Choice of the heart

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter characters; I only own the plot. So, no stealin'!

Well, the story is rollin' on, but as I don't know when I would upload again, here's the first chapter. Hope you enjoy!

01 – The first meeting

Hogwarts grounds, England

The winter was harsh and sudden, covering the grounds of Hogwarts rather suddenly with the sparkly white snow. It was so cold, almost all of people that lived inside the castle, decided to stay here, rather than going out in the freezing cold. The castle was buzzing with activities, laughter, shrieks and music, making it almost impossible to believe there was also war outside.

However, the one man knew that all too intimately -too much for his tastes. And this man – nay, youth, was once again prowling around the lake, his thoughts whirling around the possibilities and what-ifs.

Harry Potter was not any ordinary youth. While other children had to take care of their homework, or they agonised over their latest crush, Harry had more grim matters to attend to. The youth was clothed in thick black robe, with soft woollen gold – and red scarf wrapped snugly around his neck. In his right hand, he held his faithful holly wand, just in case.

Yes, Harry Potter was a wizard, and famous one at that. And one that was, at the tender age of fifteen already burdened with knowledge of prophecy that could either save or damn his world.

But just now, he wasn't saviour… he was one more person that was insane enough to get out in the cold winter night, just so he would get a brain freeze upon his return to the warmth of castle. He was clad in thick black cloak, along with standard red and golden scarf snugly fitted around his neck. Currently he was standing at the shore of Hogwarts' lake, looking onto the enchanted land of whiteness, so fragile and yet, so dangerous.

The snow was shimmering under the cool moon's rays, making the landscape all the more beautiful… and scary. The smattering of stars on the dark, velvet sky twinkled with their feeble light, like some kind of exotic jewels.

Sighing, Harry watched the gust of air almost immediately forming a thin mist. Each and every inhale was almost painful in its intensity. This winter was scarily cold, and not many residents dared to go out, even with the warming charms at its' fullest. However, Harry was an odd one out of the crowd, and right now, he needed time from his overbearing friends and well-wishing schoolmates. What did they know about war, anyway?

True, they did prepare themselves as best as they could, but when faced with the real possibility of kill or be killed… they were still innocent. Even Ron and Hermione, who had the most experience with the kind of trouble Harry had been getting into through the years did not understand the enormity of the situation. The prophecy was the last straw.

Harry had been royally pissed at the headmaster. Dumbledore's reasons were all crock of bullshit to him. Childhood? Ha? Pray tell, what childhood was that, when he had been forced to work for his relatives since he was five years old? Was childhood that he was being graciously gifted with cupboard under the stairs for room?

Oh no, he didn't. And this night, Harry introduced the old manipulative goat to two possibilities. One: Get him trained for the war, so he would be adequately prepared and no hiding information pertaining to him anymore… Or two, Harry would break his wand right then and there, and vanish from the Wizarding world forever, leaving them at mercy of the Dark Lord they created with their ignorance.

Cornered, Dumbledore made a magical Oath to heed Harry's requests and to help him prepare for the last confrontation. Of course, the Ministry was lazy as usual, Fudge had successfully swept the scandal under the carpet, and it was as if nothing had happened, as if Sirius had not died…

Harry still felt a lump of old grief in his throat when he thought about his unlucky godfather. However, that was the past, and he was here and now.

The summer after the shenanigans in Department of Mysteries, he had stayed in Hogwarts, learning and training in the Room of Requirement. Of course, he had been required to attend the reading of Sirius' will, where he met Weasleys and Hermione, along with Nymphadora Tonks – the latter insisting he be calling her Tonks- and let's not forget his friends' nagging about his absence on the train and oh my god where have you been, and how could you, and a couple of other things. They had nagged him so much, Harry finally had enough. And so, he grabbed both of them by the proverbial scruff on the neck, and dragged them to the headmaster.

There, he proceeded to swear them not to blab out anything they would hear there, in any way, shape and form to anyone or anything, and then, he dropped the proverbial bomb.

The prophecy. Blasted thing that destroyed his life of being ordinary and normal, and glued the Dark Moldyshorts on his butt.

Hermione had wailed about the unfairness of the situation, and Ron… was being typical Ron. Swinging from disbelief to jealously to pity, and back to jealously. Harry had had enough; and he Obliviated him. And here he was, having to deal with a jealous prat, who was harping at his nerves.

Fuck, he didn't have time for the petty git, or his sister. Ginny had been looking at him like he was the best thing since the pleasure charms – not that he knew any, mind you – and that alone gave Harry heebie – jeebies. She was literally throwing herself at him, or trying to make him jealous with Dean Thomas or one of the Creevy brothers. One more reason for him to freeze his butt out there instead to be in the warm common room, being attacked by her amorous advances. No siree, not him.

His ears perked at the sound of crunching the snow under hoofs.

"Harry Potter!" a harsh voice shouted to him. Harry turned around. Whatever it was to spook Bane enough to get him here, must have been serious. "Come quickly!"

Nodding, Harry jumped on the Centaur's back. "What is it?" He asked, inwardly tensing. "Two-legs, again…. But I don't think they are of your sort…" Bane thoughtfully trailed off. Green eyes blinked, surprised. "Bane, what do you mean with that?" He asked, sharper that he intended. "Are they danger?" He watched as the massive centaur shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know. They just… appeared on our meeting glade. There was a flash, and when it disappeared, they were there."

Harry's eyes narrowed in thought. "And they don't understand you, you say?" he watched Bane shook his head. "No. but they definitely aren't magic – folk, what with their strange clothes. The eldest especially is creepy." He shuddered.

Okay, that was becoming seriously ridiculous, or ridiculously serious. "How many of them are there? And their weapons?" asked Harry, resisting urge to massage his temples. He just knew he would be having a massive headache after the whole affair will be over.

"Strange…. The boy has long, thin, curved sword -"Harry stiffened - "and the other four are defenceless…. Except for the strange knives, they all carry with them. The eldest can throw them too, and very accurately." Could it be - ?

When Harry was young, he was fascinated with the stories from the East, particularly ones from Japan. He read about samurais and their codex, but he was most interested in the people of shadows…. Ninjas.

Merciless, silent and efficient killers, with awe-inspiring speed, power and reflexes that seemed to be out of the human realm of possibilities. Loyal only to their clients and themselves, the lone wolves among the hordes of warriors of some forgotten time. It was speculated they vanished along with last true samurais, but if what Bane said was true, then….

"How old are they?" he asked thoughtfully. "You say they are only boys…" "The eldest has seen thirteen summers at most, and the four young ones are from five to six summers. And they obviously hail from the warmer climate, seeing as they don't have appropriate clothes." "Good Lord!" Harry exclaimed, shocked. "And you tell me that now!? They aren't like your foals, they can't stand such cold! Let's hurry, then!"

Bane grunted, but sped up anyway. Harry felt the air became tighter, and he knew they had to be quick – the blizzard was coming, and he, for one, didn't wish to be trapped inside the vicious snowstorm, if he could help it. Five minutes of a wild ride, and then they were there. Bane stopped. "I'll let you down there." His voice was gruff. "They aren't used to our people, and we don't want to interfere in two-legs' matters, anyway."

Harry nodded, and slid from the warm back. "Thank you, Bane. May the stars guide you tonight." The gruff Centaur nodded a curt nod. "And may they shine upon you. Good night, Harry Potter." Then, he was off.

Harry was now alone. The biting chill spurred him in action. "They were incredibly lucky they didn't fell among Acromantulas," he mumbled to himself, shivering at the memory of bloodthirsty and hungry giant spiders. "That, or incredibly stupid."

Soon, he looked at the glade in question. And lo and behold, there were five boys -four huddling together, shivering in the cold, and the tallest ones was standing in front of them, as if protecting them. The boy was clad in netted sleeveless shirt, and black pants with no shoes on – correction, none of the boy had any kind of shoes on. They all were shivering miserably, the oldest not as much, but Harry saw how taxing was for the young one to keep up the façade. The black – haired one was hiding behind his brother, curling into himself, while trying to look brave. The red-haired one was cocooned in some kind of a sand shell, while the brown-haired one and blond snuggled together as to conserve the little bit of warmth they still had in their bodies. Harry inhaled sharply at the sight they offered. Their skin was faintly blue, but not too much, which indicated they weren't' too long out of there.

Red eyes stared into his. And the eldest barked out something, his voice shivering slightly with cold. Harry blinked. 'Of course, they are foreigners!' He could've hit himself on the head at the thought. Slowly, he rose up his hand, with wand. 'No sudden moves, no sudden moves', he chanted to himself. Then, he closed his eyes, and concentrated. "Linguo Morpheno!''

Itachi watched, warily, as the man in front of him pointed the wand at himself and said something strange. Then, a strange glow that surrounded him. Itachi could see the man's silhouette a little bit better. And unceremoniously gawped.

It was a boy. Wait, not a boy… a young man. Dressed into heavy black cloak with red and gold woollen sash around his neck, with messy black hair and thin rectangular lenses on his face. Idly, Itachi wondered about the meaning of that lush – looking sash.

He didn't seem dangerous. More like scholar, what with his glasses on his face.

"Do you understand me now?" His musings were interrupted with that smooth voice. "W – What?" Itachi stammered. Wide eyes stared into bespectacled ones.

Harry sighed. "Okay, so it works, then," he muttered to himself. "I cast upon myself a translating charm, so I could understand what you speak," he explained briefly. Wide eyes looked at him. Sighing, he conjured the four blankets and poncho with sash and levitated them to the boys. "Here, you are freezing. Wrap the kids in, and the poncho is for you."

"What kind of jutsu was that?" Itachi asked in awe. The stranger blinked. "Jutsu?" He sighed. "Conjuring and levitation. However, I doubt you would know them. I am Potter Harry, by the way. "That just confused Itachi even more. Nevertheless, he threw the blankets to kids, while he grabbed that strange… poncho to slip on. Meanwhile, he pondered what he could trust this… Harrii with. The man didn't seem to have any untoward intentions to them, and Sharingan cleared any doubts about the man lying to him. "Where are we?"

Harry eyed them to struggle with blankets. "May I help?" Surprised red eyes stared at him. Receiving an affirmative grunt, he strode to the shivering blond. With a faint surprise, he noted the strange whisker birthmarks on the slender cheeks. The boy hung his head, as if expecting to be scolded or hit. Harry frowned. "I won't harm you, chibi." Gentle hands wrapped the orange blanket snugly around the shivering body, before they mussed the spiky locks. "There. Was that so hard?" Wide blue eyes looked into his.

"N – No! But, why did you help me?" The innocent voice asked. Harry gaped. "Why shouldn't I?"

Itachi noted the man was truly baffled. If they were still in Konoha, the man would most likely scorn the little ball of sunshine for his tenant's crimes against the villagers. That just worsened his headache. "Um… "The blonde blushed. Harry smiled. "So there. What's your name, chibi? "The blonde grinned. "I am Naruto! And I will be Hokage, believe it!" he loudly exclaimed. Itachi winced at the loud proclamation. They were in a virtually unknown territory, where they didn't know whether they were surrounded with enemies, and the blonde baka of a gaki loudly announces the position to the whole forest! He was interrupted from his sour thoughts with warm laugh. "Pleased to meet you, chibi. And of course you will be Hokage." Naruto beamed as he got another affectionate ruffle of hair. Itachi sighed.

Harry looked at the eldest. He was snugly wrapped into poncho, with an added scarf wounding around his hips, still holding kunai in his hand. "Don't worry. There are not many things outside now that could harm you. You were lucky, though. If you were transported to Acromantulas or Thestrals…" he trailed off. "Thestrals?" Itachi asked curiously despite his cautions. He saw the man nod. "Thestrals are like horses, only with wings and invisible to anyone who hadn't seen death. Oh, and they like to eat meat. They are good for transport, though." Itachi's eyes widened. Where in the world they landed in? "And Acromantulas?" "Spiders, big than a small house. Carnivorous, too, and very quick. Attack quietly and swiftly. You were lucky you didn't land in their lair. And some other nasty surprises. Suffice to say, the Forest isn't called Forbidden without reason." At those ominous words, Itachi shivered. They were having the worst luck in history of the bad luck, didn't they?

Meanwhile, Harry turned to the redhead. His eyes wandered to the sand. It was the boy's automated defence, as strange as it seemed to be. "Hey," he greeted the silent redhead quietly. The boy stared at him. Harry stared back. "I want to wrap you into the blanket. Will you allow me?" A tense silence stretched between the two of them. Finally, the redhead nodded. Gentle hands took the ivory coloured blanket, and a moment later, the redheaded boy was warmly ensconced into the cocoon of warmth. Even his mother was strangely quiet. "Can you…. Can you make a jug?" he asked shyly.

Black brow lifted at the question. "For your sand, right?" The man then took his black piece of wood, and conjured beautiful creamy jug in front of Gaara's awed eyes.

Harry smiled at the redheaded boy's awe. "Thank you. " The boy offered shyly. Harry smiled. "It was no problem." He turned to tend to the white – eyed boy. "Gaara." Came the small voice behind his back. Harry nodded. "No problem, Gaara."

Neji eyed the stranger warily. He could easily close the man's tenketsus if need be, but if Itachi-san trusted him…. He would trust him too. Hesitantly nodding, he was wrapped in the cocoon of warmth and safety a minute later. "I'm Neji." The man nodded at him. "Pleased to meet you. Now," he looked at the starless sky, "we need to hurry, if we want to come to the castle before the snowstorm hits."

Itachi's eyes widened. "How do you know that?" Harry eyed him. "Augury's call. Those birds call only before the storm hits. And judging to their calls..." he listened intently "… we have approximately half an hour at the most."

"Then we will have to go right away," Itachi decided, his voice grim. "Is it far?" Harry shrugged. "It depends. However, we could make it fairly quickly. Now, are you able to carry the two of them?" Itachi hesitated, finally nodding. "Then I will take Gaara and the chibi here, and you will carry Neji and your brother." Immediately, Itachi stiffened. Harry eyed him, exhaling a put-upon sigh. "Oh, relax. You two have similar facial structure; it was either you two were cousins, half-brothers or brothers. I went for the latter. Now, shall we go?"

Itachi faintly flushed, before nodding. "And what about the riders? Can't they carry us out?" Harry stared blankly." Riders…? Oh! You mean Centaurs! Those are men and women with human's upper body and horses' lower one. No, because they don't want to mix with the two-legs' troubles," he explained sardonically. "They are some kind of scholars, what with their stargazing. They are able to predict future - or better, the outline of future; whether it will be safe or if there will be dangers and so on. Divination is extremely imprecise form of knowledge, and true Prophecies are even rarer. But don't underestimate them; they know the Forest like no one else around, and they are quite skilful archers. "

Casting the Lightening charm, Harry and Itachi then picked up each a pair of boys and began trudging through the lightly falling snow.

Naruto snuggled deeper into Harri's embrace. It was the fourth time someone was caring towards him, and he wanted to cling to that feeling for as long as it would last, savouring it till the last drop. He was drowsy from the warmth, and systematic crunching of snow under Itachi's and Harri's feet didn't make the matters better. His eyes began to close… just a little."

It was as if they were walking forever, Itachi mused. Despite of Harri casting a warming charm on his legs, he felt them becoming numb slowly. Sasuke nuzzled into his embrace, while Neji clung to his neck determinedly. Whatever the man did to lighten them, Itachi was thankful for it. Despite of his strength, he wasn't sure he would manage to carry both of boys at their full weight. Now, however, they only weighed as much as Forbidden scroll together. He blinked as he saw their guide navigating through seemingly the same trees. 'It would be quite of a useful skill, knowing how to do that,' he mused to himself silently.

Harry sighed with relief as he saw the welcoming lights of the castle. "Just a little more," he encouraged quietly. He heard sharp inhale from Itachi. "Yes, we are heading there." "Sugoi…" breathed Gaara. Naruto's blue eyes were wide as saucers, same with Sasuke and Neji.

Harry smiled at their awe. He fondly reminisced of his first time, when he saw the majestic building. "This is Hogwarts, our school. Here, we learn magic or jutsus." His eyes darkened at the afterthought. "Each and everyone here has a wand, like I do, and they can - and will - use it. You will be under my protection anyway, but beware of Slytherins; the ones with green and silver scarves. Their sign is silver snake on green background." Itachi blinked. "Why?" The man looked at him, and he saw his eyes. They were green.

"We have… different opinions on the blood purity. In short, they will persecute you, as you are not Pureblood. "Itachi was feeling light-headed. "Pureblood? But I am an Uchiha!" he yelped out. Harry groaned at his look of confusion. "Oh, I didn't explain it good enough. Well, let's see…"

After the short explanation, Itachi's eyes were narrowed in thought. It seemed, wherever they landed, they found themselves in the middle of trouble. Harri seemed kind enough to tell him what he needed to know, but those … Slytherins… were a worrying thought. If they were like Harri described them, then Itachi had a good reason to worry. If he was alone, there wouldn't be any reason to worry, but he had to see over Sasuke and the other three, thus, he was being hampered in his movements. In addition, literally camping in the middle of the enemy's territory was never a good idea.

Finally, they were in the castle. Itachi blinked, incredulous. Candles…? Candles lighted the entire castle? "Don't you have electricity here?" he murmured to Harry. Harry sighed. "Yes, well…. The wizards are backwards like that. Besides, magic interferes with electricity, and so we are pressed to use what we have." Itachi nodded thoughtfully.

"Mr Potter!" A sharp voice called to Harry. The boys tensed, while Harry turned to the voice. The elderly woman, garbed in tartan gown, was hurrying towards them, a disapproving frown on her face. "Where in the world were you! We almost send out a searching party and – Good heavens! Who are they?" her voice was frantic.

Harry eyed her calmly. "They, as you so kindly put in, are the reason why I am late. I was standing at the Lake, when Bane came for me, talking about strangers in the Forbidden Forest. By the way, could you use Translation charm on them? And could we go to Madam Pomfrey, before they completely freeze?" "But – but – "McGonagall was stammering. "Are you sure they aren't-?" "Danger?" Harry finished her sentence.

Itachi saw the woman nod tensely. She wasn't warrior, but she still had an edge around her that told him not to mess with her.