense in the statement, "As you wish."
"We will learn." Cat said. They had no idea what effect magic had on chakra and they weren't too keen to become the test subjects just yet. Dumbledore got up from his chair.
"Well then." He walked towards the door. "I shall meet you at the main gate in thirty minutes." Tsunade stared at him. "You mean to leave today?"
Dumbledore turned to her. "Oh, yes. I can assure you hokage-san, it was not easy to get here." He had a spark in his eye. "I could not make this trip too many times. And do be quick about it; I have a hearing to get to."
"That's enough!" Molly Weasley spoke from the shadows with her arms crossed, looking furious. Harry had not noticed her return from taking Ginny upstairs.
"I want you in bed, now." she said and looked around the room. "All of you." Sirius shook his head disappointed, but made no notion to stop her.
"You can't boss us-" Fred began.
"Watch me." she snarled and he shrank slightly. She turned to Sirius, trembling with anger. "You've given Harry plenty of information, any more and you just might induct him into the Order straightaway."
Sirius sighed. "I will tell you one more thing, though, something they would have found out when they got to Hogwarts anyway." he said to Mrs Weasley in a loud voice as she began to protest. She glared at him and he glared right back before continuing. "Dumbledore is trying to hire guards for you and the school." Harry gaped at him.
"What, like aurors?" Ron asked.
Sirius shook his head. "No, nothing like aurors. Foreign guards." They all frowned at him.
"Why would Dumbledore hire guards from another country?" Hermione asked. "That doesn't make sense." The others nodded in agreement.
"He hired guards for me?" Harry shrieked. Sirius ignored him.
"They're strong." he continued. "That's what Dumbledore told me, at least. He left as soon as he heard of the attack. Said he'd be back in time for the hearing."
"Well, did he say anything else about them?" said Hermione. "Anything at all?"
They all looked at Sirius with anticipation as he grinned.
"He said that he hoped they didn't kill him first."
AN: Weeeeell? Good? Bad? Horrible?
Please review! And please inform me of any spelling and/or grammar errors and feel free to ask me if anything's unclear.
I'll be in Austria the following week, so don't take it personal if I don't respond.
