Chapter 8: Beneath
"Preparing for our first lesson?"
Iruka leaned backwards to see Genma smiling from behind him and waved. The brunet man re-adjusted himself, turning the chair around to face the Tokubetsu. The files and papers laid upon the desk categorized for each year marked specifically with their house, strengths and abilities. He had managed to charm his way through Madam Pince's defences in order to get his hands on them. Being an instructor at the Academy Iruka was required to prepare lessons for each year and student, however, he had the advantage due to knowing the students and having been with them for long periods of time. Which lead to the difficulty of these student; he didn't know any of them with the exception of Harry. Placing them on teams of three wasn't entirely difficult. He had personally built the teams during the summer whenever he got a chance, of course, after going through the records from the library and the staff lounge.
Still, double-checking was his friend.
"Just going through everything," Iruka answered, smiled weakly at the older man.
Genma chuckled. "If you needed help, you could have asked."
"Didn't want to bore you guys with it," The Chuunin stated and shrugged. "It seems that our first lesson will be with the seventh years," already young adults with no training. It wasn't too late for them to learn Chakra since they were young, however he would wait to see. He wouldn't risk the lives of civilians.
"What house-"
"All of them." Iruka cut in coldly. His face was stoic. "I refuse to allow this... idiotic house system to be in this classroom."
Genma nodded solmenly. "What do you have planned?"
"Mixing them with students of different houses-"
"Skipping the written and practical tests?"
Iruka snorted. "I never said that."
"I'm just teasing, 'ruka-chan," Genma teased happily walking past the man and slide on the table. His demeanor changed seriously. "So what are we going to be doing about the munchkins and Mi-I mean, Yondaime-sama?"
Iruka ignored the boiling jealousy inside of him and sighed deeply. "I've thought about it. They can't stay, you know it and so do I. They've completely their mission to deliver us Yakumo and Yuushi, allowing them to stay any longer could be dangerous and borderline insubordination. However, with the state that Naruto is in, he'll need time to heal before we can send him back. And if we send the rest of his team bar him that will raise unnecessary questions."
"I agree, waiting for Naruto to make a full recovery would be ideal. Strange, though," The Tokubetsu began frowned. "Why isn't Kyuubi doing anything? From the intel I managed to gather, Naruto's accelerated healing should have sped up the recovery."
"The damage done to him must have been even worse than we knew for him to still be weak. The wards surrounding the school must have interacted with the seal, which explains Yondaime-sama's appearance," Iruka mused eyes glazing over. "Seals are complicated and not so easily understood. Which is why there are very few seal masters in the world and why they are in high regard, having a seal master apart of a village is a tremendous feat. Especially after the destruction of Uzushirogakure," Pushing back the urge to flinch. His parents had been refugees from Usuzhirogakure, not that anyone knew of it. His family had joined Konoha sometime after the great devastation of their home, at least that's what he was always told. He was far too young to remember.
It was widely believed by the people that those of Ushirogakure had red hair. It wasn't entirely wrong, but it wasn't entirely true either. The more prominent and most respected clan members of the Uzumaki clan had red hair, with relatives had different shades of hair color. Iruka gained his brunet hair and tanned skin from his father's side of the family.
Unfortunately, Danzou and the rest of the Village Elders refused to believe him to be an Uzumaki by blood and denied any and all attempts of him getting custody over Naruto. Iruka knew that his lack of proof hadn`t been entirely true, they far too deep into their insecurities to allow Naruto to grow in strength and power fearing that he may one day turn against Konoha in vengeance. Not that Iruka could blame the kid, since Naruto was poorly mistreated by villager and Shinobi alike; ignoring him, higher prices, throwing him out of buildings, and insulting him on a daily basis.
He had suspicious that the treatment had gone far deeper than what he had seen and what Naruto had told him. His job at the Academy and at the mission desk made it nearly impossible for him to investiage on his own time, instead it allowed him to observe and keep on eye on him instead. It wasn`t the best alternative, but it could have been worse.
Iruka rubbed his temples. "The only thing I can think of doing is just make sure that Naruto is alright, checking on him whenever we get the chance."
"And Yondaime-sama?" Genma asked, leering at him curiously.
"What about him?" the man sounded a bit lost.
"Iruka, you don't have to hide it from me. You're jealous that he's Naruto's biological father and he's taking attention away from you, and you're pissed off that he placed Kyuubi in his own child," The older Shinobi began in a lecturing tone and gave him a knowing look. "Hell, I'm a bit jealous of him. I'm afraid that Raidou will...that he'll..." trailing off and gritted his teeth angrily.
"That he'll steal Raidou away from you," Iruka continued.
The Tokubestu Jounin sighed. "I'm pathetic aren't I?"
"No..." Shaking his head and gave the man a sincere look. "I know what you're going through, Genma. There's no shame in what you're feeling."
"I figured you would," Genma stated not unkindly.
Iruka wasn't fazed. "I'm here for you, Genma. If you ever need to talk."
"I know," the man nodded gratefully. "Well, I'd better go and find Izumo and Kotetsu. Hopefully they gather some interesting info, later!" Removing himself off of the desk, and waved lazily disappearing in view leaving the Chuunin alone in the room.
Iruka remained silently as the door.
"...Why do I have a feeling I'm going to regret letting them go undercover?"
Minato was quite amused.
"G-g-ghost!" Naruto was clinging onto Minato fearfully staring at the bored looking woman, as he pointed at her shaking unable to tear his gaze away from the ghost. "D-Dad! T-There's a ghost!"
The older man chuckled. "I can see her fine, Naruto."
"WHY IS THERE A GHOST HERE?" Naruto screamed loudly, pulling closer into Minato's chest and keeping his frightened eyes on the person.
The female ghost was obviously from an important family, judging by her physical appearance as she was gowned with a beautiful dress that brimmed elegantly with silver dangling along with bronze. The dress as a whole was light blue, feeling more of a background color rather than the main. Either way, she was very beautiful, with her long hair towards her waist and there proud stance she had while gazing at them with a calm expression. However, her eyes expressed boredom and annoyance.
She was the loner type and hated attention being drawn to her by any of the castles living denziens.
"This is a school for magics. A place where those with the ability come and gather in order to learn to control their powers," The ghost answered calmly, looking strict and professional. It made Minato wonder if she had been a teacher in the past. "The spirits which reside here do so to help future generations and guide them to the right direction. We also aid the staff and the headmaster when there are problems to deal with," she blinked slowly. "How strange is it that you are here," the ghost nodded towards Minato.
The former Hokage raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
"Yes. You feel similar to the rest of us, yet solid and human." She added calmly, a gleam of curiosity flashed within her faded eyes. Turning her back towards the two, the woman began to float away before pausing, sparing them a glance. "I will continue to watch you, men of the wind."
Minato chuckled as the ghost vanished through a wall. Hogwarts was starting to become more interesting with each passing moment.
"Men of the wind?" His son frowned perplexed by the sentence. "What did she mean by that?"
"She's probably referring to our Chakra natures or my family name" Minato informed his son, ruffling Naruto's hair fondly. His hand stopped as he saw the confused and weird look from his son, prompting him to pull away and stare back. "You do know what I'm talking about, don't you Naruto?"
His son shook his head. "No, I don't. Should I?"
"That should have been one of the first things you learned as a genin. After chakra control, of course." Minato began feeling irritation beginning to grow. "Can you tell me what you know so far?"
Naruto flushed. "Well I know the Taijutsu we did this morning, Shadow Clones, Replacement, and the Transformation technique. Oh! And the Tree Walking exercise!"
"That's it?" Minato questioned incredulously.
"W...well..." Naruto looked uncomfortable, struggling to meet with his dad's gaze. "Yeah... We just completed our first C-Rank mission to Wave before I was sent here. And, Kakashi-sensei just shows up three hours late and has us do a mission before calling it a day, and then dismisses us so we don't have a lot of time to learn stuff."
Minato's lips pressed together. "And training?"
"He takes Sasuke for training, and sends Sakura and I off to do other things," Naruto shrugged. "like paper work, and then dismisses us for again."
The former Kage gritted his teeth together. "Hasn't he taught you anything?"
"Just tree walking," Naruto answered. "When I told him of the mission here, he just nodded and left with Sasuke. I don't know what he said to Sakura though." Not that Kakashi-sensei really talked much to him and Sakura anyway, focusing on the bastard instead of the three of them together.
Oddly enough, it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would have. Probably because Naruto never felt that Team 7 was an actual team at all, just three kids that were forced to deal with one another and an incompetent teacher as an added bonus. The three of them could barely stand one another's presence, missions were the only time when they buckled down and allowed themselves to work together. And that was due to having a common goal. Other than that any other time they were together, it was a complete and utter disaster waiting to happen. Sakura was too busy trying to gain Sasuke's attention, causing her IQ to drop a thousand points and taking out her frustrations out on him, Sasuke was a stick in the mud and sneered at them at every turn or ignored him depending on his day, and him well...
Naruto was fully aware that he wasn't exactly... socially the best person in the world. He was trying to be as nice as possible. There were times where his anger did get the best of him usually around Sasuke, causing him to get reprimanded painfully by Sakura and Kakashi-ensei. While the bastard could seemingly do no wrong.
He was used to it though. No one other than the Hokage, Konohamaru, Iruka-sensei and his few friends from the academy seemed to actually give a damn about him. Well... until now, glancing up at his father, looking rather scary and murmuring incoherent things under his breath.
Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, his father and the man who had cursed him all in one.
When he had woken up in the infirmary and came face to face with the Yondaime, to say that he was shocked was an understatement. His hero and the one responsible for sealing the damned fox inside of him had been sitting beside him, gazing fondly and calling him son.
Naruto had desperately wanted to scream at him. To yell at him and tell him the hell he had been forced to endure because of him. But he didn't. He had no energy. The only thing he could do was cry and cry, endless streams of tears as Minato held him tightly, gently rubbing his back and whispering reassuring words into his ear. Neither of them wanted to let go of the other.
It wasn't the best start to a relationship, but, it was a beginning he hadn't had before and good or bad he'd take it. And that was enough for him right now.
"Naruto, I'm going to make several scrolls for you." Minato's voice interrupted his thoughts, pulling him back to reality. His father wore a passive look and a bright smile. "And I'll get you started on a proper training routine before you leave for Konoha, I don't want to leave you unprepared and vulnerable."
Naruto flushed with happiness. "T-Thanks Dad," it felt strange having someone else be concerned about him so openly.
"You don't have to thank me, son." Minato stopped and turned around, kneeling as he did so before placing his hands upon his shoulders. The bright smile softened into a look of fatherly affection and his eyes gleamed warmly. "I'm your father, Naruto. I would do anything and everything in order to keep you safe. I've already lost Kushina, I'm not going to risk losing you as well."
"D...Dad..." Naruto's voice trailed off.
Minato got up from the ground and ruffled his hair again, grinning widely. "How about we go to the kitchen and get some food?" Rubbing his hands together, and licked his lips. "It's been far too long since I've had ramen. I've been craving it!"
"You like ramen?" Naruto asked surprised.
Minato grinned. "It's my favorite food! I use to eat it all the time when I was younger!"
"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning ear to ear.
"I remember your mother getting annoyed whenever I left ramen packets all over the house," Minato mused cheerfully recalling days when Kushina would visit his office, bringing the empty ramen packets with her just to throw them at him. Sometimes he did it on purpose in order to have her come into his office, just to so he could see her earlier on in the day.
"I bet she loved that!" Naruto said, chuckling.
Minato snorted. "Not really no, you're mother was as a ramen fanatic as we are."
"What was Mom like?"
Minato glanced at Naruto, seeing the large blue eyes glimmering curiously. "Well, Kushina was a one of a kind woman, Naruto. She was proud, loud and strong. She gained the nickname Habanero, because of her red hair and short temper." He chuckled. "She beat up all of the boys that made fun of her."
"Mom was made fun of?" Naruto asked.
"Only because she wanted to be the first female Hokage," Minato said, frowning. His eyes glanced back at Naruto. "Gender doesn't matter in this world, Naruto. No matter who tells you other wise. I hope you understand that."
Naruto blinked. "I don't really get it, but alright."
"Some people believe that women are inferior to men," Minato elaborated. "Which is why your mother had was targeted for bullies, then again, children are always cruel."
"...Yeah..."
Minato decided not to comment on the tone his son used. He was fully aware of what exactly happened to Naruto, needless to say he was less than impressed with Sarutobi, Kakashi, Jiraiya and Konoha as a whole. He had gambled on his belief for the village, that his son would be hailed as a hero and protect from his enemies. Only his second wish managed to be up held and honor, and the first wish was ignored. He and Kushina had witnessed all of this deep within the seal, the pain and loneliness their son had experienced over the years; friendless and never knowing love.
It angered him that Kakashi and Jiraiya never paid Naruto a visit. And when Kakashi was assigned to be his son's jounin instructor, his and Kushina's anger increased full force upon the dismissive attitude he was presenting towards their son, and how snobbish he acted.
When Minato was alive, he had wondered if Kakashi had become arrogant upon receiving the Sharingan from Obito. Seeing how ruthlessly Kakashi had trained afterwards, he dismissed the idea and left the boy alone. He didn't rule out the idea of his death pushing Kakashi over the edge and refusing to acknowledge Naruto, then again, from what he had seen in the seal and what Naruto told him, Kakashi was spending far too much time with the unstable Uchiha boy; Sasuke.
He had never gotten to know Sasuke, only ever having Obito as his team member and meeting Itachi due to Mikoto being his former teammate. Beyond those three, Minato held nothing but distrust towards the other members of the Uchiha clan. They were never to be trusted. The Uchiha clan was far too warped and twisted to simply be left alone, it made things worse with Fugaku's hatred towards Kushina and himself; taking the Hokage spot from another Uchiha candidate. Minato wasn't stupid; he knew that an Uchiha would never become Hokage or have any major power over Konoha bar the Military Police force with good reason. The clan was always too power hungry and self-interested like Uchiha Madara before them.
It didn't help that the Uchiha, once again bar the three, seemed to hold a strange obsession with him and his family. Stalking and following him around like lost puppies. At first it was amusing before it became creepier as the obsession grew, members of the clan acting out violently towards him.
Crazy bastards.
"Dad the kitchens!" Naruto cheered. Shaking his mind free from his thought, Minato looked up as the father and son approached the painting the kitchens were hidden behind.
Minato chuckled at the enthusiasm. "I can see that," he replied happily as they entered the room and revealed strange creatures bustling around. Each of them had dark green skin, pointy ears and large eyes. They wore only a small article of clothing that concealed their upper and lower bodies. "What in the world?"
"Hello sirs," A small dangly thing made it's way up to them. "How may Dobby help you?"
"What are you?" Naruto asked abruptly.
Minato sent him a look. "Naruto. That was rude." He chided him gently, before returning his attention on the small creature. "Though, I am curious as well. I've never seen your kind before."
"I, sirs, am a house-elf. House-elves work in the kitchen and clean the castles," Dobby explained to them, not surprised by their lack of knowledge. "Would sirs care for a snack?"
"Do you know how to make ramen?" Minato asked politely.
Dobby blinked slowly. "What is ramen?"
The two frozen in unison staring in absolute horror, neither of them moved for what seemed like an eternity.
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT RAMEN IS!"
Harry proceeded to walk absently down the halls of the castle. He ignored the stares and murmurs that spilleded from the mouths of the student body, blending himself into the swarms of the crowd just so he would be able to avoid Ron and Hermione. He was not in the greatest of moods and their constant arguing wouldn't do anything for it; his mind and emotions felt like a whirlwind. Unsure and uncertain of what to do, he needed space to think and pull himself together.
Remus Lupin, the same Professor that had been called to Hogwarts during the summer had been a friend of his parents. And yet, he had not said nor approached Harry during his training over the weeks they spent in the same place, and in fact did everything in his power to avoid him for long periods of time. Harry did not feel any emotional attachment to the man or the need to seek him out, however, he was also the only one that knew his parents. He wondered if he blamed Harry for the death of his friends or if it was because he waiting for him to make the first move. Harry wasn't sure. And frankly, he found it rather hard to give a rat's ass about it.
In fact, Harry found it difficult to care at all really. What obligation did he have to seek the man out and vice versa?
He was starting to over think the situation. Thankfully, he had a free period before lunch, and if luck was still on his side perhaps Hayate-sensei was around. Harry really needed to let off some steam.
"Now if I was Hayate-sensei, where exactly would I be?" Harry thought to himself. "Hiding from Madam Pomfery definitely, and Professor Sprout as well." The two women had decided that Hayate-sensei wasn't bothering to take care of himself and started attempting to smother him with as much motherly affection as possible. Or, in Madam Pomfery's case, trap him in the infirmary until he was fully healed.
His sensei had become so frightened that whenever someone even mentioned the infirmary, his head would snap around the room looking for any and all exits. He wasn't even bothering to be subtle about it anymore.
"Harry-kun!" Harry stopped and turned to see Yakumo and Yuushi, both them smiling as they made their way over. "How was your class?"
"Alright, McGonagall said the same speech she does every year," Harry answered, shrugging. "Other than that, nothing much happened."
"I remember those days!" Yuushi chuckled, grinning as he folded his arms behind him. "I usually fell asleep whenever one of the academy teachers sprouted their welcoming speeches, it was annoying as hell. Ah, well could be worse, right kid?"
"Not a kid," Harry murmured.
Yuushi continued to grin, only for it to fade. "Are you certain that you want to continue doing this?"
"Yuushi?" Yakumo looked at the older teen.
Harry blinked in confusion.
"You're not happy." Yuushi clarified seriously. "I can tell it, Yakumo can tell it. We all can. Don't bother trying to hide it, you're obviously not happy here."
It was painfully obvious that Hogwarts was the very last place that Harry wanted to be. He had watched Harry on the sidelines as he talked with the ginger and the bushy haired girl, there was only discomfort and annoyance from what he had seen in their interaction, and the way the students talked about him must be annoying. Like vultures looking for their next meal.
Yakumo jabbed him in the stomach harshly, giving him a look. "Yuushi! Too blunt!"
"Ow!" Yuushi rubbed his stomach, glaring at her. "You jab really hard!"
"You deserve it," The redhead retorted with a sigh.
"I can hear you two. Just so you know," Harry piped up, bemused.
Yakumo and Yuushi quickly exchanged a sheepish look.
"I don't know how I feel about being here," He continued truthfully. "But at the moment, I do feel a need to spar. You up for it?"
Yuushi's expression changed, becoming cocky. "Now you're speaking my language. Out in the field?"
"We're to remain inconspicuous, remember?" Yakumo spoke up. "Somewhere secure and that no one can see us."
"There's the room of requirement," Harry suggested.
The older teen shook his head. "No can do, Raidou is using it. He's been in there for a while, now that I think about it."
"He's probably just training is all, since he doesn't have much to do." Harry stated. "Iruka-sensei is teaching first, then next is Genma-sensei. I think Anko-sensei and Hayate-sensei are going to be doing a joint class together."
The three shuddered, as a cold chill ran up their spines. Just hearing their name in the same sentence was enough to make them fearful. Despite being a gentle and calm man, when Hayate was teaching he became as sadistic as Anko, especially when they paired together.
"I almost feel sorry for those brats," Yuushi choked out, still shivering.
Yakumo squeaked. "W-well hopefully they won't be too hard on the students..."
"Doubtful," Harry told her.
"Back on topic," Yuushi cut in before Yakumo could retort. "Where can we go to train? I'm itching for a spar."
Harry's mind raced. "Well, the only place that I can think of that would be big enough is..." His voice trailed off, looking grim.
"Yes?" Yuushi prompted.
"The Chamber of Secrets," Harry answered, arms folded on his chest.
Going back inside of the chamber was one of the very last things that he wanted to do, even if the area proved to be secure and hidden from the eyes of the public. Harry wasn't entirely sure of the stability of the caverns underneath the school and taking in consideration their strengths and the damage that could be inflicted could result in much more inner damage than Harry was comfortable with. Obviously, if the damage was felt and traced back to them Dumbledore would make an attempt to force them to pay for the damage, and if they were unable, try to convince them to exchange for Harry. It wasn't below the old man's style, and he had no intention of returning to be his lapdog or to the Dursleys.
The trust that Harry once had in Dumbledore had been broken upon the man's consistent badgering and ploys to return him to the "proper wizarding ways" as he had so eloquently put it. The old man had the nerve to use that condescending grandfatherly gaze, trying to guilt trip him back onto his side. Thankfully, after being taught by Anko and the others he was able to read and counter Dumbledore's words with his own, leaving the man confused and helpless as he walked away.
Confronting the old man head on would be suicidal; his lack of training and power would have left him beaten within seconds. Knowledge was power, and Dumbledore was very knowledgeable. Despite not having interacted with Shinobi, the man most likely was prepared for combat if it ever came to it.
It hadn't taken Harry very long to see how lowly the Shinobi thought of normal wizards and how wizards considered the Shinobi. That was a fair observation; wizards were very much like civilians with chakra; they used it for fancy tricks but couldn't do much more than that. Both sides underestimated the other side, he had been the exception for the people from Konoha. They had seen something in him that Harry never considered. They... they had given him a choice. A purpose, one of his own free will while the magical community of Britian had not. His loyalty had shifted completely, the history he had been told about the Elemental Countries hadn't bothered him and the low life expectancy of a Shinobi hadn't either.
His thoughts turned to Anko-sensei's old teacher; Orochimaru. The traitorous snake sannin, a legendary figure turned rogue after losing out on the position of Hokage and experimenting on young children in order to gain their abilities and attempt to extend his life. The parallels frightened Harry and irritated him as well. Was there one snake-like bastard for every continent or something; was it a rule in the grand scheme of the universe? Honestly, it felt like one huge galactic joke.
However, the threat of the snake sannin was very real and dangerous. Especially since he had vanished off the face of the planet several years ago, it hadn't helped that Voldemort himself had also dropped out of sight after his first year. The probability of them teaming up and working alongside each other was unlikely; unfortunately life had taught Harry to expect the unexpected. From what he learned from Anko Orochimaru was a very intelligent and manipulative man, willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goals viewing others as mere pawns to be sacrificed without remorse or regret. Voldemort was the same, only his narrow-minded nature and quick temper was easily played against him. If the other ever learned of each other the temptation of the other's ability could be disastrous.
That was the last thing the world needed. Two immortal snake psychopaths running around freely, his skin crawled in disgust.
"Harry? Hello," Yuushi's voice snapped him back to reality. The taller boy waved his hand in front of his eyes. "You there? Earth to Harry, you alive?"
Harry shook his head. "Sorry, I was just thinking."
"Well..." Yakumo began, biting down on her lip. Her eyes gleamed with concern, slowly nodded her head. "If you were just thinking..." Her voice trailed off before closing the hesitated expression. "You said something about the Chamber of Secrets, what is it?"
"And where is it?" Yuushi added, gruffly. His eyes twitched as a pair of girls leered at him, giggling loudly as they passed them. "Can we make a move on? These girls are really starting to creep me out," Growing up in Konoha many Shinobi learned at young ages the dangers of fangirls. His body shivered. "Please?"
Harry's lips twitched. "Not a fan of girls?"
"Fangirls," The older teen hissed under his breath, his eyes rapidly glancing to the side. "They are pure evil!"
The dark haired boy raised an eyebrow, pointing to Yuushi. "Err... Yakumo?"
"A plague within the Shinobi community is the male student, that every girl seems to adore and swoon over before officially becoming Genin," The redhead answered with a sigh. "Even I recall the rookie of the year back when I was in the academy. Girls can be scary, and that's coming from one." The girls that she had in her class acted like ditz and morons, lacking in their training and concentrating on cheering on the Rookie like a horde of mindless zombies. Whenever someone spoke out against him, they were instantly assaulted. Yakumo was ever so grateful to be blessed with a brain and common sense.
"Scary," Harry commented not unkindly recalling his first year as many girls, from all ages, would follow him around like lost puppies. It freaked him out in the beginning, but eventually grew use to it or rather, he ignored it and pretending everything was fine.
"Indeed," Yakumo replied.
Deciding to take pity on the older teen, Harry gestured forward. "C'mon I'll take you to where the chamber is, but keep in mind that you may not like it." He turned sharply and missed the bewildered expressions of his team mates.
Neither of them would be happy to discover that it was located in the girl's bathroom. and was haunted by a ghost, Moaning Myrtle. Harry only hoped that she wouldn't tell anyone about their visit to the chamber since the ghost was infamous for gossip yet oddly kept quiet about the adventure from the previous year.
Had Myrtle suspected that there had been something in the bathroom? If so why hadn't she told anyone? Regardless, Harry wanted to talk to her before opening the chamber. An idea appeared in his head, she of all people deserved to know what killed her and what once laid underneath the school, an exchange of knowledge should be enough to keep her mouth from spreading anything. Not that Harry doubted the girl or anything, but secrecy was of the utmost importance to them.
Plus, he wanted to get to know Yuushi and Yakumo better. Neither of them knew a lot about one another, he only knew that Yakumo had a talent for Genjutsu and Yuushi held a preference for weapons. Harry wanted to at least try to make friends with them, even if he failed to do so.
When Yuushi expressed his concern over his dislike of Hogwarts he knew that it was the first step to building a friendship, though it was rather abrupt and came from nowhere. Harry appreciated the older teen's sentiment.
"So how long have you been a wizard, Harry-kun?" Yakumo asked, curiously.
Harry blinked. "I've been a wizard my entire life, I didn't even realize I had magic until my eleventh birthday. Trust me when I say that was one of the biggest shocks of my life," he said chuckling and smiled as Yakumo giggled.
Yuushi didn't laugh. "How didn't you know? From the information I gathered you are this so-called 'Boy-who-lived' right?" The sarcastic tone did not go unnoticed, as he made a face. "Man, these wizards like hyphens don't they?"
"They do like hyphens," Harry agreed dryly, and shrugged. "Don't know why, but they do and as for your question... I grew up with my relatives, my aunt didn't particularly like my mother and-"
"Was a jealous bitch?" Yuushi added innocently.
Yakumo shot him a look. "Yuushi!"
"No, that's pretty accurate." Harry mused thoughtfully; know that he was able to think about it. Whenever his mother had been brought up in conversation the amount of venom and anger from his aunt's voice could be heard from a mile away, until now he never thought about it. But, it explained a whole lot and her bizarre desire for a life of normalcy. Harry frowned up at the older teen. "Didn't you know that though, I mean you already know of my title," nearly spitting it out with disgust.
Yuushi simply smiled. "Just want to make sure my information was correct is all!"
"Of course," Harry rolled his eyes at the older teen as they approached the second floor and headed down the hall, making a sharp right turn. "We're almost near where the Chamber's entrance is, just... trust me alright?"
Yuushi and Yakumo exchanged a curious look as they walkeded behind Harry silently as they managed to came a rather large door, water flooding out underneath and spreading across the floor. Calmly, Harry pushed open the door and went through.
"Myrtle?" He called out slowly, waving for the other two to follow after him. "Are you in here?"
Yakumo's jaw dropped, before clenching it tightly. "A girl's bathroom, WHY are we in the girl's bathroom? If you were so curious you could have-" She was about to continue, stopping when Harry held up his hand. Blinking, she watched as he carefully observed the room.
"Myrtle?" He repeated more gently, slowly lowering his guard. "It's Harry! I want to talk to you!"
The moment those words left his mouth, a gust of wind blew against the three nearly pushing them back a few feet as a young girl appeared. Her body was transparent and hovered above the ground the pouty look on her pale face turning red with pleasure. It was evident as she wrestled with the smile that was threatening to blossom on her face, and the way her body twisted back and forth in a shy manner.
"Hello Harry," A small giggle came from her voice. "What can I do for you?"
Harry stepped forward. "Myrtle, I'm going into the Chamber of Secrets." Taking a deep breath at the shocked look he continued. "I wanted to know if you'd like to come with us, you of all people deserve to know what was attacking the school-what attacked you and the other students." He watched Myrtle carefully, amused at her sudden loss of speech. The ghost opened and closed her jaw several times, completely at a loss from his words. "Well, do you want to come?"
The ghost remained stunned. "I-I'd...why?" Her voice became small and tiny, sounding like a child rather than a decade old ghost.
"Because, you deserve to know," Harry answered with a partial truth.
"...Thank you," She whispered quietly as she flew over to his side.
Yakumo and Yuushi were confused as Harry moved over towards the sink, placing both hands onto the sides watching as he took a deep breath before closing his eyes. After several moments in silence, his eyes open in a trance like stare and opened his mouth.
"Open," Harry commanded in parseltongue, and stepped away from the sink as it transformed into the entrance to the chamber, revealing a door. Looking over at the two he had to fight not to laugh at the frightened stares. "Are you guys going to stay there or you coming along?"
"What the hell was that?" Yuushi was the first to snap out of it, pointing at Harry.
Harry looked at him. "It's called Parseltongue, the language of the snakes. Apparently, I stole the ability from Riddle when he attempted to kill me that Halloween night," shrugging his shoulders disinterestedly. "It may not be the most pleasant skill to have around, but I'm glad to have it when I do need it. Now are you two coming or you going to stand there all day?" He leaned against the wall, raising an eyebrow at them in a challenging manner and waved his hand. "I could go by myself you know."
"In your dreams, kid!" Yuushi flexed his arm muscles reflexively and joined, quietly behind them came Yakumo. He frowned as he touched the wall, glancing down at him. "So how does this close exactly-"
"And we have to side down that?" The girl's face screwed up in disgust.
The older teen rolled his eyes. "No one ever said being a Shinobi was all cookies and rainbows, Yakumo!" He let out a painful yelp when the girl jab him in the ribs again, rubbing the spot Yuushi shot her a pitiful glare.
"Well, it just closes. I think," Harry murmured. "I used parseltongue to open so I should also able to close it, logically. So, shall we then?"
Yuushi grinned, rubbing his hands together mischievously. "Don't mind if I do, Geronimo!" Making the first move to dive down the slide, his excited yell echoed back to their level as Yakumo and Harry exchanged bemused glances.
"I'll go next then," The girl began, swallowing fearfully. "Y-You'll come right behind me, right?"
"Let's go together instead," Harry offered.
Yakumo smiled gratefully as she and Harry held hands. Myrtle flew beside them, oddly silent- she didn't say a word as the three slid down the slide travelling quickly down below the school just as Harry had done back in June. And just as Harry remembered, the three eventually came to the same area he and Ron had been. The difference was the rocks that had fallen from the ceiling after Lockhart's failure of a spell backfired on him, nearly caving in the entire tunnel because of it. It was only luck that it hadn't.
Yuushi was waiting for them, attempting to see within the pitch darkness of the tunnel only for Harry to whip out the lumos charm and proceeded to guide them towards their destination. The slime and dampness of the tunnel hadn't changed, remaining desolate and cold with water dripping from above. He ignored the incredulous stares when they had come across the shedded skin of the basilisk, surprised that it hadn't completely eroded and decomposed. He assumed that the magics within the skin were what preserved it and it was a good sign that the body would still be well preserved inside the main chamber.
He continued to guide the group towards where the entrance was, unfortunately blocked off by the rocks.
"We need to move these before we can continue onward," Harry explained, instinctively pulling out his wand before pausing. It was a habit he was trying to kick, and while levitating the rocks would make the job easier it wouldn't do any good for them physically. "Yuushi and I will move the rocks." He glanced at the two girls. "I need the both of you to keep an eye on what we're doing, I don't want to accidentally kill us in the process."
Yakumo and Myrtle were obviously not pleased by it, a quick flash of annoyance and fear skimmed across their faces before following through with the request as the two males went to work. Thankfully, the rocks covering the way were not heavy or too large to move, being far tedious and long even with the quick rate that they were going at having to stop and help the other whenever they had discovered a huge boulder that was too heavy to move.
Harry's taijutsu training helped him developed the necessary strength that was required and even surprisingly discovered his, super strength, for a lack of a better term that had reminded the Jounin team or really Raidou of Lady Tsunade's strength only underdeveloped and needing much polishing. There had been days where he crushed his own hand or injured his arm when attempting to re-use the technique during training, due to contrary belief it was very difficult to pull off and use constantly.
However, he was grateful to see his training had paid off as he and Yuushi had successfully removed the final rock paving the way to the entrance of the chamber. The two grinned at each other and moved towards it oblivious to the sighs from the girls as they exchanged a knowing look. It was short lived as the sounds of moving gears snapped them back to attention and went to catch up with the boys, heading past the door after the two males staring at the chamber in awe. The entire interior design had a monument at the very front, a large face had been carved in the stone in a similar fashion that the Hokages' faces were made on the mountains.
Pools of water were littered along the sides as liquid dripped slowly from the distant ceiling, however the three ninja and ghost barely noticed, their eyes landing upon the giant serpent that laid in front of the statue unmoving. The stains of red remained near it's face, the snake appearing as alive and fresh as the day Harry had fought it three months ago. However, he knew all too well that it was dead. He felt a tremendous remorse for being forced to end it's life especially since the basilisk was blindly following orders from Riddle, unfortunately, many innocent victims were hurt by the serpent's dangerous glare. In retrospect, it being dead was probably a good thing.
Myrtle was the first one to inspect the serpent flying past the three teens, checking it from top to bottom. None of them moved, watching as the ghost came to a stop, not moving. She turned back towards Harry wearing a gentle gaze.
"I... is this what killed me?"
Harry nodded. "Yes."
"And..." She hesitated. "It's dead?"
"...Yeah, it's dead. I killed it myself," He answered not bothering to hide it from her. Watching as the ghost remained silent for several moments, he could almost see the way her face relaxed and bit of that sadness lurking in her eyes faded. A dreadful feeling began to form in his stomach. "Myrtle-"
The ghost shook her head. A smile appeared a genuine smile. "Thank you Harry... for letting my see this, I appreciate it!"
"...Myrtle..." Harry's voice became tight, watching her with fear. "Y-you can't be... you're not going to...?"
"I'm not going anywhere," Myrtle answered, sadly, guessing why he might be worried. Seeing the confused look on Harry's face she continued. "I'm a ghost of Hogwarts, Harry. I died and chose to remain here, I could go and pass on at any given time that I wanted. But I choose to remain."
Yuushi cleared his throat. "But you were murdered, right? So isn't your spirit tied to this place because of a lack of justice on your death?"
"That's only true for muggle ghosts," She answered, seemingly pleased to be able to explain something to the three young ninja. "It's not entirely wrong it just doesn't apply to magical folk. Those ghosts are tied to this plain by the small amount of magic all creatures possess. They stick around only to seek justice of vengeance and once it is achieved the magic holding them here fades. Even though I cry and overflow the toilet stalls, I love Hogwarts and everyone in it. I want to protect this place, this is my home. Just as it is for all of you, I'm sure you understand that. Right?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah. I do," he allowed a tiny smile.
"Good, now that this is done and over with. I'm going back up to my toilet, I promise not to tell anyone you're down here Harry. But please be careful," The ghost gave him a knowing look and winked before zooming past them and heading straight through the ceiling.
Yuushi crossed his arms. "Well that was..."
"Anti-climatic?" Yakumo offered.
"Kinda, yeah."
"What should we do with the basilisk?" Harry spoke up, his back turned to them. "We can't just leave it here, right?"
The older teen paused. "Well, snakes like that are definitely worth something right? I'm pretty sure that the poison is still running through the veins. We could drain it of the poison and make a good profit off of it and use the skin of the basilisk to make armor and weaponry out of it." Yuushi went over and scratched at the dark green scales on the beast. "And I wouldn't mind getting a pair of ninja sandals made out of this either; it'll probably stand up to anything short of chakra enhanced weapons. Sandals may be the most convenient form of footwear for shinobi to wear but it's not uncommon for enemies to stab the feet since they are usually so unprotected. Sell a good amount of this and keep the same for yourself, Harry, you'll get a lot of good stuff out of it in addition to the money from what you sell."
"But how are we supposed to do this?" Yakumo questioned, frowning. "None of us know how-"
Yuushi pointed to himself. "I can send the material to my dad and I can do the skinning. The members of my clan are taught how to hunt and skin when we're kids in order to continue on the family business. Need to know what can be used for armor and how the weapons we sell work out in the field. As for the venom I'll probably needed Anko-sensei's help. Just to make sure that it's completely drained, don't want to accidentally poison ourselves better to be safe rather than sorry!" He grinned cheekily, only to be met with deadpanned looks and pouted. "You two suck."
Harry rolled his eyes, shaking his head and smiled at the teasing as he approached the dead serpent looking at them both.
"Since we can't do anything, how about we explore the rest of this place instead? There's gotta be a cool thing or two hiding down here."
Chapter eight-end.
Finally, this chapter gave me so much trouble to get out but I'm glad that I finally did! I'm sorry for the long up-date and I hope the wait was worth of which, I want to thank everyone for their kind words I really appreciate it.
For those who have noticed, I recently posted a new fic called Rise of the Uzumaki; a multicrossover fic complete with male! Harems. I would really appreciate it if you guys took a look and give me your thoughts on it! Make sure to check out the poll on my profile for it as well!
Until next time, please leave a review with constructive criticism!