Hello again everyone. x.
Miss me..?. of course not… that's because I am updating too quickly… I'm not giving you time to miss me..
Ah, well.
… well… ON WITH THE STORY!
"Animal/demon talking"
"Talking-English"
"Talking-Japanese"
Mariko's pov
I made my way to the great hall to eat breakfast with the other students. I sat down at the practically empty Slytherin table. The only ones in the great hall were the teachers, the ninja's and very few students.
"Hey guys… did anyone actually sleep last night?" Kiba asked, entering the great hall with Akamaru at his heels. I seems that all the animals had taken to following their masters every move.
"Of course… I got a few hours sleep." Naruto shouted happily.
"Hn." Sasuke answered.
"Ok, I am taking that 'hn' as a yes." Kiba muttered.
"What about you Hinata?"
"Y-yes… I managed to sleep for a few hours." He just smiled at her.
"Of course, I slept… I need to get some sleep every night to reach my full youthfulness." Lee shouted. Everyone just stared at him like he had grown a second head.
"I slept… but only for an hour or two." Sakura muttered, still watching Lee.
"cool… me too. What about you guys? Shikamaru? Mariko?" We both just looked at him with an 'are-you-stupid' look.
"Right… sorry… stupid question… You are the laziest person alive and sleep every second you can" Kiba muttered gesturing toward Shika who just rolled his eyes. "And you… haven't slept in ten years! I still don't understand how you do that." I just shrugged and turned away to eat some breakfast. I ate some scrambled egg and a little bit of bacon.
I fed a little bit of bacon to Tora, who was curled up in my lap, and she mewled appreciatively. I chuckled at how cute she was. I felt two arms wrap themselves around my waist and I leaned back into the strong chest. I rested my head back on his shoulder and smiled.
"Hey Shika."
"Hey… what lessons do you have today… maybe we will have some of the same lessons?"
I pulled my timetable out of my pocket and unfolded it.
Monday
1st period: Ancient Runes with Ravenclaw.
2nd period: Divination with Hufflepuff.
Break.
3rd period: Potions with Gryffindor.
4th period: Potions with Gryffindor.
Lunch.
5th period: Defence Against the Dark Arts with Gryffindor.
6th period: Care of magical creatures with Ravenclaw.
Tuesday
1st period: Herbology with Hufflepuff.
2nd period: Transfiguration with Gryffindor.
Break.
3rd period: Charms with Ravenclaw.
4th period: Ancient Runes with Ravenclaw.
Lunch.
5th period: Potions with Gryffindor.
6th period: DADA with Gryffindor.
Wednesday
1st period: Charms with Ravenclaw.
2nd period: Care of magical creatures with Ravenclaw.
Break.
3rd period: Divination with Hufflepuff.
4th period: Ancient Runes with Ravenclaw.
Lunch.
5th period: Potions with Gryffindor.
6th period: Potions with Gryffindor.
Thursday
1st period: DADA with Gryffindor.
2nd period: DADA with Gryffindor.
Break.
3rd period: Ancient Runes with Ravenclaw.
4th period: Divination with Hufflepuff.
Lunch.
5th period: Transfiguration with Gryffindor.
6th period: Herbology with Hufflepuff.
Friday
1st period: Charms with Ravenclaw.
2nd period: Divination with Hufflepuff.
Break.
3rd period: Potions with Gryffindor.
4th period: DADA with Gryffindor.
Lunch.
5th period: Care of magical creatures with Ravenclaw.
6th period: Herbology with Hufflepuff.
"Sounds good… looks like we will have a long week though." I nodded at Shikamaru's comment.
"Aah, Troublesome." I smiled and turned to kiss him. He was so cute sometimes.
"Well, come on Lazy bones… time for Ancient Runes." I got up and started dragging him behind me.
When we finally arrived we spent an hour talking about Seals. I sighed. I was already a seals master back home… I really didn't need this lesson seeing as this was the basics so instead I amused myself with playing with Tora. Kage was sleeping, as was his master. I smiled and watched Shika sleep. He looked so peaceful… so cute. I wondered what he was dreaming about. I hadn't slept in ten years… I couldn't remember what it was like to dream… to sleep. He shifted slightly and then it was time for me to go to Divination. I gently shook him awake and sent him off to his next lesson, Kage was, of course, trailing behind him. I chuckled quietly before making my way up to Divination.
When I got there we were told to pair up. I paired up with Hinata and I sent Sasuke over to be with Lee… he glared at me… a lot. The bug-like teacher told us to drink the tea and then pass our cup to our partner. I laughed when I saw Lee drain the cup in one gulp and literally throw the cup at Sasuke. Of course he caught it but not before activating his sharingan and glaring at him.
I looked into Hinata's cup trying to decipher the mesh of shapes. I noticed a small shape in the cup and noticed that it meant 'to gain'. I also noticed a bigger shape that meant 'loved one'.
"So… it looks like you are going to gain a new loved one… hmm… interesting." She nodded and looked into my cup.
"You… are going to find someone that you have always wanted to know… I think." I smiled.
"Ok, now that that is over and done with… I'm bored." She just giggled slightly and started talking about random things until the lesson ended.
At break Sasuke and Naruto was sat in the Great hall, talking with Kiba and Hinata. Sakura and Lee where sat under the trees near the forbidden forest. Shikamaru and myself were sat out at the edge of the lake. It was so beautiful. The dark blue water shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight. The white clouds and the bright blue sky were reflected on the water's surface. I let out a contented sigh and lay back into the cool, soothing grass. Shikamaru lay next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I rested my head on his chest. I looked out at the beautiful lake while Shikamaru was staring at the clouds passing overhead. I closed my eyes and snuggled closer into his body and his arm around me tightened.
"What are you two doing out here?" I heard someone ask. I cracked open a single eye and looked up to see… Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape.
"Go. Away. Blondie!"
"Hey! Don't call me Blondie!"
"Then go away… I am finally relaxing for the first time in years… so, bugger off!" Shikamaru chuckled and I playfully hit him in the chest. I jumped up onto my feet.
"Ok.. happy now… I am no longer comfortable or relaxed… clearly the universe doesn't like me to be happy!" Snape was watching me with a clearly amused expression on his face while Draco was trying not to laugh. Shikamaru stood up took my hand and walked with me out onto the lake. Draco gasped but Snape didn't seem too surprised… probably because he was friends with my mum… she could probably walk on water. I dispersed the charka around my feet and instantly fell under the water. After cooling off I walked back up to the surface and smiled at Shikamaru. We walked back to the edge and as soon as my feet touched the ground Snape had his wand pointed at me, drying me off.
"Thanks." I said after I was dry.
"No problem… you mum used to like going underwater too. She had learnt a Justu or spell or something to make it so that she could breathe under the water. She would spend hours talking with the animals under there… it was strange… and it took a lot of getting used to but it was just what she did… you really are a lot like her."
"But I don't look like her."
"I guess you look more like your dad… at least… I'm assuming. Perhaps you look like another family member.. an auntie, an uncle, grandparents… you never know." I smiled at him. In the short time I had spent at hogwarts so far I noticed that he was never this nice to anyone else. Only me. I could only assume that it was because he was close friends with my mother… or is it something more than that..?.
I made my way into the potions classroom with Draco and Snape as we had made our way there straight from the lake. Snape sat down at his desk while I took the empty seat in between Naruto and Kiba while Draco sat between his 'body guards' Crabbe and Goyle.
In those two hours of potions I found out that I was a natural. I always knew the answers, always made the potions perfectly (so far anyway) and always knew what I was doing… even without the instructions. I never imagined myself to be good at potions but it seems that it's in my blood. It's part of me. Now that I have started making potions I couldn't imagine me not being able to make them. So far I have decided that potions is my favourite lesson and, believe it or not, Snape is my favourite teacher! Even though I was good at potions… no-one else seemed to be. Draco was the best of everyone, excluding the Professor and myself, by far but his potions always came out slightly botched up. Almost everyone else's were a complete mess. Neville's exploded, twice. Naruto's blew up six times. Kiba's turned a sickly colour was about to explode when Snape hurried over and tried to fix it… apparently it was unfixable. It exploded. It died Kiba's hair green. I had to fix it. It was extremely funny.
At lunch we walked up to the teachers table and asked if we could have a little chat with the teachers. Dumbledore took the eight of us to his office along with the other teachers. When we got there, Dumbledore sat at his desk while the other teachers spread themselves around the room. We walked in and the first thing that caught my attention was the beautiful fiery bird sat on the desk. It was captivating. I was staring at it for what felt like hours, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. I faintly heard the conversation in the room in the back of my mind.
"So… who will be talking for you all?" Dumbledore asked.
"Mariko will, won't you Mariko?" I didn't answer. I was barely paying attention.
"Mari?"
"Boss?"
"Boss?"
"Boss!"
"BOSS!" I heard all of my different friends calling me. I still wasn't paying enough attention to answer.
"ANBU Phoenix." That name snapped me into attention.
"At your service." I saluted to Shikamaru, who had called my ANBU name. I had schooled my face into a blank mask and my eyes held no emotion… I had been in ANBU for far too long to not be able to do that.
"Glad we got your attention. Are you alright?"
"Fine." I was still staring at Shikamaru. He frowned and walked closer to me, taking my hands.
"Are you sure?" I opened my mouth to speak but couldn't. I looked back over my shoulder at the bird and couldn't help but wonder what had happened. I felt like I was connected to the bird… like I had seen it before… I just couldn't place it. I turned back to Shikamaru and before I could say anything he kissed me softly.
"Snap out of it!" He whispered so quietly that only I could hear. I smiled slightly and nodded. Then I looked over his shoulder at the others who where all looking at me, worried. I smiled.
"I'm sorry… I zoned out a little bit… I'm fine." They all smiled and nodded except for Naruto who looked deep in thought. Maybe he was talking to Kyuubi. I saw his eyes start to change colour and I frowned.
"Mariko. What was distracting you?"
"Kyuubi, nice to see you… well… hear you."
"Stop dodging the question!" I sighed.
"It's just… the bird-"
"-The Phoenix."
"I recognise it from somewhere." I noticed that when I said that Dumbledore smiled. I noticed Kyuubi nod to me and gesture towards Dumbledore. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Dumbledore.
"What?" I asked.
"Your mother had a very close connection to Fawkes. He healed her once when she was dying… perhaps she was pregnant with you when that happened… that is why you have a connection to him. When a phoenix bring someone back from the dead they are connected to them… Your mother was not dead when Fawkes healed her… but maybe, you were." I looked from Dumbledore to Fawkes a few times before shaking my head to clear the thoughts.
"That is not what we are here to discuss Headmaster… I need somewhere… somewhere private and where no students, or even teachers, will go. We need somewhere to train where we will not cause any harm to the students. We can meditate at night outside or in our rooms… but we need somewhere way out of the way to physically train." He nodded slowly, absorbing all of the information.
"Feel free to look around. I am not entirely sure of anywhere you could go."
"There is a large clearing in the forbidden forest… It would be ideal. It is deep enough in that no students would follow us… even most of you teacher would not venture that far in… We are all strong enough to fight off any crazy creatures that try to come after us… especially with Naruto, the kyuubi host, Mariko, super-genius and strongest ANBU in the village as well as being an animal master… she has always been powerful enough to make any animal bow down to her-"
"Hey! I resent that… I do not go around making random animals do my bidding!" God… you do it once and then you're an animal master!
"No but my point is that you could! And then of course there is me. I have been raised and trained to be able to control almost any animal… except for bugs… those things creep me out." Kiba explained.
"This is why we have Shino too!" Shikamaru cut in.
"Yes, I does sound idyllic, but we would need your permission headmaster to constantly be in and out of the forest whenever we feel that we need to train… But, rules! No-one goes in alone. You must be in a team of at least 3. You also must have me, Kiba or Naruto with you whenever you enter the forest. Understood?" There were many echoes of "Yes, ma'am" and "Understood boss" Throughout the group and I turned back to Dumbledore raising an eyebrow. He seemed to understand because he nodded and said;
"As long as you all follow those rules, I see no problem with you using the Forbidden Forest."
I smiled over my shoulder at my group of friends. Naruto was jumping up and down clinging to Sasuke, who was watching him with amusement written all over his face. Kiba was cheering and whooping while doing a strange sort of happy dance… again, strange child. Hinata was watching her boyfriend with a small smile on her face letting out a small giggle every now and again. Lee was shouting about a "youthful training ground for all of us youthful ninja's" while Sakura was laughing her ass off. I shook my head. We were such a weird group. Naruto tried to jump on Shikamaru to make him join in on the celebration. Naruto ended up pinned to the floor by some shuriken and Shika was on the ceiling looking down at them. Sasuke went over to help Naruto off of the floor and I jumped up to the high ceiling to speak to Shika.
"Hey, are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine… do you really think that you… died?" He asked. He looked sad at the thought. I walked closer to him, took his hand and rested my head on his shoulder.
"I don't know. Why?" He just shook his head and turned his head away. I frowned and used my free hand to turn his head so that we were face to face.
"What's the matter?" I asked softly.
"I just… I can't picture being dead… I don't know what I would do without you. You are strong and beautiful and you are one hell of a troublesome woman… and I love you… I don't want anyone to take you away from me." He whispered quietly. I gasped quietly. I wasn't expecting him to say that. He had never said that before. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him into a kiss.
"I love you too." I whispered against his lips. He smiled and suddenly I lost my footing. I slipped from the ceiling and landed… in Shikamaru's arms, back on the floor. He had beaten me down and caught me. I smiled again as he set me down on the floor. I took his hand again and said;
"It almost the end of lunch. If you want to eat go now." With that said everyone ran from the room and down to the great hall. Me and Shikamaru decided that we weren't really hungry and just decided to take a slow walk to our next lessons… but not before I walked over to see the Phoenix, Fawkes.
"Hi." I whispered. He flew onto my shoulder and nuzzled his beak into my neck. I smiled slightly and petted him for a while until I had to leave to go to my next class, DADA.
I walked into my first Defence Against the Dark Arts class and was immediately confused. All of the tables and desks were pushed up against the wall and at the end of the room stood a wardrobe. I made my way in and saw professor Lupin greeting us and telling us to get into a single file line.
"Can about tell me what a Bogart is?" Only two hands went up. Hermione Grangers and mine… although mine was rather hesitant.
"Yes… Miss Akane?"
"A Bogart is an annoying little creature that takes the shape of your worst fear. No-one knows what one actually looks like."
He nodded and told us that inside the wardrobe was a Bogart. He taught us the spell "Ridiculous". Then he let the Bogart out and Neville went first.
The Bogart turned into Professor Snape… I had to resist laughing. Then it turned into Professor Snape wearing his grandmothers' clothes. I burst out laughing along with the rest of the class. I liked Snape, I really did, but it was just so funny.
Next up was Sasuke. He stepped forward and the Bogart turned into Naruto. His eyes were blood red and he was glowing with a red aura. He had fangs and claws. Kyuubi was possessing him.
"You're afraid of Kyuubi?" I asked.
"Not exactly. I'm afraid of his taking over, and that Naruto will disappear forever." He admitted quietly. He did the spell and the Kyuubi possessed Naruto turned into a tiny chibi-version of Kyuubi. I awed at it until Naruto growled at me, which I am guessing was from Kyuubi. Sasuke smiled slightly and stepped to the side so that Naruto could take his turn.
When Naruto stepped in front of the Bogart it shifted into two shapes. One was of Orochimaru stood with an amused smirk on his face the other was an evil looking Sasuke stood at his side with a katana stood by his side. He said the spell and the Sasuke figure disappeared and the Orochimaru figure was replaced by a really old man hobbling around muttering about the Bijuu's and the sharingan. Me and Kiba, being the only ones who know Orochimaru, burst out laughing. Naruto ran over to Sasuke and hugged him trying to burry himself in Sasuke's neck. I smiled sadly watching them. Sasuke had left once and I know that Naruto's greatest fear is that Orochimaru will take him away again.
Kiba stepped forward next. His Bogart shirted and changed into two figures… Professor Trelawney, the Divination Professor, understandable I guess, and the other was… Shino. I couldn't help it I burst out laughing… Shino? Really?
"Shut up Mari! It's not Shino I'm afraid of, it's his damn bugs… they tried to eat me alive once!"
"OK, understandable… what about Trelawney?"
"Well… she reminds me of a bug." I laughed again.
Kiba said the spell and Trelawney shifted and changed into a giant bug while Shino split into all his different little bugs… then they were squished… by a fly-swat… I rolled my eyes… poor bugs. Then it shifted again and I saw Hinata. She was smiling and laughing and then she was dead. It was as fast as anything. One minute she was there and the next she was laying in a puddle of her own blood. He eyes were wide open in fear and she was staring blankly at us. Kiba was staring wide-eyed at the Bogart he was frozen he could move… a small tear ran down his face. I quickly stood in front of him and he ran over to Sasuke and Naruto who were stood by the wall comforting him.
I looked from Kiba to the Bogart. The Bogart turned into Shikamaru. I watched as he died. At first I was distraught… terrified. I shook my head. Shikamaru was stronger than that, and he was much much stronger… He wouldn't die so easily. Even if he did die… it is not something to fear… death is simply a part of life. And if he were to die, I would waste no time in joining him… I smiled. I wasn't afraid anymore. The image of Shikamaru vanished and instead there was nothing. The Wardrobe door slammed shut and locked from the inside. I tilted my head to the side, confused.
"What just happened?"
"Well, I see that at first your greatest fear was the death of your boyfriend… but then… I don't know but, you conquered that fear… and usually when you conquer one fear another one would replace it… like it did with … but with you… it didn't… you… don't fear anything…" He explained slowly. He was shocked, staring at me… I just shrugged and walked over to the guys who were still comforting the distraught Kiba.
"Well… seeing as the Bogart has locked himself away I think now would be a good time to end the class… dismissed." We all nodded and left the classroom. I sighed.
"Well, that was an interesting class… onto Care of magical creatures!"
When we eventually got to Hagrid's hut. He led us out to the edge of the forbidden forest. He asked us all to keep a safe distance away from the trees but me being me went to lean against one. He watched me closely for a while then turned to quickly scan the trees and then shrugged seemingly finding it safe enough for me to stay there.
"A'righ'. Today, yer gunna learn 'bout Hippogriffs. I'm gonna bring out ma pet Hippogriff. He's called Buckbeak. 'Kay… First thing ya need ta know 'bout Hippogriffs is that they are very proud creatures. You ought not to mess wid em. 'Kay, when ya first meet 'im, you have ta bow really low and see if he bows back… if yes, then ya can go pet 'im… If no, then ya should back away pretty quick."
Everyone nodded and he brought the Hippogriff out, Buckbeak was it? As it came out Hagrid asked for Volunteers. Everyone took a few steps back except for all of us ninja's. The others; Shikamaru, Sakura and Sasuke were stood at the back of the group not paying attention. But, of course, when everyone moved back they caught on and moved back with them. I watched with mild amusement playing on my face.
"Righ' well… Miss Akane… would ya like ta have a go?" I nodded and stood up away from the tree I was leaning on. Buckbeak saw me and scurried away slightly. I stared at him for a while until he calmed down. Hagrid was stood off to the side watching to make sure that Buckbeak didn't attack. Buckbeak stopped scurrying backwards and bowed down low and on one front leg. I raised an eyebrow and bowed back. He stood up and slowly made his way over to me. I petted his beak and smiled.
"Hey, you… aren't you beautiful?" He nuzzled into my hand and I smiled wider.
"Well, it seems that ya got it a bit backward since the Hippogriff bowed to ya first… you must be really powerful if he scurried away from you before bowing." He said thoughtfully.
"I REST KIBA'S CASE!" I heard Shikamaru shout from the back of the group. I spun round quick as lightening and threw a kunai at him. He dodged it and I took out my wand. I didn't say the spell but I thought it. Bombarda… and it blew up just like it was supposed to. I laughed evilly as Shika glared at me for setting his robe on fire. He put the fire out, took out his wand and muttered "repairo". Sakura glared at me and said that he could have been hurt.
"Well, I knew you were here and that you would be able to fix him so I didn't worry too much." She just sighed and smiled slightly. I smirked. I looked back at Shikamaru and he was smiling at me.
"A non-verbal spell… your getting stronger already." He said. I smiled and laughed slightly until I felt a nudge in the back. I turned around and petted Buckbeak again. Hagrid came up next to me and told me that he would probably let me ride him now. I climbed on with, of course, Tora in my lap and he took off. He flew into the air and I tucked Tora under my robe to keep her from flying off. She clung on tightly with her little claws and I always kept one arm wrapped around her so that she wouldn't fall. We flew through the air, over the castle and past the lake. I saw Professor Snape on the roof, he probably had a free period. I whispered in Buckbeak's ear and he landed on the roof not far from Snape.
"Yo." I said… I think I have been spending a little bit too much time with Kakashi.
He looked at Buckbeak and started making his way over.
"STOP! You have to bow first… bow low." He did. And then Buckbeak bowed back. Snape raised an eyebrow. "Ok… now you can approach him… but slowly." He did and he petted Buckbeak gently before approaching me.
"What are you doing up on that thing?" Buckbeak huffed and I swear to god… the bird glared at Snape!
"Don't call him a thing… Hippogriffs are very proud animals and he will eat you… his name is Buckbeak… I'm riding him because I got on well with him… we are learning about Hippogriffs today in Care of magical creatures." He nodded. We heard a loud whistle and Buckbeak started.
"I think that's Hagrid, he must be calling us back… bye Snape!"
"Bye."
Buckbeak took off into the air and flew around for a while before landing back where he started.
I climbed off, petted him one more time and made my way back to my friends… it was now the end of the lesson and the end of the school day. We had a little bit of free time before dinner so I went to the lake again with Shikamaru.
I hope you liked it… this was a bit longer than the other chapters because it was the first school day. x.
Please review. x.
I would love to hear what you guys think. x.