Hello! First off, my lovely reviewers: SupernaturalPirateGirl, Lily Yamamoto, Tainted-reflection-126, Shadowed Mist, Lupanari, Masashi5920, Shadow Zeranion, Golden feathers Edward, peppymint, Uzumaki Naruko14, r2d2cool, whiteinu1, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, Hailey619, Ero-kun, Queen Haydee River, Not a member, ReaperofDarkness, yaoifangrl4ever, Blue Bragon, Lily Uzimaki, ZaBuchar, Dragon Alchemist, Oblivion's Rein, Eternal Thief, Aurora, the Blade Alchemist, Silent-Serpent, Shiva-iceflame, yllom21, YYonder, Aurora, the Blade Alchemist, and 247wannabeninja246.

Please enjoy!

Chapter 7: Fight in the Dungeons

The next morning Naruto and Gaara knew something was wrong when they came to breakfast and only Ron was there, furiously stabbing his sausages as if he was trying to kill it. They exchanged a glance before sitting down and grabbing their food.

"Hey, where's Harry and Hermione?" Naruto asked, cheerful as always despite the fact that it was early in the morning.

Ron grumbled something about Hermione having already left and he didn't care where the bloody hell that traitor was.

Realizing that something bad had occurred between the two, Naruto smiled and stuffed the rest of his breakfast in his mouth, drained a full goblet of pumpkin juice to wash it down, then proudly proclaimed, "Harry promised to teach me how to ride a broom! I'll go find him!" before dashing off.

Ron just groaned then looked at Gaara out of the corner of his eyes. He hesitated, then asked shakily, "Can you believe that git?"

Gaara finished drinking and turned towards the redhead and lifted an invisible eyebrow. "What?" He knew all too well who Ron was talking about, but from his experience with Temari and Kankurou, Ron wanted to talk about it. The concept was simple—once his siblings knew that he wasn't going to kill them in their sleep, they would occasionally join him on their roof and talk about how the other one drove them mad or how a particular mission had affected them.

The Jinchuuriki surmised that it was due to the fact that he hardly spoke and didn't express his opinion that much that he was an easy person to talk to; a sort of outlet for people to unleash their feelings. And It looked like Ron was itching to let out some harbored feelings towards Harry.

"Harry! He keeps telling me that he didn't but his name in the goblet, but we all know that it was all for the glory! Seriously, he just gets one taste of it, and suddenly he wants all the limelight." He paused and took a bite of his mashed food, where Gaara simply nodded. "And then," Ron continued, still chewing his food, "he couldn' eben tell me, hif beth mate when he dib it . . . "

"HARRY!" Naruto yelled, searching the grounds. The blond sighed. He really wanted to find him quick, because he couldn't wait to learn how to fly! Just then he spotted a boy with jet-black hair walking with a girl with curly brown hair. He immediately sprinted in their direction, only stopping when he was in front of them.

"Oi! Harry!" Said boy had a piece of toast halfway in his mouth, and was clearly taken by surprise with Naruto's sudden appearance.

"Ah." He swallowed his food. "What do you want, Naruto?"

"I was wondering when you could teach me how to ride a broom!" he said. Harry smiled in spite of himself.

"Where's Gaara, does he want to learn?" Naruto shook his head.

"Nah, he uses his sand to fly, and I don't think he'd want to sit on a broom. He's still eating breakfast with Ron." Naruto took careful note of how Harry's eyes darkened when his friend's name was mentioned. Definitely fighting, Naruto thought. He had been in enough fights with Sasuke and seen enough angry Sakuras to know when friends were having a particularly bitter argument.

"How about after dinner? Meet me in the courtyard and I'll bring my Firebolt and another broom."

"Awesome!" Naruto cried, punching his fist in the air. "Wait until I tell Kakashi-sensei! He's probably still sleeping, the lazy idiot," he said quietly to himself before disappearing again, leaving a pair of chuckling wizards in his wake.

Harry smiled. Perhaps spending time with Naruto doing the one thing he enjoyed most would help relieve some of the tension that was building up with his fight with Ron. Later on that day, he realized that it would also be a nice break from all the glares and whisperings of his fellow peers.

As he walked down to the courtyard after dinner (where he had made sure to ignore Ron) Harry smirked as he saw Naruto waiting for him. He was laying on the ground and staring up at the sky, where the tiniest indication of sunset had started to appear.

"Shikamaru's right. There is something calming about watching the clouds," Naruto said as Harry got closer. The wizard froze for a moment, then relaxed when he remembered that Naruto was probably able to sense him a while ago.

"I wonder if he's watching them right now," Naruto continued wistfully, "or if he's on a mission with Chouji and Ino." He sighed while continuing to watch the clouds. "Sakura saw us disappearing, and I wonder what she's doing right now; what Tsunade-baachan is doing to try and get us back."

Harry squirmed a little, uncomfortable with Naruto's sorrow. He hadn't really considered how strange everything must feel for the shinobi—being suddenly taken from everything they knew and loved and whisked away to a brand new place where nothing was familiar and they were where people spoke another language for Merlin's sake! It had to be troubling, no matter how safe they were here.

"How about we start now?" he said, eager to make Naruto happy. For some reason, it was the most depressing thing not to see the blond with a smile.

Naruto beamed then jumped up and sprinted over to Harry, eying the Cleansweep 7. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Harry appeared to relax at his smile, and inwardly smirked.

Mission accomplished, he thought to himself.

He had purposefully acted homesick, just to get Harry out of his brooding mood. People always seemed to forget about their troubles when a friend was feeling down, and would then try their best to appease them. Naruto had learned that trick from Konohamaru and his buddies when they came to cheer him up whenever he was feeling sad. They were pretty smart for their age.

"So, what's the first thing you do?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I guess first you'll learn how to call the broom." Harry set the brooms in front of them. "Place your right hand over the broom, and say, Up!" On his command, the Firebolt rose up to meet him and he clasped it firmly in his hand.

"What, you can't bend down and pick it up yourself?" Naruto wondered aloud. Really, did these wizards rely on their magic so much that they couldn't do something as simple as that?

"You can, but this is how we learned how to do it. I'll admit it's all rather pointless, at least I think so, but this is how Madame Hooch teaches it." Harry shrugged. "Just make sure you say it with feeling, treating the broom as if it is more than an object," he added.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the odd comment. Oh well. Whatever. Harry was the sensei. He held out his right hand and said with as much feeling as he could muster, "UP!"

On command, the broom flew up off the ground and collided with his hand with such force that Naruto yelped and shook his throbbing hand. Harry laughed in spite of himself and after a small glare at the broom, Naruto found himself laughing as well.

The next half hour was spent with Naruto learning how to properly mount a broom and he practiced some basic flying exercises. Harry had to admit Naruto was pretty good for just a beginner, but he still had a ways to go if he was ever going to play with him and the team for fun.

"I think that's enough for today," Harry called, signaling that they should dismount. Naruto did so grudgingly, and sort of skidded on the ground, almost falling over in the process.

"This is where they're stored, so you can practice whenever you like," Harry said. It was dusk now, and they needed to get back to the dormitory before Filch got on their case.

That night, Harry went up to the Owlery via his invisible cloak to write a letter to Sirius, and when he started going back, he noticed something in the distance. Curious as to what it was, he ran to the other side of the roof to get a better view, and noticed with amazement that it was Naruto on a broom.

He's practicing? Harry wondered as he watched the foreigner work on his form. The blond would race around smoothly for a minute or so, then suddenly he'd get all wobbly and fall a little, only to catch himself and try again.

Harry had to smile at his persistence and enthusiasm. Naruto was really dedicated. He watched in fascination as he repeatedly practiced again and again, improving slightly with each try.

When the Hogwarts clock tolled ten, Harry was snapped out of his trance and decided to go to bed.

Taking one last look at Naruto, he smiled warmly and whispered, "Make sure to get some sleep."

Needless to say, the next few days were not the most enjoyable for Harry. The Hufflepuffs, Slytherins, and even the Ravenclaws all gave him dirty looks. Harry was used to it, sadly, but he usually had Ron by his side to distract him.

Strangely enough, he didn't feel as lonely as he thought he would. Naruto seemed to have taken the place of Ron. Whenever Harry would mess up in a class because he was having trouble concentrating, Naruto would do something to make the whole class laugh, and lighten the mood to distract people from Harry. He also looked forward to his little flying lessons with Naruto, and even enjoyed watching him practice at night for as long as he could sacrifice. The bond's night-time practices were paying off though. Naruto's skill was exponentially improving; Harry believed it was time to have him practice with the rest of the Gryffindor team.

"Double Potions with Slytherin," Harry groaned to no one in particular as he, Naruto, and Hermione walked down to the dreary dungeons one morning. Potions was always the worst class, especially now, and he had a nagging feeling that today Malfoy and the other Slytherins had something up their sleeves in relation to his position as the fourth champion.

Sure enough, standing just outside the classroom door was Malfoy and his group, and they were wearing large badges that for an instant appeared to be S.P.E.W. badges, but Harry knew that could never happen in a million years. No—on closer inspection it turned out that they said, in luminous red letters:

Support CEDRIC DIGGORY—

The REAL Hogwarts Champion!

"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy bellowed as Harry approached. "And this isn't all they do—look!" With a devilish grin, he pressed the badge firmly and that sign disappeared, only to be replaced by another that glowed green:

POTTER STINKS

At Harry's scowl all the Slytherins burst into laughter, with each of them pressing their badges to let the second message shine throughout the hall.

"Oh very funny," Hermione said sarcastically, "really witty." Harry noticed Ron was standing against the wall with Dean, Seamus, and Gaara. He wasn't laughing, but he wasn't sticking up for Harry either.

"Want one, Granger?" Malfoy taunted, dangling a badge in front of Hermione's nose. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."

All of Harry's harbored anger boiled over and he reached for his wand so fast that even Naruto and Gaara were impressed. People in the corridor began to back away slowly, not wishing to be caught in the crossfire.

"Harry!" Hermione warned.

"Go on, then, Potter," Malfoy said quietly, drawing his own wand. "Moody's not here to look after you now—do it, if you've got the guts—"

Harry was in the process of uttering a curse, when he felt someone's hand rest lightly but firmly on his shoulder. He turned around startled, afraid it was Snape, but it was Gaara, and he stared at Malfoy with an unsettling calmness in his eyes which could only mean trouble.

Gaara stepped in front of Harry and got closer to Malfoy, whose wand was trembling slightly in his hand.

"I don't like your badges," he said coolly, and stretched forth his right hand. Suddenly, sand shot out from Gaara's robes and it ripped off the badges from all the Slytherins who wore one, tearing their clothes slightly in the process.

Bringing the clumped mixture of badges and sand in front of Malfoy's face, Gaara smirked slightly while he completely covered them in sand until it was a spherical ball, and said, "Sabaku SouShu!"

Malfoy shrieked in surprise as the levitating sphere of sand collapsed inward with a small explosion, faint red and green smoke steaming out from it.

"Here's your badges," Gaara mocked, opening his hand and letting the various debris fall to the floor in front of Malfoy, who stared at the minuscule pieces fearfully.

As people in the hall began whispering to each other in excitement, Gaara turned to a gaping Harry. "Everything all right, Har—"

"Densaugeo!" Malfoy screamed. A jet of light whizzed past Harry, but Gaara was gone.

"Nice try," a voice taunted from above. Everyone's necks craned up to see Gaara hanging upside down from the ceiling as if he was sticking to it, arms folded.

Before anyone had time to be impressed with the fact that he was standing on the ceiling, a cry from Ron caught their attention.

"Hermione!" Ron was at her side, dragging Hermione's hand away from her mouth. Naruto gasped as he witnessed her front teeth growing at an alarming rate, making her appearance resemble a human beaver. He turned to Malfoy and growled.

"Naruto?" The genin looked up at Gaara, who gave him a slight nod in Malfoy's direction.

Grinning in a rather frightening way, Naruto cracked his knuckles and inched towards Malfoy, who turned to him in terror.

"That's not very nice," Naruto said. Terror clouding his senses, Malfoy yelled, "Furnunculus!" This time everyone was expecting it so they ducked as the spell slashed through the air where Naruto had been a mere second before, except for poor Goyle, who had starting running away when Naruto turned to Malfoy. He howled as he fell, covering his face.

"You're pathetic," Naruto whispered behind Malfoy. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The audience gasped as three other Narutos appeared in a puff of smoke.

"All right! Let's go!" Suddenly all four Narutos began running in a circle around Malfoy, although it was the strangest running any of the wizards had ever seen. They leaned forward, and let their arms flap behind them, as if getting ready to jump.

The Narutos ran steadily faster, until they were nothing but a blur. After a minute or so of this, one Naruto withdrew from the formation, and slid into the boy's legs, feet first from behind.

"U—" Another clone separated, this time in front of Malfoy, delivering an upward thrust into his stomach.

"—zu—" The third clone delivered a spinning kick to his chest, barreling him into the wall.

"—maki—" The real Naruto jumped in the air, reached into his weapon pouch he kept concealed underneath his robe, and spun as he threw shuriken at Malfoy.

"Naruto rendan!" All the other clones disappeared as Naruto landed on the floor, perfectly balanced, with one hand steadying himself on the ground and the other still in the air. As the dust cleared, Naruto calmly stood up, brushed his hands, and examined his handiwork.

Not bad, he congratulated himself. Malfoy was pined to the wall by shuriken (which, to some of the onlooker's chagrin , did not harm him in any way) so that his feet didn't touch the ground. He was panting and coughing, gasping for breath.

It wasn't Naruto's usual jutsu, but if he completed it and used another clone, then that weak wizard would have been forced to spend some time in a hospital for a couple broken bones. It would be hard explaining that one to Kakashi-sensei and Dumbledore-sama.

Gaara jumped down beside him and gave Malfoy a thoughtful look, then a satisfied nod to Naruto.

It was Pansy Parkinson who found her voice first. "We're telling!" Gaara frowned, and then cautiously made his way over to Draco.

"Do you know," he began in whisper, so that only Malfoy would hear, "how deadly a single grain of sand is," (at this he held up his hand where a miniscule piece of sand floated just above it), "when it is red hot," (it transformed from a pale brown to a fiery red), "and traveling through your flesh at 160 kilometers per hour, especially when aimed at your heart?" Malfoy's eyes widened and furiously began shaking his head.

"No? Then don't tell what happened here, or else you'll find out."

Gaara almost felt pity for the slimy blond; he looked so pathetically frightened.

"Take them down," Gaara said as he turned around and faced Naruto.

Naruto sighed, then yanked the air as the shuriken dislodged themselves from the wall and flew towards him. If it weren't for the small reflection of light off the string that was attached to the shuriken, the wizards would have assumed he had used a summoning spell.

As Naruto pocketed the weapons, Malfoy pushed himself off the ground, shaking as he did so. Soon all the Slytherins were at his side.

"Are you all right?"

"They're dead for sure."

"Wait 'til Snape here's about this—"

"NO!" They all stared at Malfoy. "N-No, Snape doesn't need to know. It was ju-just a . . . misunderstanding." As his friends started to protest, he glared at them in an expression of how serious he was.

Everyone's attention was then directed to Goyle, whose face now resembled a new species of fungi. As they stood there, silent except for the quiet whimpering of Hermione and Goyle, a soft, deadly voice rang out,

"And what is all this noise about?" Their potions master had arrived, his penetrating glare taking in everything he saw. When it was apparent no one wanted to speak, he pointed a finger at Malfoy. "Explain."

He gulped. "U-Um, well, Potter was about to hex me, so I defended myself, but got Hermione, and another got Goyle . . . and uh . . . "

Snape examined the two fallen wizards, telling Goyle to report the hospital wing. After a long, calculating stare at Hermione, he said coldly, "I see no difference."

The young girl burst into tears and ran out of the corridor and out of the dungeon.

Harry, Ron, and Naruto all began shouting at once, with Naruto in Japanese. Snape couldn't tell what they were saying, but he understood the meaning.

"Let's see, 50 points each from Gryffindor, and you three have detention." He paused for a moment, then added, "Goes for you, too," pointing at Gaara, who was giving his best impersonation of an innocent child, yet it obviously didn't go over so well. (He didn't really have much experience in the matter)

The Professor had no idea what happened to Malfoy, but by the fact that he wasn't willing to say it to him meant that the newcomers had something to do with it. Maybe he could find out later.

The rest of the class passed by without anything else exciting, except for Harry being summoned for the weighing of the wands. All of Harry's hopes of possibly coming on better terms with Ron disappeared when Colin mentioned photographs. He silently cursed the little boy as he left, leaving the two shinobi to deal with a pissed off redhead.

Sadly, his break from potions didn't necessarily lighten his mood, because Rita was there, waiting for him.

As Malfoy left Potions that day and watched the two shinobi happily talk to each other (well, one seemed happy), he vowed he would get them back. No one messed with him and got away with it.

Heehee. Malfoy got what was coming to him! But I still like the guy. What will he do in return though?