A/N: Well, after after ages and ages of procrastination here is the second chapter of my fic. I feel a little guilty, becuase I've actually had this finiashed for a while now sweatdrop but I was too lazy to edit it. Anyway, I hope you guys like it.
Harry sat idly on the Hogwarts express, trying to suppress the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong this year
Harry sat idly on the Hogwarts express, trying to suppress the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong this year. It wasn't like something terrible happening was anything new. Hell, something terrible happened every year! But this time, Harry didn't think the something terrible would be quite the same as it was before.
"Harry? Harry, I'm talking to you!" Harry looked over at Ron.
"What is it Ron?" The read-head held out a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"I've been trying to ask you if you want one." Harry stared at the box for a few seconds before turning towards the window.
"No thanks." Ron shrugged.
"Suit yourself." He popped a bean into his mouth. "Mmm...Apple." Hermione chose that moment to come back in, fully dressed in her Hogwarts robes, as they were almost there.
"I wonder who our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor will be this year?" she mused aloud, plopping down next to Ron. Harry shrugged while Ron continued to eat the Every Flavor Beans. Hermione huffed at being ignored in such a way. She decided to try again.
"I heard Professor Binn's finally retired." Harry and Ron both whipped their heads around to stare at her in shock.
"Binn's retired?!" they both exclaimed. Hermione, quite pleased that she now had their attention, smirked and nodded. There was a long silence while the two boys slowly got over the shock of learning that their ghostly teacher had actually retired. Then a thought struck Harry.
"But then…who's going to teach History of Magic?" Ron nearly dropped his box of Every Flavor Beans.
"Yeah!" he cried. "Not that I like that class or anything, but who's Dumbledore going to get to teach a subject like that?" Hermione shrugged then once again changed the subject to another interesting little tidbit she'd learned over the summer.
"I also heard that we're having two transfer students from another country." Harry's and Ron's jaws both hit the floor. After a moment Harry managed to regain his senses; Ron was still gaping.
"Transfer students?" He asked. Hermione nodded. "From another country?" Hermione nodded again. "Wow…How do you know all this?" Hermione's eyes glinted mischievously.
"I get around." Harry gave her a bewildered look.
"So not only has Binn's finally retired, but we're also getting a couple of wizards from another country." Harry ran a hand through his hair. "Won't this year be fun." Hermione shrugged. Ron (after finally picking his jaw up off the ground) absently picked out a bean and popped it in his mouth. Seconds later, he made a grotesque face.
"EW! POOP FLAVORED!"
Itachi looked out over the Great Hall, eyes taking in the multitude of students chatting to their friends while more still poured in through the giant entrance. He twitched as some girl let out a high pitched squeal, memories of being chased through Konoha's streets by fangirls becoming foremost in his mind. Unlike the previous meals before this Itachi was bored out of his mind. Normally he would be poking fun at Sasuke right now by bringing up some horribly embarrassing childhood memory that would make Sasuke turn bright red and stab his meat with a little more ferocity than was necessary. Unfortunately his little brother and the Kyuubi vessel would not be joining him at the staff table as tonight they would take their places as students in order to blend in. There was however, a new addition to the staff table; one that Itachi would like very much to roast with a powerful Katon technique.
Dolores Jane Umbridge, the brand new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher pissed Itachi off like no other, not even Orochimaru. Her toad-like appearance didn't do much for her first impression either nor did her high-pitched, breathy, little-girl voice which always made Itachi feel like she was talking to him as if he were five. His stomach churned uncomfortably and he grimaced when she noticed his blatant glaring and gave him a sweet smile in return. Next to him Kisame whispered that it probably wasn't a good idea to kill a ministry official, as that would just cause needless trouble which would make Pein unhappy, something Kisame never ever wanted to witness again. Itachi, quite personally, thought it would be entirely worth it just to rid the planet of that fowl creature.
"You don't seem to like me very much Professor Uchiha." Itachi cringed when Umbridge's voice came from directly behind him. He wondered how she had gotten back there without him noticing, especially when he was glaring directly at her. Then again, he had been pretty distracted with his homicidal thoughts. "Did I do something to offend you?" The elder Uchiha refused to turn around and look at the sickeningly sweet smile he knew was there. Beside him Kisame began wishing that he had his Samehade with him, as it was his best bet for stopping Itachi from going on a homicidal rampage.
"You're mere presence makes me want to kill furry little bunnies," Itachi finally replied. Behind him Umbridge frowned. She was about to make a remark about how rude of a comment that was, but just then the last students took their seats, signaling that the sorting would start soon. She returned to her own chair.
Down at the Gryffindor table Harry was not in a very good mood. If Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown thought he didn't know they had been talking about him a few seconds ago than they were dead wrong. He also had failed to spot Hagrid up at the teacher's table, instead finding that Grubbly-Plank woman as well as two strangers and…
"It's that Umbridge woman!" Hermione gave him an odd look.
"Who?" Harry pointed up to where Professor Umbridge was sitting. She was wearing a particularly ugly pink cardigan that made all who saw it (especially Itachi) want to gag.
"She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!"
"Nice cardigan," said Ron, smirking, though his comment went unheard by his two friends.
"She works for Fudge?" Hermione repeated, frowning. "Well then what on earth is she doing here?" Her eyes scanned the staff table.
"It seems there're two possibilities," she said grimly. "Defense Against the Dar Arts or History of Magic." Harry and Ron groaned.
"But, wait," Ron said, "who's teaching which ever one she's not?" Hermione's attitude changed drastically.
"I hope it's that hot brunet guy right there!" she exclaimed. The two boys followed her gaze. It was obvious she was referring to the two strangers and of those in particular, the long haired raven male who was openly glaring at Umbridge. Ron huffed angrily.
"I don't see what's so special about him," he muttered bitterly. Hermione rolled her eyes. At that moment McGonagall came in with the Sorting Hat, the first years plus two older boys at the very end of the line trailing behind her. Harry guessed that they were the transfer students Hermione had mentioned.
Sasuke looked up from the long precession of students and happened to catch Itachi's eye. The elder Uchiha smirked and waved slightly, bringing a scowl to Sasuke's face. Naruto was too busy staring stupidly at the enchanted ceiling while somehow not tripping to notice.
After the Sorting Hat had finished its song, which had been a little different from previous years, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione noted, the sorting began and the first students name was called. Naruto bounced on his feet, excited about getting to attend a wizarding school, even if it was for a mission. Beside him Sasuke rolled his eyes at his partner's childishness.
Finally all the first years had been finished and the two shinobi were the only one's left. Every eye in the Great Hall was trained on them and whispers filled the hall. Dumbledore stood and called for silence.
"As you can see, this year we will be welcoming two transfer students from Japan. I ask that you please welcome these two with open arms and show them a good time at Hogwarts this year. Their school back home is a bit different from ours and they haven't been learning the same things as you have so I also ask that you be patient with them as they settle in." Dumbledore sat down again and nodded to McGonagall. She held up the scroll of names and called out, "Uchiha, Sasuke." Sasuke stepped forward, carefully avoiding Itachi's eyes, and sat down on the stool, allowing the Sorting Hat to be placed on his head.
The crowd waited with baited breath as Sasuke sat, and sat, and sat some more. Harry glanced down at his watch and saw that it was approaching five minutes. Never before had he seen a sorting take this long. He looked at Sasuke suspiciously. The boy's face was blank and emotionless, giving nothing away in regards as to what was going on in his mind at that moment.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Everybody in the hall (except the ninja of course…and Dumbledore) jumped when the Hat suddenly called out the house name. Gradually the Gryffindors came out of their shock and began clapping and cheering, glad that at least one of the new transfer students was in their house. The other tables, Slytherin in particular, looked jealous.
Naruto let out a relieved sigh at the end of the long five minutes. Judging from the sorting of the first years and the murmurs of the older students it wasn't supposed to take that long. His relief didn't last for long thought as McGonagall once again looked down at the scroll and read off his name.
"Uzumaki, Naruto."
Naruto approached the Hat hesitantly. Like Sasuke, he avoided looking up at the teacher's table, specifically, at the two missing nins currently sitting there. He sat down gingerly on the edge of the stool and carefully placed the hat onto his head, biting his lip nervously. He cleared his mind of all thoughts of ramen, trying to make himself seem as intelligent as possible. Most of all though, he prayed that he would get into the same house as Sasuke. He didn't fancy trying to fend of Itachi and Kisame by himself if they decided to try and kidnap him in his sleep.
The crowd once again held their breath as the second foreign boy sat the Sorting Hat on his head. Time passed and the tension in the hall grew. Five minutes passed. Then fifteen. The students began whispering to each other, some discussing the unusual sortings, others complaining about hunger, and still others (girls mostly) were discussing the
mysterious dark-haired stranger at the teacher's table who was currently nodding off against the much less attractive blue-haired stranger.
Finally an entire half hour passed. McGonagall was debating whether or not to approach the blond foreigner and many of the students were wondering if the Sorting Hat could die or not. Just as McGonagall decided to step closer, the rip at the brim of the hat opened.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Up at the teacher's table, Itachi jumped awake, banging his knee against the table as he did so. He let out a few choice words that were drowned out due to the sudden uproar from the Gryffindor table. Naruto quickly moved to sit down next to Sasuke and, to the cheers of the hungry students, the feast finally commenced.
During Naruto's excruciatingly long sorting, Sasuke had decided it would be best to use the time during the feast to get to know Harry Potter and his two friends. He was about to nudge Naruto and communicate to him his thoughts, but when he turned to the blond, he was already introducing himself to Harry's red-headed friend.
"Hi I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" The red-head shook Naruto's hand.
"Ron Weasley. These are my friends Harry Potter and Hermione Granger." Harry and Hermione said hi. Naruto grinned at them, then gestured to Sasuke.
"This is my friend Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke grunted. "You'll have to excuse him, he hates people." Underneath the table Sasuke kicked his blond partner's shin. Naruto sent him a glare that had absolutely no effect whatsoever on the younger Uchiha brother, who could set entire forests on fire and level cities with his glare. Sasuke simply smirked at him. Naruto muttered a couple of insults under his breath and decided to ignore the other teen in favor of striking up a conversation with Ron.
When the students had finished eating and were patting their stomachs and rubbing their eyes sleepily, Dumbledore stood to give announcements. Itachi tuned him out until he came to the part about staff changes.
"We have had three changes in staffing this year," the old wizard boomed. "We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons. We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dar Arts teacher. And finally, after many long years of teaching Professor Binns has finally made the decision to retire. He will be replaced by Professor Uchiha, who has graciously traveled all the way from Japan with his friend in order to accept the position."
Many of the females in the great hall squealed when they found out the handsome dark-haired stranger was to be their professor. Sasuke and Naruto exchanged terrified looks. Harry, Ron, and Hermione meanwhile exchanged looks of Panic; Dumbledore had not said for how long Grubbly-Plank would be teaching. (Though Hermione was secretly celebrating the fact that the extremely hot dark-haired stranger was indeed going to be teaching.)
"Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the –"
Sasuke blinked when Dumbledore abruptly cut himself off and turned towards Professor Umbridge. Seeing as she wasn't very tall the young shinobi hadn't noticed at first when she'd stood, however the annoying little, "Hem, hem," she kept uttering clued him in. Then Dumbledore sat down and gave Umbridge his full attention. Out of the corner of his eyes Sasuke saw his brother grimace as though he had just swallowed something particularly nasty.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome." And so the torture began.
Itachi felt like puking again…all over that stupid pink cardigan. Seriously, that abomination along with Umbridge's voice made him sick to his stomach. He idly toyed with his knife, telling himself over and over again that throwing it at Umbridge now while she was the center of attention would most likely get him fired. He thought briefly of the wand he'd been forced to acquire and wondered if there was a spell that would make Umbridge croak like the amphibian she looked so much like. He ignored the warning looks his partner was sending him when a slightly homicidal grin spread over his face.
His eyes scanned the Great Hall for what must have been the millionth time, stopping on Sasuke and Naruto, that latter of which whom couldn't seem to keep his attention on Umbridge for more than a few seconds at a time. He noted that none of the other students, except for that bushy haired brunette at the Gryffindor table and Sasuke, were paying attention and were instead whispering to their neighbors. He felt slightly sympathetic for them. After all, at that moment he was suffering through the same torture.
Next Itachi observed the teachers. All of them, except perhaps Dumbledore, looked as pissed off with Umbridge as he felt.
"…because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained…"
Sasuke was finding it very hard to keep listening to the toad woman's speech. Naruto had already laid his head down on the table and practically gone to sleep. The stupid, half-asleep look on his face would have been entertaining if Sasuke hadn't been putting all his effort into stopping himself from doing the same. How could that Hermione girl do it? She just sat there and listened as if it was the single most interesting thing in the world. Maybe her eyes were taped open with invisible tape…
The sudden sound of brief, scattered applause snapped Sasuke out of his slight daze. He blinked and looked up at the staff table. Many of the teacher's, especially his brother, looked relieved that she had finally shut up and sat down. The students who'd been caught unaware jerked back to life, but before they could applaud, Dumbledore had stood to finish off the announcements.
Smack
Naruto's head flew up eyes wide and knife held in a death grip. The students around them looked at him strangely and Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Over here, usurontankachi." Naruto blinked a few times, then slowly turned his head to face his team mate.
"Sasuke…?" Realization dawned on Naruto's face after a moment. The blond's confused, dazed expression slowly turned into glare. "What was that for teme?" Sasuke shrugged.
"The toad stopped croaking." Naruto blinked again and looked up at the table. Indeed Professor Umbridge was once again seated and it was Dumbledore who was talking now.
"…Oh."
"Yeah, looks like that frog lady is going to cause some trouble for us this year." Naruto frowned now.
"How so?" Sasuke sighed.
"Did you listen to a single thing she said, dobe?" Naruto shook his head.
"It was all just boring gibberish." Sasuke smacked Naruto over the head again.
"Idiot," he muttered. "From what she was saying it sounds like these ministry people will be trying to interfere at this school. Like I said, looks like the frog lady is going to cause trouble."
"And your brother won't?" Sasuke looked up at the staff table. Itachi was idly toying with his knife while eyeing Umbridge in a way that told Sasuke his brother would very much like to skewer the woman with it, but knew he couldn't. It was the same look the older Uchiha had used to give his fangirls.
"We'll figure something out," he muttered. Just then Dumbledore dismissed the students and everybody stood. Not knowing where the Gryffindors were staying Sasuke and Naruto trailed along after Harry. The two shinobi noted that many of the students were pointing at Harry and whispering some rather interesting things about the wizard. They took special note of this, exchanging a pointed glance as they did so. This mission was going to be very difficult.
A/N: Again, I hope you liked it. If you saw any mistakes I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know. I edit all my own stuff and sometimes it's hard to catch your own mistakes.
Please review!