Chapter 9: Information

Hermione quickly made her way down the hallway fuming with an angry gleam in her eyes and ignoring the frightened students that came into her sights giving her room to pass by them. She was a woman on a mission, getting to the library to access the information required and to give her mind some peace to cool off. Saying that she was only just angry would be an understatement due to the events of several hours ago, Hermione appeared to be the only student and Gryffindor that care at what that...that cowof a teacher dared to say!

Respecting a position of authority was one thing but respecting the person in that position was entirely different! How could she get away with the atrocious audacity that blasted bat showed?

As far as she was concerned Trelawney was nothing short of a false and crude woman that thrived off of misery and insulting others! Unfortunately, Lavender and Pavarti showed early signs of fanaticism as they held on to each and every word that came out of that barmy old woman's mouth. Hermione wasn't entirely surprised by it as the two were followers more than they were thinkers; chasing after the next big thing and looking for gossip like hungry wolves.

Hermione couldn't wait until she was no longer a teenager. She still found it hard to believe that so much of the wizarding populace married straight out of Hogwarts!

She almost cursed herself for not believing in Harry and dropping the class once school had begun; curiosity had sprung and tempted her to attend the course to form her own opinions, something that ended in disappointment and disgust.

Resolving to talk with McGongall after getting some homework done to drop the course in question, she scurried to the Library doors and entered. Moving towards her usually table without hesitation, placing herself into her seat and pulled out her favorite books in the world: Hogwarts: A History.

It was a shame that neither Ron or Harry could see how magnificent the books was and just how much useful information was stored within the pages, in fact that book managed to help them on many occasions during their adventures over the last two years and saved her life when she and Penelope Clearwater ended up petrified because of the Basilisk. Knowing where to turn and stop without being able to freely look about had been very handy, though if they hadn't had the mirrors with them they would have been dead.

Not that it mattered all of the victims of the basilisks managed to make a full recovery with their memories intact, the three had debated about letting those who'd been petrified know what truly happened but ultimately decided to keep it between the Weasley Family and themselves. There was no telling what could happen if the information leaked out to the public and how fast it would get to the original source of the problem, making her frown. Harry informed them of Lucius being the true perpetrator having slipped the diary into Ginny's things during their meeting at Flourish and Blotts.

By luck alone Lucius had been booted from the board of governors and was currently still unemployed according to the Daily Prophet. Hermione sincerely doubted that it would last that long as Purebloods happened to have firm control over the Ministry due to their 'noble blood' and piles of money. She had been surprised that Mafloy hadn't confronted them on the train for getting his father fired from his job, either the Malfoy's had a plan B for such a backfire or Draco had no knowledge of his father's part in the near murder of the students of Hogwarts, then again the brat had already started to exhibit early signs of being a sociopath and future Death Eater.

So far this year Malfoy had only taunted Harry about his experience with the Dementors on the train and Fred and George had made quick work of him remarking at how he nearly pissed himself in fright, chasing the brat away from their table with his goons.

The rest of the Slytherin's outside of Malfoy's tiny gang hadn't bothered them at all, Hermione didn't believe that all Slytherins were distrustful and evil as she and Daphne Greengass had somewhat of a civil relationship despite the brisk tone and cold personality they did get along. However, the behavior of the other Slytherins still struck her as odd; fear and apprehension seemed to hang around them like a dark cloud.

It was undoubtedly because of Sirius Black.

Upon meeting up with Ron and his family in Diagon Alley, she accidentally overheard Mr and Mrs Weasley discussing the criminal that had escaped Azkaban and what his intentions could be. Having also looked through the Daily Prophet helped and gave her a perspective of how dangerous he was.

The man was clearly deceptive for being a mass murder and being the right hand man to You-Know...Hermione's shoulders slump and sighed, giving her head a shake. No, Lord Voldemort, thus the man had to be incredibly powerful and cruel in order to have risen to that position. However, without a wand she doubted he could be much of a threat seeing many Purebloods of all ages react with hysteria without one but Hermione was also aware of the...less than legal ways to obtain wands which Black could have easily gain access through fellow Death Eater sympathizers.

Yet it didn't seem that Black's mind was on gaining help from any former followers of the Dark Lord having a self appointed mission and obsession with Harry, the person responsible for his master's downfall. Rationally speaking she couldn't help find it difficult for him to go after Harry since his so-called Lord was alive… if 'ghost-like' could be considered alive.

There was no doubt in Hermione's mind that Lord Voldemort was still thriving somewhere feeding off wizards or other magical creatures in order to sustain his presence in the realm of the living. The only question was how was he doing it and if he'd seek out Black using him like he originally had with Quirrel.

Too many questions and scenarios were running through her head. Harry was right, none of them had the time to act like children if something like the previous two years was going to happen-and be far more dangerous, especially if Voldemort succeeded in regaining his body and power. They had to be prepared for when the time drew near, sitting around and doing nothing wouldn't help them get strong enough to combat him and his followers.

Her book flopped onto the table with sudden realization. Was that what Harry had been up to during the summer? Training for what was to eventually come? And...she and Ron had been left behind, completely unaware, not they had noticed the changes that were now starting to hit her in the face. He was taller and his body was much more filled out than it had been, his hair shorter and less wild and his skin was tanned and why he hadn't attended COMC?

Perhaps it had been for the best that he was not there to witness the events. No matter how humorous it had been she thought, as she tried to fight the smile threatening to spread on her face. Malfoy had made a complete and total fool of himself during the first lesson having insulted Hagrid and his choice of books and later insulting the Hippogriff, thankfully and oddly enough it had been one of the girls, whose name slipped her mind, that had rendered the boy silent instantly. Whether that was a fluke or the girl was always able to silence Malfoy Hermione made a small promise to herself to thank the girl for defending the creature and on a lesser degree, Hagrid, and helping his first class be a major success.

If only Divination had turned out to be so well it would have been a miracle. And now that she knew how that class went a thought of Harry's words about Muggle Studies briefly ran through her mind, slipping out her Time Turner staring at it-

"Excuse me?" A deep baritone voice spoke, causing her to jump and stuff the item back into her pocket, instinctively looking up at the source and seeing the boy from the train. He was wearing a coat that was a light shade of grey and shades over his eyes while on his forehead was a headband of sorts. "Is there something wrong?"

Hermione blinked out of her stupor, regaining her composure. "Oh no, nothing at all, sorry. Did you need something?"

"You're a friend of Potter Harry's, correct?"

"Yes, but, I'm sorry, who are you?" Hermione stated cautiously eyeing the boy, hand placed carefully on her wand. There was nothing that suggested any hostility however, his body language seemed too trained and well thought out to simply be a random, curious student. Having his eyes covered by his shades only added to the level of suspicion she felt from him.

The boy didn't seem fazed. "I apologize, my name is Aburame Shino. In your language that would be Shino Aburame."

"Hermione Granger," She introduced carefully.

"Are you a friend of Potter Harry's?"

The same question again. "Depends, why do you want to know?"

"Since he will be working closely with myself and my team I find that it would be rather beneficial to gather as much information as possible on him and get to know his friends in the process," Shino answered pushing his sunglasses back up his nose casually.

Hermione was silent for several moments. "Okay. What do you want from me then?"

"...I don't know where he is or how to find them." The boy admitted pitifully. He had forgotten to tag the newest members of the team with his Kikaichu resulting in his current predicament. Thus he sought out one of the newest Genin's friends in order to locate him, to make his own evaluation by getting to know him. Despite not being a very sociable person by nature, he was attempting to make an effort to be friendly towards the new team by Kurenai-sensei's advice.

"And that's why you came to me?" Hermione questioned.

Shino nodded.

"And you think I'm going to tell you where I think he might be and where you can find him?"

Another nod.

"Why should I help you exactly?" Hermione asked. "You've given me no reason to trust you. If I told every person who came up to me asking where Harry was…"

Shino titled his head. "That is a fair point, yes. I... apologize for my bluntness it was not my intention to offend you Granger-san. But please understand from my perspective, he is someone that has recently joined our... program," carefully substituting the word and ignoring the sharp gleam in the girl's eyes. "And I am wishing to know how far he has come. I am merely offering a hand of friendship is all. The program that we partake in is extremely difficult to get through as most of us join during childhood, while he only joined a few months ago."

"That's all?"

Shino nodded. "I promise."

"...Alright then," Hermione relented, eyes trained on the boy.

Shino could almost sigh with relief. At least he was finally getting somewhere and information, perhaps being social every now and then wasn't entirely a bad thing-

"As long as you tell me what exactly this program entails and why Harry is a part of it," the girl stated cutting off his thoughts in a firm tone.

Never mind. Shino thought to himself slamming his palm onto his face. Socializing was never the answer!

"Four thousand...Four thousand and one...four thousand and two..."

Raidou was currently in the zone, going far past his usual record of two thousand push-ups in his previous workouts after what had happened the previous day it was expected. It seemed as if life was starting to throw everything little thing into his face, taunting mercilessly having Minato meet him in the onsen.

His body shivered with disgust, not at the man that once held his heart, rather at himself. He had all but betrayed the trust Genma held in him by reacting and kissing Minato back. Receiving his former lover's blessing in his and Genma's current relationship had been something he hadn't accounted for even if it was something very Minato-like. His love for his former partner had deteriorated into nothing more than friendship, in fact the kiss they had shared was empty and awkward than the kisses he shared with his current lover.

He understood that his feelings for the man were simply platonic and the incident would never again repeat. Unfortunately his morals and sense of loyalty were screaming at him at the top of their lungs criticising at his responding to the kiss, willingly.

Raidou froze. His face slowly twisted into disbelief, pulling upwards. "Since when did I become such a girl?"

"When you realized you were gay, Rai-chan! I thought that was obvious," The snippy and dry comment made his eyes twitch whipping his head at the source, seeing Anko leaning against the side of the room smirking at him in her usual sarcastic manner. "What?" She asked in a sickeningly sweet tone, fluttering her eyebrows.

"Being gay doesn't make you girly-"

"Jiraiya."

Raidou snorted. "He's not girly. He's just an idiot."

"Like Kakashi?"

His shoulders shrugged. "Eh, close enough I guess." His eyes fell on Anko as she made her way towards him in her usual overly sexualized fashion. She smirked cockily, grabbing a chair from her side before placing it in front of him while parking herself into it staring at him. "...What?"

She simply smiled, elbow on the top of the chair and titled the side of her head into it. "Tell me all of your problems Raidou, Mama Anko will take good care of you."

...What.

Fearing for her sanity Raidou took off his glove and placed his hand to her forehead. "Well, you don't seem to be feverish, are you feeling alright Anko?"

"Hey!" Anko swatted his hand away, glaring at him. "I'm trying to lend an ear here! The least you can do is tell me what's on your mind. Damn what the hell is with you men and keeping everything to yourselves? Honestly, people wonder why us females are the superior sex." On the inside she was seething at the idiocy that kept on coming her way. Being a part of the T&I Division of Konoha had given her some insight on the male psyche and why they acted the way they did. It took all of her willpower not to give Raidou a punch in the gut just to get her point across! 'Idiot man!' she thought to herself.

"I'm sorry," Raidou apologized sincerely.

Her purple eyes were locked on, gauging his reaction and searching for the truth of his words, eventually nodding in acceptance of them. "Fine, now how about you tell what's on your mind. I won't judge you or anything that isn't my place-"

"Why are you doing this?" He inquired curiously; despite the woman's eccentric attitude and wild nature she wasn't the type to be nosey as Anko had a deep respected for people's privacy and secrets unless they brought a threat to the village. Perhaps she noticed his behaviour and came to check on him?

"Someone has to make sure you guys aren't acting like the moronic muscles heads you usually are," Anko answered without missing a beat. "Out of all of us I'm the only sane one here. You're all having your own little dramas," She held up her pointer finger. "Iruka is angry over having his position of father taken away from him," Another finger went up. "Genma's worrying about you" a third finger rose "and the kids always have their own problems. Thankfully Izumo and Kotetsu seem to be somewhat in the right mind-"

"Somewhat?" Looking at her expression Raidou had the decency to wince. "Good point."

"Asuma is dealing with his break up with Kurenai, and you know that he doesn't deal well with...that type of thing," Anko stated, choosing her words carefully. The Jounin was a well known fighter and feared in battle by other villages, having once been a member of the Shugonin Juunishi directly under the daimyo's command. Outside of battle he was a very laid back and somewhat lazy man, though he was always there to lend a hand or given out advice whenever it was needed.

Outwardly Asuma was like any other man laughing off his problems and cracking jokes when inwardly the man was not as emotionally strong as he portrayed himself to be. He hid it well from others but had major break downs when alone, allowing himself to be overcome by his emotions and feelings. It was by chance that Anko had discovered the man's problem several years ago, it was nothing to be ashamed of in her opinion and helped him through several episodes in the past.

She had felt that Kurenai and Asuma being together was entirely wrong, there was no connection or spark between them. They simply didn't fit with each other. She believed it not because of any romantic feeling for Asuma, whom was like a brother to her and Kurenai was essentially her sister, but Anko could see just how incompatible they were! When Asuma had informed her that he and Kurenai had broken up after finding out about Yakumo, she had guiltily let loose a sign of relief.

Neither of them would have the chance to further hurt the other.

Anko desperately wanted both of them to find some form of happiness with someone that loved them wholly and truthfully. It wasn't entirely known but the reason that the two had broke up was due to the callous and cold treatment Kurenai had displayed towards Yakumo, throwing her away and almost preventing the girl from becoming a Shinobi deeming her as 'unworthy'. That earned Asuma's anger causing a giant fight between the two leading to them ending their relationship entirely.

The way they had broken up hadn't been what she wanted having seen that Asuma avoided any questions about Kurenai, coldly changing the subject. However, when she had learned about the situation from her female friend she couldn't help note that something was rather off with everything. Kurenai was not the type of person to simply toss aside a girl like Yakumo and call her 'unworthy' of a Shinobi. There was something deeper going on that her friend was keeping from them and she planned on finding out upon returning to Konoha, the only thing that Anko knew now was that she had to do some damage control. And fast. She couldn't bare to see her to friends fight like enemies!

'Urgh, I need a drink.' Anko thought massaging her temple and tuning back into the man in front of him.

Raidou simply nodded. "What's Hayate's problem... actually," the scarred man paused and frowned, deep in thought. "What exactly is the deal between him and Iruka? They get along during training but after that they go their separate ways."

"Whatever happened to that mission you took on?"

"Touché."

She snickered. "You should know better, trying to pull a fast one on me!" She gave a sharp maniac cackle that made her famous in Konoha."But seriously," folding her arms onto the chair leaning forward with curious gleam dancing in her eyes. "What was the mission you originally got anyway?"

"You tell me what you know and I'll tell you what I know, deal?" Raidou offered.

Anko smirked. "Information for information, I like that. Alright," pushing herself off the chair, looking cockily at him. "Ladies first." as she inclined her head mockingly at the man before her, Anko knew that Raidou wouldn't take that offensively.

"Too bad there are no ladies here," He retorted stoically, the mirth in his eyes betraying the expression.

The purple haired woman waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah whatever just tell me all the juicy details!"

"What if I said that the mission details are strictly confidential?" Raidou stated.

She snorted. "I would call bullshit."

"True," He said honestly chuckling at the dried look and held his hands up. "Alright, alright! I'll tell you everything, yeesh you women are so pushy-"

"That's only because I love you," Anko answered smiling sweetly at him.

A shiver ran down his spine. "Yeah...sure whatever you say Anko." Ignoring the cheerful expression he continued on. "I'm sure that you are very much aware that when the Genin teams for this last Academy term were selected, an incident between a rouge Chuunin and Uzumaki Naruto resulted in the immediate promotion of the kid and the confinement of the traitor." Anko's eyes flashed with recognition. "You and Ibiki interrogated him managing to gain information of his true allegiance-"

The woman's face turned furious. "Orochimaru!"

"Yes, interesting enough we also stumbled upon some critical information and why he was so interesting the forbidden scroll," Raidou informed her watching the woman intently as she perked up at his words. "Because of that information the traitor was thrown into Konoha's prison and not immediately executed."

"He's more useful alive," Anko remarked sharply.

He nodded. "We planned on extracting more information out of him the day Iruka was putting the teams together," A dark frown formed on his lips. "Unfortunately, it did not turn out as well as we would have hoped." Raidou took a deep breath, eyes sharpened. "When I arrived at the jail, the traitor's cell had been completely destroyed inside and out."

Anko shot up from her chair. "H-how!"

"I have reason to believe that there might be more than just one traitor in Konoha," The man answered truthfully not bothering to hide it. If anyone deserved to know it was Anko, her loyalty to the village and having worked along Ibiki for years made her an excellent ally to help detect any other traitors. She had dealt with similar situations while remaining under that monstrous man's tutelage and guidance, learning the tricks of the trade and sharpening her own skills. He wouldn't even be surprised to find Anko taking over the T&I Division after Ibiki retired.

"Is that why you're here?" Anko asked accusingly at him.

"Partially," He admitted truthfully. "My real job here is protecting Iruka from the traitor and to do whatever it takes to eliminate any threats that may come this way. I assume you know exactly whom I am referring to, don't you?"

She sighed heavily, looking slightly defeated. "Yeah, I know who. But damn it...I should have known he was a slime ball!" Anko slammed her fist onto the chair sending a crack right through it only to go unnoticed by her. "I can't believe I didn't see at first, how blind could we have been?"

Raidou raised an eyebrow. "You knew Mizuki?"

"Growing up we were like our own little gang," Anko began slowly. "Iruka and Mizuki first, afterwards Hayate, Izumo, Kotetsu, Yuago, Kurenai, and myself joined up. We were the terrors of the school, pulling pranks left and right making the teacher's lives a living nightmare. I never regretted it, none of us did. But..." biting her lip hesitantly. "I always noticed something off about Mizuki, I just thought it was because he was full of himself like most girls do, you know?"

"I guess?" Raidou said unsure.

Anko ignored him. "Urgh, it doesn't matter now. If I had known that asshat would grow up to be a fucking traitor I would have ended him myself!"

"Getting a little bit ahead of yourself don't you think?" He abruptly shut his mouth at the glare she sent him. "Sorry..."

"That bastard loved fucking with Ruka-chan's head making him dance like a puppet and do whatever he wanted," Anko hissed angrily clutching her hand tightly into a fist. "He was the fucking reason why Iruka and Hayate barely talk to each other!"

"Whoa what?"

Anko's hand instantly shot up covering her mouth suddenly looking sheepish. "Oops."

"Anko," Raidou warned.

"Guess I don't have much of a choice do I?" The woman sighed folding her hands together, looking depressed. "Okay. I'll tell you everything Raidou," adjusting her face to gaze deeply into the other man's eyes wearing a tired gleam.

"I will tell you everything that happened between Iruka and Hayate that fateful day."

The next day rolled around quickly as everyone began to re-adjust to being back at school with their friends, rushing back and forth between the classrooms and courtyards, mixed expressions of stress and happiness clear on the various faces of students. At least that's what Harry wanted to say anyway, seeing the depressed and tired gazes of the student body never before had he ever felt so thankful for getting up out of bed at five in the morning for training, he no longer felt the strenuous drain of waking up in the morning.

Not to mention the ache in his muscles; it was a welcome pain, signifying his growing strength each and every day.

"...As third years you will be delving into the intermediate level of Charms," Filtwick began professionally from his table, gazing at all of the students. "As such I expect each and every one of you to act as responsible young adults. Charms, much like Transfiguration, is very dangerous magic if not done properly as all of you have witnessed over the past two years," watching bemused as several students began to flush at the remark. "For a prime example does anyone know what the Glacius Charm is and what is does?"

Surprisingly enough a large handle of students had their hand in the air waiting to be picked as the small Head to gaze around the room before pointing towards a young bored looking red haired girl draped in a Slytherin uniform as he gave her a nod.

"Yes Ms. Greengrass?"

"The Glacius Charm is a freezing spell that puts out flames and create blocks of ice," She answered calmly, her stoic expression stayed. "It can also simply produce cold air."

Filtwick looked pleased with her answer. "And can you tell me just why the charm can be dangerous?"

'Because it can be used to freeze a human body at an accelerated rate depending on the area's temperature,' Harry thought to himself as his mind raced. 'Another thing about the Glacius charm is where it can spread, with sufficient control it could seep straight into the enemy's mouth killing said person from the inside outwards. It can also be used to keep food fresh while travelling a large distance as a portal refrigerator.'

After pausing for a few moments allowing another thought to cross his mind, '...could always help sharp weapons and give them a chilling edge,'He prevented himself from snorting at the pun. While the charm was an elemental based charm, using it to cover the steel blade could enhance the sharpness of an otherwise dull kunai. Not that mattered as he had discovered a very good use for clones and oddly enough, shadow clones that he had learned from Genma during his month training, creating an endless stream of shuriken and kunai flurries made out of clones. Of course, Harry wasn't stupid to entirely rely on the cloned weaponry due to the draining of chakra but that didn't mean he couldn't improvise.

Having a mix of chakra and magic ended up giving up a boost to his 'pool' of useable energy since he had opened his pathways at an extremely young age and expanding them over the years unbeknownst to him. Harry wasn't sure of the occurrence that had awakened his chakra but if he had to guess, most likely it would have been the time he ended up on the roof of the school when Dudley and his friends had chased him during their favorite pastime Harry Hunting.

Constantly having to run away helped aid to the strengthening of his physical energy, expanding it at a rapid pace since Harry had been forced to endure the torment of his cousin and friends day after day without as much of a rest. His magic, which was mostly spiritual energy had also been working in tandem to mix as chakra keeping him alive during the long periods of starvation the Dursleys imposed upon him as a child. It made Harry wonder if that had been the cause for his sudden...strength increase.

The wall in the Room of Requirement hadn't been the same since. The crater remained at the far wall, by sheer luck alone no one had pinned the blame on him and Raidou-sensei for making it as they decided to keep it to themselves. For the most part anyway...since Anko-sensei managed to discover the truth on her own.

He was certain that she blackmailed Raidou. Somehow, someway he was sure of it!

"Mr. Potter!"

Harry looked up to see Filtwick standing in front of him, sheepishly smiling at the man. "...I'm awake, sir?"

"Hmmm," The half-goblin mused with a vindictive smile on his face. "Alright then Mr. Potter since you seem to rather prefer sleeping during my lecture to participating with your classmates, give me some examples of how the Tickling Charm can be lethal."

Harry blinked. "Without cancelling the spell the Tickling Charm can cause long term speech disabilities and breathing complications." At Filtwick's nodded he continued on. "It can also be used to suffocate someone if they laugh hard enough, effectively making them laugh to death." 'It's also good for distractions and getting past enemy forces, having them think that one of their own has finally gone off the deep end.'

"Very good ten pointed to Gryffindor!" the Ravenclaw head praised him. "It is as Mr. Potter said, the Tickling Charm can easily be used to cut off air circulation essentially having the person choke themselves. Now then Mr. Potter can you share with the class how the Cheering Charm can be dangerous?"

Harry stared. "The Cheering Charm? Umm… being happy for that length of time could result in immediate massive depression or possible delusions once it finally wears off?"

"That is a very good assessment, Mr. Potter I am delighted to see that you're indeed paying attention." Filtwick commented with a smile. "That will be thirty points to Gryffindor for today. Now it seems that class is about to end so I would like you all to read all through chapter one tonight. Until then, good day everyone!"

On cue the bell rang loudly prompting everyone to gather their things and head for the exit. Manoeuvring quickly Harry grabbed his books and sped his way out of the door, effectively avoiding Ron and Hermione in the process. Immersing himself into the crowd before glancing back spotting the patch of ginger and brunette hair that whipped around aiming to locate his whereabouts, a tingle of guilt squirmed in his stomach forcing himself to turn away from them going deeper into the crowd.

'I'm sorry Hermione... Ron,' Harry thought bitterly gazing down at the ground. 'Please don't hold this against me but just not right now, okay?'Harry wasn't stupid enough to believe that he could avoid them all year, Shinobi skills or not he would eventually have to face both of them. Gripping the strap of his bag tightly, he cut through the students effortlessly heading past the corridors determined to head somewhere secluded just to have some time to him-

"Hari-kun!" Without any warning his weight seemed to double in an instant as a pair of familiar ninja stopped in front of him.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Hello Kotetsu, Izumo. How are you two?"

"How can you ask such a thing?" Kotetsu spoke up grinning widely at the boy.

Izumo continued just as happily. "Especially we found our favorite student-

"Of all time!" The two chorused in unison wearing identical smiles on their faces.

"...Why are you two so happy?" Harry asked them cautiously having adapted to their mischievous and evil ways rather quickly having being the primary target when it came to their pranks and destructive nature. How was it that they were still only Chuunin? His eyes narrowed at their stilted smiles. "You know what, scratch that what did you do?"

Kotetsu's expression was positively sparkling now. "Why Hari-kun how can you ask such a thing?" The emerald eyes narrowed at him wearing a 'I'm not stupid' look. He pouted at the boy proceeding to pull him into a tight hug. "You know us so well now, I'm proud of you!"

"I'm glad now let me go!"

"Nope!" Was the ever so cheerful reply from the older male, his eyes danced amused.

Harry looked at Izumo giving him the most pitiful look he could muster and watching as the other man glanced back and forth between before nodding rather firmly, separating the both of them and gave Kotetsu a nice earned slap across the side of his head and gave him a sharp look.

"Stop man-handling him Kotetsu," The calmer of the duo state sighing lowly. "You don't want to accidentally drop him like last time."

Harry's head snapped towards him. "Wait what?"

"Never mind," The man dismissed to the gawked expression on the kid's face.

Kotetsu pouted. "Fine, fine. You always ruin my fun."

"Funny I've never heard that sort of talk coming from you in the bedroom," Izumo purred at him, cockily grinning at the lecherous gleam that burned brightly in his lover's eyes. "Down boy we have work to do remember?"

Kotetsu pouted again. "Oh alright. C'mon kiddo," draping an arm over the boy with a grin. "Ready for some more training?"

"What kind of training?"

Izumo and Kotetsu exchanged a look wearing terrifying smiles that sent shivers up Harry's spine. "And just what are you two up to?" A bemused tone snapped the three of them to the source to see Minato standing with his arm crossed over his chest with Naruto grinned at them.

"Y-Yondaime!" Kotetsu choked out fearfully, his smile turning nervous as sweat rolled down his side.

Izumo swallowed. "H-how are you today Yondaime-sama?"

"Hmmmm," The man was clearly amused; his blue eyes shifting from them to Harry and back again before approached calmly, gesturing his son along. "I sincerely hope that both of you are not trying to get Harry into trouble now are you?" His eyes flashed darkly at the Chuunins. "Like you did with Iruka when you were younger invading my office and painting it a bright, sparkly pink before ditching him when I arrived?" The two gulped. "I'm sure that none of us would like a repeat of the incident. Right?" His words were cold and menacing, his smile twisted.

"N-No sir! I-In fact Izumo and I have work to so bye!" Kotetsu grabbed his partner by the collar and ran off with amazing speed provoking large dust trail to form within its wake.

Naruto whistled. "Look at them go!"

"Kotetsu and Izumo are still as fast as I remember," Minato remarked wistfully, before groaning. "And just as destructive and mischievous," Shaking his head his blue eyes focused down at Harry. "Though I'm pretty sure that you already knew that," chuckling at the snort from the teen. "Been dragged into their plots often?"

"Only when it benefits them in the long run," Harry answered dryly.

The older blonde nodded sympathetically. "Have they tried shooting you using one of their so called," He held up his finger and did air quotations. "'super duper amazing water jutsu' yet?"

"...Once. And then I sicced Anko on them," Minato snickered as Naruto looked confused. "The purple haired woman," Harry clarified as a look of understanding appeared on the boy's face.

"She's scary," The younger blonde shivered at the memory of meeting her for the first time after waking up. "She threw a kunai at me!"

"That's Anko, alright." His father stated nodding. "Even as a child she was wild. I'm not surprised to see her keeping that attitude."

"Doesn't surprise me in the least," Harry murmured under his breath only to look innocent at the man's facial expression. "Errr... I mean, Anko is a very lovely woman that can do absolutely no wrong whatsoever?"

Minato's lips twitched. "Nice save. The timing could be better when she's actually around, though."

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind," Harry retorted not unkindly at the man and looked at Naruto. "By the way how are you holding up?"

The other blonde grinned sheepishly. "Still a bit weak, Pomfrey-sensei says that in another few days I should be back to a hundred percent and ready to go!"

"Good to hear it, but we have to have a spar before you leave. I've fought with most of the others but not you yet" Harry stated as he smirked at the boy.

Naruto smirked back. "Sure!" Inwardly he was cheering at finally being able to spar with someone that didn't treat him like trash and look down at him. Shikamaru and Shino didn't entirely count as they were too lazy to spar with him preferring to look at the clouds ('Shikamaru') or respond in a confusing manner ('Shino!') plus Yuushi and Yakumo seemed to have other things on their minds that he didn't want to pry into. Harry, on the other hand, seemed like a pretty good guy from what Iruka had told him and practically soaked up all of his Shinobi training like a sponge. He was giddy just thinking about it! "When and where should we spar?"

"What about on the lake?" Harry supplied. "You know how to Water walk right?"

The boy blanched. "N...No, Kakashi-sensei only taught us Tree walking-"

"Which is why I will be training Naruto and getting him up to Chuunin level before he returns to Konoha," The Yondaime's tone was frigid and hard, his eyes blazing with unhidden fury. He was not pleased to learn what Kakashi had done to his son and how he was treating his team or more specifically how he was not treating them. However, he decided to wait and deal with his former student upon returning to Konoha.

Harry stepped forward. "Maybe I can be of help, Y...Minato-san," Correcting himself having recalled their first meeting. "I may not have been a Shinobi for very long but I would like to help in anyway I can."

"Y...You'd do that for me?" Naruto asked surprised by the offer.

"Well yeah," Harry looked at him oddly. "That's what friends are for right?"

Friends.

That word always felt so foreign and strange to him. Growing up Naruto had been isolated from his fellow peers and even more so once he'd joined his team. He hadn't been blind to see that no one from team seven cared about him, leaving him tied to the stump and walking off into the sunset on their very first day had proven that, if Iruka hadn't come along and freed him he probably would have been there for the entire night (It wasn't Naruto's fault nobody would show him how to do the rope escape jutsu. It had happened again when Kakashi and Sakura ignored his injures for Sasuke's after the Wave battle, telling him to 'Go and take care of it yourself!' as they gushed over the other boy's less than life threatening wounds. Though to be fair he wasn't exactly dying either, and he'd been much more concerned with seeing to Haku and Zabuza's bodies.

He had kept telling himself that it would eventually get better being on the team and that they would eventually be friends. What a laugh. They were nowhere close to even becoming like that, no friends existed on Team Seven only two Uchiha ass-kissers.

But now...now he had someone...someone his age offering a hand of friendship towards him!

"Yeah," Naruto agreed with a smile as he held out his hand towards the other boy watching as Harry took it.

"We're definitely friends, believe it!"

Chapter nine-end.

Wasn't this chapter just filled with excitement? Plot! Drama! And creepy Anko to boot! And everyone's favorite thing, character development! Also, I want to thank everyone who reviewed along with my beta Alec McDowell for keeping this fic going; you guys are awesome!

For those who are wondering, Asuma's team will NOT be staying for much longer and will be departing soonish. Until next time!

Make sure to leave constructive criticism in your review! I want serious feedback!