KOBAYASHI MARU
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter – I only own the characters' quirks and the story as such.
Shout Out: Gawd, you guys… I don't believe it, we are already at the 200th drabble! I know, this is a mega-fast update, but you just inspired me, what with your reviews and quirky comments. Thank you, again, you are great! Well, enough of my babbling. Onwards on the reading…And another tip, check the fic Madao on the , if you want to find out the meanings of this particular word. It just called for some Naruto/Jiraiya interaction /evil chuckles/
Warning: Slash: Danzo/Harry, Shisui/Itachi, some Kakashi bashing, (like in canon) and some Sakura bashing. Added: Zabuza/Iruka. Kakashi is still single. And again, this is not strictly chronologically correct, so I apologize in advance.
181) Grasshopper
Harry stared at the petulant blond mock-patronizingly. »Now, now, you are still young grasshopper, so this was to be expected,« He teased Naruto, whose mouth fell wide open. »So… » the blonde began dangerously. »You… Expected that? « Harry shrugged nonchalantly. »Of course I did. After all, you are greener than young grass, and I expect you will be so for a long, long time. «
Naruto seethed, as he threw his cards on the table, much to the amusement of the crowd. »I Quit, « He announced. »You are nigh insufferable bastard at poker, you know that?«
Harry smirked as he hogged a small hill of pocky sticks to himself, completely oblivious to Itachi's longing stares at the mentioned pocky-hill.
»I had a good teacher, « He mentioned, an amused smirk hovering on his lips.
182) Lightweight
Iruka was pissed. The fucking mummified idiot was in his way, and he did not seem to be willing to move soon. In addition, he was fed up with playing nice.
Therefore,, he simply slugged the grinning idiot in the stomach –
»Ouff!« Zabuza exhaled painfully, as his body dropped on the floor like sack of potatoes.
Despite his appearance and status, Iruka was no lightweight.
Chocolate brown eyes looked at the stunned ex-Mist shinobi icily. »I recommend you to take classes on the etiquette, « The scarred man snarled out heatedly. »Where you came from, your behavior may have been excusable, but you are in Konoha now, and You. Will. Behave. Like. Konoha. Citizen. Am I understood?«
Stunned, black eyes widened with astonishment, as Zabuza nodded meekly. Iruka calmly picked up his scrolls. »Then excuse me, I have things to do and people to see. « He straightened out and strode away, as if nothing was wrong.
Zabuza was quiet. Too quiet. Anko eyed him, concerned. »Hey, bastard. You alright?« She asked him, stifling her smirk.«
The ex-Mist swordsman nodded, dazed. »I think I'm in love.« He breathed out dreamily.
Anko face vaulted.
183) Hickey
Naruto stared at Sasuke's…. hickey. The Uchiha Heir soon grew restless under his eyes. »What? « Sasuke grumbled out, turning away from clearly besotted… and hysterical Sakura.
Naruto was silent. »You know, » he began quietly, " If you wanted a hickey that bad, you could've just told me.«
Sasuke gaped, as the blonde Kitsune blushed ten shades of red.
Sakura growled, incensed. »Sasuke-kun would never like anything from you! « She said hotly, her pink-glossed lips scrunching into something that intended to resemble pout, but fell out like a grimace.
Sasuke didn't listen to her. »Sakura, shut up,« He commended her absentmindedly, as his eyes watched now fidgeting Naruto attentively.
Naruto gulped, as he saw Sasuke smirk slowly. »So give me one,« Sasuke licked his lips saucily.
THUMP.
Sakura fainted.
184) Preliminaries
Harry stifled a laugh when Naruto tricked Kiba with some Kage Bunshins and well-placed localized stink bomb. Fondly, he remembered a duo of certain twins that would have adored the blonde menace for his pranking genius.
185) Faithless
»So he would attend too… Interesting,« A slithering voice hissed out, as the sickly yellow eyes glinted in the dim light. »Ku ku ku ku…« A shadow flinched slightly as the sick chuckle of the Otokage crescended into a crazed laughter.
A small, almost invisible crystal dropped on the floor.
'Forgive me… Harry-san…' The shadow thought desperately.
But the wheels of time were already in gear, and nothing could stop them.
186) Lovestruck
Iruka twitched. No matter where he went, a tall, bandaged shadow followed him. Into the academy. To the teacher cabinet. To Sarutobi. When he went to buy groceries. When he lazed away at Ichiraku's. When he talked with Harry-san.
The worst thing was, the love struck fool was not attempting to be even remotely discreet about it – but boldly followed him like some demented version of a lovesick puppy in a human's body.
Kicking Zabuza's ass was out of the question… because man came back every time, and Iruka seriously began to regret that Konoha's code forbid killing its' own ninjas if they annoyed you to the point of homicide.
187) Separated
Naruto stared at Kakashi, hurt blue eyes watched the reassuring smile of the one-eyed idiot.
Sasuke was outwardly emotionless, but dark eyes were pained and apologetic.
»Don't bother. « Naruto interrupted Kakashi's apology. »I will find my teacher, but you fucking better teach him fair and square.« Saying that, Naruto turned around and strode away, disregarding Sasuke's feeble calls.
It felt, as if a small part of his heart crumbled into nothing… Again.
189) Pervert
Naruto stared. The Great Toad Sage, Jiraiya… was a foolish old man, who was perving on Midori-nii?
Wait…. Rewind.
Jiraiya was perving on Midori-nii?
Naruto's blood boiled.
Nobody perved on his Midori-nii and got away with that!
Deeply inhaling, he prepared himself.
»MIDORI-NII, ERO-MADAO IS PEEPING ON YOU AGAIN!« He roared out, a vicious smirk on his lips.
A chorus of enraged roars echoed from the whole onsen.
It seemed that there were a couple of ANBU that were less than pleased with Jiraiya choice of target… and intended to introduce the fool to the world, called pain.
190) Sick
It was sick. Just… Sick.
Neji's brutal takedown of his own cousin, the gentle Hyuuga Heiress Hinata, just because Hinata refused to incapacitate him via the caged bird seal, was abominable.
Neji could bear Naruto's icy stare, but the green eyes that watched him from the stands made him shiver with terror.
It felt as if he had just pissed one person he really shouldn't have…
191) Table
Harry smirked vindictively, as the table rotated to the numbers 1 and 2. It seemed that Naruto will be able to take an ample revenge for their gentle flower.
And so what if he manipulated the fucking thing into showing the correct numbers?
He didn't support the 'Greater Good' theory, but he won't stand for injustice happening in front of his eyes.
192) Mockery
Shinobi watched the duel between the two kunoichi incredulously. It didn't deserve a name of catfight, and that was pretty low.
Sparkly pink and white against one yaoi-obsessed chick who could get into pink kunoichi's head….
Creepy.
And heck, yeah, even Orochimaru agreed with that assessment.
Some things just shouldn't be allowed to be seen… and that was one of them.
193) Trust
Harry sighed, as he rubbed his temple. He didn't have any choice but to trust Danzo to make the best plan available.
He didn't like it, but Danzo was good strategist and knew their opponents better than Harry had.
Danzo watched Harry's weary face, holding his breath. This was… crucial.
»All right,« Harry said slowly. »I'll trust you.«
Green eyes looked into dark ones, and Danzo couldn't help but feel a burst of pride and gratitude blooming in his chest, as he strode across the room and enveloped his lover in a tight embrace.
»You won't regret it, Harry,« He promised his green-eyed lover fervently. »I'll prove it to you.«
Harry's lips managed to quirk into a small, tired smile before they were claimed into a heated kiss.
194) Promise
»Promise you'll give hope a fighting chance…«
Itachi hummed to himself, as he cleaned his weapons, his dark eyes thoughtful.
He knew what was coming, but he couldn't bring himself to be sour, emotionless shell of a fighting machine he had been before.
His talks with Harry helped. In fact, Harry was his hero. Itachi knew that the slender man pretending to be a civilian, was more than capable warrior and a formidable opponent on the battlefield. And yet, Harry didn't crumble, like Itachi had, but preserved, although Harry told him he himself was very nearly burned out with exhaustion and war when he came to Konoha.
And yet, he still hoped.
And that, in turn, gave Itachi himself a courage to hope.
195) Dream
Gaara twitched as he dreamed. Yes, dreamed. He was dreaming of his first encounter with Harry-nii…
A small red-haired child was watching the scared villagers blankly. He had learned not to trust them, as trusting meant he would be hurt.
But then, in the evening, when the moon was full, a man approached him.
He was one of visiting Konoha-nins, and yet, he was different. His accents, his clothes, were different.
The man was clothed in black, scaly robe and light beige cloak that was fluttering in the wind.
Green eyes looked into the jade ones, and in them, there was no fear, no disgust, even when the sand surged forward to crush the stranger into a bloody pulp.
The sand was parting, as the man strode to him, making Gaara paralyzed with fear and anxiety and pain –
And then, there was no more pain, no more voices, and to his astonishment, Gaara found himself ensconced in the warm embrace, against the scaly-looking robe, with the man humming a strange lullaby that eased him into a restful sleep.
196) Souvenir
Harry smiled as he gave the boy his scarf. It was white, and shimmering in the light breeze like a spun spider net in which were caught all the stars of sky.
»Here, « he murmured gently, as the child's eyes became big.
»Take it… something, to remember me by…«
Dark eyes looked into calm green ones.
»Will I ever see you again? « The child asked, his voice choked with tears.
Harry smiled. »The ways of life are strange enough – and I can't see why not.« He murmured.
A hand caressed the gauzy cloth softly, before it was folded back and into a small pouch that hung around the slender neck.
»I will find you again, « the stranger swore, as he looked at the stars.
197) Rumor
"Gekkou Hayate was dead."
Harry stopped cold as he heard the gossips.
It was only a rumor, but the green-eyed man knew better than underestimate them – because all rumors carried within a grain of truth.
Lips pressing together tightly, he swept past the yammering masses, straight to the ROOT headquarters.
It has begun.
Mourning would have to wait.
198) Preparations
The preparations were executed in the greatest secret possible. It was a shame that they couldn't involve Genins and Academy teachers, but both ANBU sections were recalled from their respective assignments quickly and discreetly, every available personnel.
The ROOT undergrounds were teeming with shinobi and kunoichi that were preparing to war. Danzo didn't like sharing his grounds too much, but with Harry assuring him that after the whole war would be over with, ROOT headquarters would be secured again, he relented.
ANBU members were surprised with their ROOT counterpart's behavior. If they thought that ROOT was still a platoon of emotionless drones, they were sorely mistaken.
They lived, talked, argued, just like any of them.
There were some near-misses on Itachi's and Shisui's parts, as some of ANBU were Uchihas, but luckily, they managed to avert the attention – and Itachi thanked the gods silently that Harry managed to bonk the need for having Sharingan activated at all times, out of his skull.
That didn't meant Harry was any less paranoid than Itachi – but at least he was less obvious about it.
199) Shadows
Shadows were his life, Harry supposed. All of his life – or most of it – Harry spent in shadows, hiding in them, before he was rudely dragged out and exposed to media as their would-be savior.
Shadows, Danzo mused, were his greatest supporters, most faithful allies and worst enemies. He was called the Darkness of Shinobi, and he earned his title with blood, sweat and tears.
Shadows gave him Harry, and took his humanity.
Shadows were Harry's cloak of safety as he crept through the darkness, a silent vigilante, his sword and knives quietly crying for blood of his enemies.
Shadows were silent, vengeful, grateful, oppressing and couldn't stand light, even if it was light that made them.
Shadows were what made Danzo so terrifying, before Harry came into his life. Shadows carried secrets, protected secrets and killed the traitors who thought they could get away with their foolish shenanigans.
They could walk in the light of the day, but their true home would always be shadows.
200)D-Day
It was there. The second round of the tournament.
Harry smiled gently at Danzo, who was sitting beside Hokage. Dark eyes smiled at him for a brief moment, before Danzo turned his head as to answer at some or another question the Fire Lord asked.
Dark eyes, behind the veil and white hat with sign for Sand flashed with anticipation.
His prey was there.
The Old Fool was here.
Danzo could be easily dispatched of, of that he had no doubts.
Thin, snakelike lips curled into a cruel smirk.
Let the games begin….
/To Be Continued/