Greetings! Ahem—would you mind taking this as an early Thanksgiving present? Sorry it was another two month wait. College is killer and a job makes it all the worse. I'm doing as much overtime as I can at my work so I can afford Christmas presents. I miss my family so much and I really want to make our short 13 days together after not seeing them for four months to be memorable.
Anyways, I was incredibly grateful for all your support and kindness on the wonderful reviews I received last chapter!!! They really warmed my heart and lots of them arrived at times that I really needed a little pick-me-up. You super-amazing people are: Caranina, cardcaptor eternity, KatonRyuuka, Moonfayth, MadnessLover, Shadowzerover5, Fox Loves Shinigami, Lilly Yamamoto, [blank], MikoKriszty, r2d2cool, FallenAngelsFeelNoLove, pamellka, Diamonds-r-4ever-so-am-i, AvatardsUnite MM, HelKat, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, whiteinu1, Tsukia13, Sakamoto Michiko, Hindu Goddess, Madeline Cullen, A Bibliophile, xX Naru Fantasy Xx, Erendhyl, Ashley, Uzumaki Naruko14, Byakugan789, Jumpingbeans480, Lunatic Panddora1, candyman123, GoldenKitsuneHime13, darthgamer, Megaolix, Poet Bucky, ArrangedloveMatch, ShadowHeart251, shadow shinobi57, Dezy-X29, Tuffy Sinth, sugarcrazedninja, Kakashifangirlnumber1000, Lord Dragon Claw, Wolf05, PaddysGal, master of cheese graters, Stickman-sam, Magestig20, bored wonder, neko-kougal, Stalker of Stories (2), FantomoDrako, Hydok, and dragoncrazy247 (14)!
And now—the 600th and 650th reviewer!! Yay! The 600th reviewer was yuroshima and as a prize, here are a batch of chocolate chip cookies! Enjoy and thanks so much!
The 650th reviewer was dragoncrazy247! She not only wrote the 650th review but went through and reviewed all 14 chapters!!! Hurray! For this she gets a nice pumpkin pie with ice cream and whipped cream! I'd also like to thank A Bibiophile and MikoKriszty again for continuing to review every chapter! Here's some pumpkin pie for you as well!
I don't think I can promise as long of a chapter as last time, but I'll see how I do. Cheers!
Note: The real prank that Fred and George have in store for Kakashi isn't going to happen for a while, so sorry! Don't worry, I've got great plans for it, so the wait will be worth it . . . I hope. Besides, I think you'll find what happens in this chapter to be enough to tide you over. (-major grin-)
I'd also like to thank my new beta cardcaptor eternity who has graciously agreed to check over my work and make sure that it's good enough for my lovely readers! Arigato!
Naruto settled happily on his four-poster bed, mulling over the dance. He had an amazing time with Ginny and it was coincidentally the first date he had been on—since Sakura had never accepted his proposals. The genin still had feelings for his fellow teammate, but it was nice to have someone want to be with him for once. Naruto was sure that Sakura would warm up to him eventually—so all that was left up to him was to wait patiently.
Once the dancing had started, Naruto had lost track of the other wizards but as he and Ginny left when it got too late, they saw that there was a heated argument going on between Ron and Hermione.
"What's wrong with them?" Naruto asked, completely bewildered at the furious expressions on their faces.
Ginny sighed. "It's a long story and this sort of thing happens on and off. Ron is too much of a git to understand what's going on, and Hermione is too proud to admit her feelings."
"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!" Hermione screamed, eyes glistening as she spun around and ran up the staircase into the girl's dormitory.
"I've got to go help her," Ginny explained, her tone a mixture of concern and distress. "Thank you so much—I had a great time!" she smiled before kissing Naruto lightly on the cheek and ran after Hermione.
Naruto's mouth fell open and a slight blush appeared on his cheeks, followed by a toothy grin that Konoha shinobi would liken to Jiraiya.
"Forgetting about Sakura so soon, eh?" Kakashi grunted behind him, startling the genin.
"Nani?! No, I-I . . . " Naruto struggled to come up with an answer, but turned the tables on Kakashi.
"Enjoyed dancing with McGonagall?" he teased, elbowing his sensei in the ribs. Kakashi glared at him so intensely that Naruto gulped and rubbed the back on his neck nervously in an attempt to deflect the anger directed at him.
"I knew I shouldn't have told that story!" he groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead as he slumped into a nearby chair. Despite the fact that his sensei was in obvious distress Naruto couldn't help but delight in it. The jounin's tie was loosely flopped against his slightly rumpled suit and his hair was out of place (not that you could really tell) which added to his disheveled look.
"Did something else happen?" Naruto prodded, in reference to his unkempt look.
Kakashi's visible eye practically threw kunai at Naruto but then replied, "No. Once I finally got away from the teachers there were a lot of younger girls practically harassing me for a dance, and then Fred and George kept pestering me about their 'prank'."
"Are you going to get them back?" the blonde asked with obvious excitement as he leaned towards his sensei, hands on the armrest. Kakashi raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
"It's time those boys learn the second half of the story."
With the excitement of the Yule Ball over, everyone seemed to remember that they had homework to do, and spent the rest of the holiday break before term catching up. The happy cheer that hung in the air was now replaced by a growing sense of dread.
Naruto was having a hard time with the homework, seeing as how he neglected it a lot the few years he spent in the Ninja Academy.
"Mental training is just as important as physical training," Kakashi reminded the genin as he flipped through the pages of a book that appeared to be all about magical experiments gone awry.
"I prefer physical training," Naruto mumbled as he glared at the transcribed homework before him. "We're not even from around here! Why do we have to do the homework anyway?"
"Because it couldn't hurt to learn new things," Kakashi sighed. "You might find something in here that could help you in battle later on. Speaking of that, have you paid any thought to a new jutsu yet?"
The genin's expression brightened as he was reminded about his exciting task, but then it fell.
"No," he admitted truthfully. "I haven't had that much time to think about it yet." He had spent quite a few nights trying to come up with something, but to no avail. This distressed the shinobi greatly because he had a reputation to consider. Wasn't he the greatest prankster in all of Konoha? He wouldn't be able to look himself in the mirror if they returned home whenever they did and he didn't have anything to show for it.
But this just made him all the more determined to create a new jutsu. All it needed was the perfect moment, and he just needed to sit by and wait for it to come along and then take advantage of it.
"Ne, Kakashi-sensei? When can we go train in the Forbidden Forest?" Naruto asked eagerly, desperate for a distraction. Plus, the snow wasn't going to last forever and he wanted to take as much advantage of it as he possibly could.
Kakashi laid the book on his lap and appeared to look thoughtful. "How about after you're done with that Divination homework?" Naruto stuck his tongue out at his sensei but realized he might as well get going on it.
"You should have quit when I did," Gaara said as he worked on trying to read a Herbology book in English. Not being able to sleep meant Gaara usually had his homework done sooner than most and he rather enjoyed it because it made the time pass by quickly. When he wasn't doing homework he did his best to learn English, using the book that Hermione gave him for Christmas as a guide. He was getting better at reading it, but the problem was speaking it.
He would take off his hitai-ate at various points in the day and strain his ears to be able to interpret the sounds that the wizards made and tried to connect them with the words he read, but so far that was proving to be more difficult than he thought. Just meant he had to try harder.
At time long last the break was over and everyone had to go back to classes. Everything went about the same as always, until Care of Magical Creatures class, where instead of meeting up with Hagrid, there was an elderly woman who acted so much like a drill sergeant the wizards briefly wondered if they stumbled across a brand-new army class.
"Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago," she barked.
"Who're you?" Ron asked, staring up at her. "Where's Hagrid?"
"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," she replied hotly. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."
"Where's Hagrid?" Harry repeated loudly.
"He is indisposed," said the woman shortly before turning her attention to the rest of the class.
"What does indisposed mean?" Naruto asked, scratching his head at the woman's explanation.
"It means he is unfit for work," Kakashi's voice said behind them, causing the wizards and shinobi to turn around.
"And why are you here so late?" Naruto scolded.
Kakashi nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Old habits die hard?"
He had been very good at being quite prompt on most everything he had to attend so far in this wizarding world, only because he was seeing it as some sort of mission, concerning himself with learning as much magic as he could and learning all about the wizards that the library would allow, as well as keeping up on the two genin and holding his weekly taijutsu class. Plus, there were the occasional visits with Hagrid that he enjoyed.
The chief excuse was because his primary reason for being late was gone. There was no memorial stone to spend hours at, mourning the loss of his friends and telling Obito all about the previous day and trying to ease the pain and guilt in his heart that he knew could never be washed away. To be honest the lack of it was starting to trouble him, but he had been on extended missions before, yet at those times he was constantly on the move or learning about the enemy. At Hogwarts it was a lot more lax and other than the brief problem with Naruto and Gaara with that boggart, things had been relatively quiet. Kakashi was dying for some action.
"Sure," Naruto sneered, all too used to his sensei's excuses.
"Do you know what's wrong with Hagrid?" Neville asked the jounin, concern etched on his face. Kakashi shrugged.
"I was going to help him out with his class today, so I have no idea," he admitted truthfully.
"Would you mind focusing your attention on the class?" Professor Grubby-Plank called after them angrily, her eyes narrowing at Kakashi's outlandish look with obvious disapproval.
The wizards quickly caught up with the strict teacher and wondered what would happen in the lesson. Their questions were answered when they laid eyes on the pure white unicorns tethered to a tree on the edge of the forest, to the obvious approval of the females in the class.
"Boys keep back!" their substitute barked again. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it . . . " Once she saw that the girls were kept under control she strode over to the shinobi and wizards.
"I can tell you are not a student so might I ask what you are doing here?" she snapped at Kakashi.
The jounin didn't even appear fazed. "You are correct, I am not a student, but I have been given permission by Dumbledore-sama to attend any classes I see fit for educational purposes. I usually assist Hagrid in his classes. You could say I'm here on diplomatic immunity," he added with a small chuckle.
Kakashi recalled the event where he had to escort the daimyo and his son around Konoha on one occasion and it was not pleasant. Being the supreme ruler seemed to give the man and his son a sense of obligation to do whatever they felt like and it was only due to Kakashi's years in ANBU that he resisted the urge to strangle the two when their prodding and continuous disapproval of one so young accompanying him, along with everything else they saw. However, they weren't total morons because they understood the importance of the shinobi village, and knew without it there would be trouble from all the other country's shinobi.
The woman frowned, obviously not pleased with the answer but knew she could do nothing of it. "Well, I can assure you that I don't need any help," she announced before briskly turning her attention to the girls petting the unicorns.
"Charming, isn't she?" Ron scowled.
"So, Hagrid didn't tell you ahead of time that he was going to be sick?" Harry asked the jounin.
"Huh? No . . . he didn't," Kakashi replied, seemingly distracted by the unicorns. "I'll be right back."
Everyone but Naruto raised an eyebrow as the jounin calmly but eagerly made his way over to the unicorns, his movements monitored closely by Professor Grubbly-Plank.
"I'm sorry but you might not have heard that I announced that unicorns prefer a woman's touch—" she began as she stepped in front of Kakashi.
"No, you were quite clear," he said, cutting her off.
"Then why are you—"
"Because I want to," he replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. When it appeared that the teacher was about to protest he raised a visible eyebrow.
"Do you really think you can stop me?" he asked quietly, giving the woman a little taste of the intimidation that he reserved for his enemies on the battlefield. Her eyes widened and she started shaking slightly but didn't make a move as Kakashi walked past her. The girls who were nearby had gotten a little taste of what he unleashed at Professor Grubbly-Plank as well and they shrunk back from the line, giving him a wide berth to the unicorns that waited patiently.
"Why, thank you," he smiled as he made his way to the unicorns, who instead of trying to get away from him actually moved forward and were delighted at his touch.
"Merlin's beard," Ron whistled.
"He's got a thing for animals," Naruto chuckled. "He even commands a whole ninken squad, which is basically a group of ninja hounds," he explained.
"But what's up with Hagrid?" Harry wondered aloud. "You don't think a skrewt—"
"Oh he hasn't been attacked, Potter, if that's what you're thinking," Malfoy said softly. "No, he's just too ashamed to show his big, ugly face."
"What d'you mean?" said Harry sharply as Naruto cracked his knuckles while grinning at Malfoy dangerously.
The boy gulped and hastily pulled out a folded newspaper. "There you go," he said somewhat shakily. "Hate to break it to you, Potter . . . "
Harry immediately snatched it and began reading, with Ron, Seamus, Dean, Neville, Naruto, and Gaara peering over his shoulder. Naruto had no idea what any of it said, but he didn't want to be left out. Gaara's brow was furrowed as he struggled to read the small print. He was able to catch some words, like "Dumbledore" and "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" but not enough for him to understand what the article spoke about.
"What did it say?" Naruto begged once he saw that the wizards were all finished. By the looks on their faces, it wasn't good.
"What d'you mean, 'we all hate Hagrid'?" Harry spat at Malfoy. "What's this rubbish about him getting a bad bite off a flobberworm? They haven't even got teeth!" he growled, pointing at Crabbe who sniggered with pleasure.
"What did it say!" Naruto demanded, irritated that no one would answer him.
His plea went unheeded as Harry and Malfoy continued to bicker, so Naruto just snatched the newspaper from Harry and translated it into kanji with the help of his wand and he and Gaara read through it quickly.
"Half-giant?" he said incredulously.
"Yes," Malfoy said smugly. "Now all the mummies and daddies are going to think he'll eat their kids—"
"That's so cool!" Naruto exclaimed, to the disbelief and disgusted look on Malfoy's face.
"You honestly think that's cool?"
"I've never met a half-giant before—not even a full one!" Naruto recalled hearing stories about shinobi who met and fought giants, but as he grew up everyone just laughed and told him that giants didn't exist, much to his disappointment. Apparently they really existed here.
"How can you—"
"Are you paying attention over there?"
Everyone turned their attention to Professor Grubbly-Plank who was starting to explain all the magical properties of unicorns, looking rather nervous as Kakashi past her, done with petting the unicorns.
"Enjoy yourself?" Naruto smirked as he came closer. Kakashi narrowed his eyes and treated his student to some of what he unleashed on Professor Grubby-Plank, causing the nearby wizards to squirm. The two genin were hardly affected, seeing as how they dealt with the feeling all the time simply due to their experiences as shinobi.
Bloody hell, how does he do that? Ron wondered as he failed in suppressing a shudder.
Kakashi smiled. "I guess I'll go and try to see what's bothering Hagrid then," he announced before disappearing, leaving them all to the rest of their charming lesson.
Later on that night, all the wizards could do was talk about Hagrid.
"I still don't get what's so bad about him being half-giant," Naruto said.
"Well, according to history there have been no . . . nice giants," Hermione said weakly.
"It's in their nature to kill and they're very vicious," Ron continued.
Gaara suddenly found himself very self-conscious and uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going.
"They're basically monst—" Ron immediately regretted what he said and covered his mouth in horror, wishing he could take back the last few seconds. Hermione bit her lip and Harry cringed as the two shinobi suddenly became extremely quiet with their gaze fixated on the floor, with Naruto's fists clenched and it looked like there was a little bit of sand coming out of Gaara's robes.
Thankfully the awkward silence was interrupted by the now familiar poof that announced Kakashi's arrival.
"Did you speak with him?" Harry asked quickly, eager to divert the subject.
"No, I was not able to. He wouldn't let me in," Kakashi sighed. "I knew he was there—all my senses confirmed it. I could have easily gotten in, but then that would have been rude. I did talk to Dumbledore-sama about it though," he added as he noticed their crestfallen faces.
"Let's hope he can talk some sense into him," Hermione said.
A few days passed, and still no word from Hagrid. The Gryffindors were starting to get concerned, but there wasn't much they could do. Daily life continued on as always.
"I'm so sick of all this bloody homework!" Ron whined one afternoon. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"There really isn't that much of a difference compared to all the previous years," she scoffed. "Why blow up about it now?"
"I need a break," he announced as if he didn't hear her.
"We just got off of vacation!" she said incredulously. "How are you going to last the rest of the school year?"
"Don't know, don't care," he answered cryptically. "Where's Naruto?"
"He's with Gaara and Kakashi, training in the forest I think," Harry said offhandedly and he tried to focus on his Potions essay about the positive and negative historical effects that came from the development of Veritaserum.
"Let's go see what their training is like!" Ron proclaimed eagerly.
"Who was the one who never wanted to step foot into the Forbidden Forest again?" Hermione pointed out.
"As long as it's not too deep in," Ron admitted. "Why not? Aren't you interested in seeing all that they can do?"
"B-but how will we even find them?" Hermione asked, struggling with her intense curiosity and feeling of what was proper.
"The Marauder's Map!" the redhead explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "It should cover the Forbidden Forest, right Harry?"
Harry nodded, eager for an attempt to stall his essay as long as possible. "I'll go get it."
"I can't believe you guys are going to go through with this," Hermione muttered as she tried to focus on her Ancient Runes reading.
"Come on Hermione—I know you want to just as much as we do," he teased. After a few seconds she sighed and slammed her book shut, her lower lip protruding slightly as she resigned herself to defeat.
"I've got it!" Harry said excitedly, and his two friends encircled him as he said the magic words. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." They waited as the ink danced around the parchment and quickly scanned the Forbidden Forest.
"There they are!" Ron exclaimed, pointing to the three dots that were moving so fast at times it was hard to distinguish their names. He was relieved that they weren't too far from the edge of the forest.
"That's not that far from the Quidditch field and Hagrid's hut," Hermione noted.
"Let's go then!" Ron said as he hastily scooped up his homework and pulled on his jacket.
"Can't they—you know . . . sense us?" Hermione worried.
"She's right you know," Harry agreed. "Remember how Gaara was able to tell it was us from under the Invisibility Cloak?"
Ron frowned for a moment, then shrugged. "I get what you're saying, but did you see how fast they're moving? I doubt that they will even notice us." Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and Harry shrugged before putting on his jacket and scarf, yet Hermione still couldn't help but feel as if despite being that focused on their training they would still be able to sense them. She had reluctantly learned never to underestimate the strange shinobi.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
"Jibaku Fuda: Kassei!"
The wizards were alarmed as they heard several explosions followed by cries that sound like a lot of Narutos and the strange popping sound they had learned to attribute to his clones being dispersed. Wondering what could have happened they quickly jogged the rest of the way, being careful underneath the Invisibility Cloak. Although being invisible didn't do much seeing as how they could smell and hear them, the wizards still felt more concealed with it.
Ducking behind a bush, the three wizards' mouths fell open as they gazed at the scene before them. The smoke from the explosions was slowly ebbing away to reveal Gaara's sand detaching from the dome it had created around him and Naruto was slowly pushing himself off of the ground, his clothes slightly singed while Kakashi was standing before them in a defensive position.
"Don't tell me you two didn't notice those exploding tags I hid?" he mocked. Harry and Ron quickly glanced at Hermione and she hastily gave a rough translation.
"Exploding tags?"
The two genin didn't answer but instead attacked the jounin with renewed vigor. Gaara sent his sand chasing after the jounin while guiding it gracefully in an almost mesmerizing dance, all the while trying to force the jounin into Naruto's path. The blonde created a few more bunshin and some raced forward to engage in taijutsu, then a few others came after him with brandished kunai in hand once the first group failed. The clang of metal against metal rang through the air as Kakashi fought five bunshin with a kunai in each hand, all the while avoiding Gaara's sand and using it to his advantage by forcefully putting the bunshin in the path of the intruding sand.
Suddenly the wizards heard a strange noise that sounded like some obscure swirling machine, and their mouths dropped when they saw the sphere of blue energy in the hands of two Narutos, and gasped when it made contact with Kakashi. The teacher went rigid for a second but then he was covered in a puff of smoke and when it gave away the swirling sphere simply shattered a log. Naruto growled angrily and hastily glanced all around him, trying to spot his sensei.
After a few seconds had passed the genin quickly jumped up and did a couple back flips not a second before the ground beneath him shattered and Kakashi emerged, slicing a kunai through the air where Naruto had been. However, he hadn't even completely emerged from the ground when Gaara's sand quickly wrapped itself around his torso and Gaara threw Kakashi in the air and then onto the ground like one would with a whip.
As Kakashi made contact with the ground he dispersed in a cloud of smoke, letting the wizards know that it must have been another clone and they scanned the area for where the true Kakashi would be.
"Let's see how your taijutsu is." The wizards whipped their attention to Gaara who had Kakashi standing behind him. The genin adjusted his footing and surprisingly Kakashi's attacks made contact with sand that suddenly appeared in front of Gaara in protection without him moving it at all.
"How's that happening?" Ron whispered.
"Try to fight back Shukaku's protection," Kakashi sighed, as he continued to fight the sand. "You'll never improve if you continually rely on the sand shield to protect you. Remember what happened with Lee?"
Gaara didn't answer but clenched his jaw and furrowed his brow in concentration, then did his best to block Kakashi's kicks and blows. At one point it became too much for him and he was thrown backwards only to have his sand catch him as he slid on the ground.
"Take this!" Naruto called as he leapt quite a couple yards into the air along with a clone which he changed into a peculiar metal star with four curved blades and tossed it towards the jounin. It spun so fast that the blades all blended together and the wizards gulped as they realized that at that speed the weapon would most likely slice through an entire limb without much resistance.
Kakashi took a small step back, then ducked just as the weapon came whizzing at him but just as it was above him he stuck his hand upwards and miraculously caught it by the small circle in the middle. Once he had a good grip on it he then jumped into the air and threw it back towards Naruto, who obviously couldn't duck in time but he was saved when Gaara's sand pulled him down out of the path.
"Make sure to dispel your clone," Kakashi sighed, not in the least bit tired. Naruto quickly formed a seal and the shuriken disappeared.
The battle continued on for about half an hour, but the wizards barely noticed, too mesmerized by the beauty of their seemingly impossible abilities. They had no words to describe what they had seen, and were simply aghast at it, now almost fully understanding the true capabilities of the shinobi. Who knew they could be so dangerous and powerful?
As the sure signs of dusk streamed from the treetops, Kakashi called for a halt in their training, which Naruto and Gaara were apparently quite grateful for. Naruto dispelled the remaining three clones and collapsed on the ground, panting heavily as beads of sweat ran down his forehead. Gaara walked to a nearby tree that was now more of a stump and slid down it, trying to catch his breath. Kakashi simply leaned against a half-shattered tree and focused on calming down his heart rate, yet for all the wizards could tell he was barely winded.
"So are you guys going to stay there forever or are we going to have to drag you out?" the jounin smirked, looking in their direction. The wizards tensed as they realized they were caught, but begrudgingly emerged from their hiding spot with Harry pocketing the cloak.
"How long did you know we were there?" Hermione sheepishly asked.
"Since the beginning," Kakashi said truthfully and he made his way over to them with his hands in his pockets. They looked at Gaara and he gave them a slight nod, while Naruto continued to lie on the floor. "Oi!" Kakashi chided, nudging Naruto with his foot. "You have the greatest stamina of anyone I know. Why're you acting exhausted?"
"R—ramen!" the blonde whined, causing his sensei to roll his eye.
"Figures," he mumbled but couldn't help smiling. "I'm sure Dobby can make you some."
As if that was the magic phrase Naruto leapt off the ground with so much energy it was as if he hadn't spent hours training at all. "Yatta!"
"Why do you do that every time?" Gaara wondered aloud, making his way over to everyone.
"Because each opportunity to have ramen should be treasured!" Naruto explained, distressed that Gaara had not grasped such an essential fact of life.
As Naruto struggled to explain the sanctity of ramen to Gaara the three wizards couldn't help but gape at the shinobi, amazed that ones who could seem so normal (despite their looks and little quirks) could be so powerful and dangerous! They felt as if they were looking at the shinobi in a whole new light.
"You all right?" Kakashi said, interrupting their thoughts.
"You plan on wrecking the whole forest?" Ron asked in disbelief as he surveyed their surroundings. Trees were uprooted, some were sliced right through, some shattered by Naruto's Rasengan and Kakashi's Chidori, the ground was overturned, causing the brown dirt to clash horribly with the white snow; it was like a battle zone.
The jounin shrugged. "We usually stay in one place for a week and a half or so, then move somewhere else in the forest before the damage becomes too severe. Before that we also try to fix where we used to be so that it can heal itself. Would be a lot faster if I had wood element affinity," he trailed off. Despite the fact he had read Tenzo's movements many times through the years, simply copying the seals with his Sharingan wasn't enough. It was basically a Kekkai Genkai, something the Sharingan was powerless against.
"Now, shall we go to dinner before Naruto hyperventilates from the lack of ramen?" Kakashi chuckled as he started to usher them all away.
That Saturday was a Hogsmeade trip, and everyone was looking forward to it. After walking around for a while Harry suggested they go to the Three Broomsticks with everyone mutely agreeing. Just as they were settling down they noticed Ludo Bagman and he quickly made his way over to them, with the group of goblins he had been conversing with eyeing his every move.
"Wonder if I could have a quick, private word, Harry?" he said eagerly. "You couldn't give us a moment, would you?" Harry glanced as his friends who shrugged and continued with what they were doing but Kakashi peered at Bagman curiously, as if trying to read his very soul. Bagman gulped.
"I-I assure you, Mr. Hatake," Bagman stuttered. "I won't hurt young Harry here! Just a quick word." Kakashi stared at the man for a second longer then looked at Harry and gave a small nod. Once Mr. Bagman's back was turned and he tried to steer Harry as far as he could Harry saw Kakashi discreetly point to his own ear, signaling that he was going to be listening in.
Oh yeah, he's my bodyguard, Harry thought dryly.
The whole conversation was very strange indeed, and the young wizard was shocked at what Bagman offered.
" . . . if I can help at all . . . a prod in the right direction . . . I've taken a liking to you . . ." (Harry noticed Kakashi stiffened at the mention of Bagman offering him help) "the way you got past that dragon! . . . well, just say the word."
"We're supposed to work out the clues alone, aren't we?" he said, trying to keep his voice casual. He couldn't believe that the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports was considering breaking the rules in his favor! There had to be another reason other than him simply feeling guilty for Harry being so unceremoniously thrown into the tournament.
Deciding it wasn't worth pursuing the subject Harry gave Bagman a false smile and assured him that he had almost cracked the secret behind the egg. When Fred and George showed up Harry took that as his cue to leave and did so happily.
"He's offering you help with the egg?" Kakashi frowned once Harry had joined them.
"He's what?" Hermione said, looking very shocked.
"How can he do that if he's one of the judges?" Ron wondered aloud.
"No idea," Harry admitted. "When I asked why, he said that he wanted a Hogwarts victory, but I asked if he was giving Cedric Diggory any help he said he wasn't and got frustrated with me."
"Do you want me to follow him?" Kakashi asked, his hand involuntarily reaching for his weapon pouch. He highly doubted Ludo Bagman was the one he was looking for, but then again, appearances could be deceiving. After years on the battlefield, the jounin had learned never to assume anything.
"N-no, there's no need. Bagman's not capable of something like this," Harry said quickly, noticing the movement the older man had made.
"He's just a bit of a nuisance," Hermione added. The jounin reluctantly sat back down, all the while committing the man's "magic" signature to memory so he could pick him out at any time. It didn't hurt to be on the safe side.
"So, Harry," Hermione continued, shifting her attention as she took a sip of her butterbeer. "How are you coming along with figuring out the egg's clue?" He had told her earlier that he was close to solving it, but there had been a slight hesitation in his voice.
Harry was saved from answering by a certain person entering the pub.
" . . . didn't seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? Now, why would that be, do you think? And what's he doing with a pack of goblins in tow anyway? Showing them the sights . . . what nonsense . . . "
Rita Skeeter.
"Trying to ruin someone else's life like you did with Hagrid's, eh?" said Harry loudly, unable to help himself.
Rita turned around to face Harry and after glancing at the shinobi besides him took a step back, but then looked at the crowd of customers and seemed to assume that they wouldn't try anything in such a crowded area.
"Our readers have a right to the truth, Harry. I am merely doing my—"
"Who cares if he's half-giant?" Harry shouted. "There's nothing wrong with him!"
The whole pub had gone silent, and people waited with bated breath to see how this would unfold.
"How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know, Harry? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father substitute?"
"You horrible woman," Hermione said angrily, standing up besides Harry. "You don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman—"
"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand," Rita said coldly. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl . . . not that it needs it—" she added, eyeing Hermione's bushy hair.
Ron leapt from his chair, knocking over his butterbeer and leaking its contents across the table.
"Oi, I think it's time to go," Kakashi said sternly, grabbing Ron and Harry's arms. The two reluctantly agreed and the group of six began to leave. As Kakashi passed Rita he leaned in closely.
"I hope that we don't have any more trouble from you, ne?" he said calmly, but with such force and hatred that it almost sent Rita down to her trembling knees. He nodded at her understanding and gave a small smirk, but maintained his hardened look as he exited the pub.
When he and the others were gone Rita collapsed in a chair, with her photographer fretting over her and trying to give her a glass of water and fanned the woman with a piece of parchment.
"Are you all right?" he asked frantically.
"'Course I'm all right," she snapped, noticing the eyes of everyone on her. She did not like being made a fool of. Due to the absence of the pesky girl and those strange foreigners she suddenly had her confidence back. With a small growl she whipped out her Quick Quotes Quill and snatched the parchment out of Bozo's hands.
"No one makes a fool out of Rita Skeeter," she said vehemently.
"She'll be after you guys next," said Ron in a low and worried voice, looking at Hermione and the shinobi.
"Let her try!" said Hermione defiantly; she was shaking with rage. "I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Oh, I'll get her back for this. First Harry, then Hagrid . . . "
"You don't want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter," said Ron nervously, looking back and forth between the others for help. "I'm serious, she'll dig up something on all of you—"
"My parents don't read the Daily Prophet. She can't scare me into hiding!" Hermione said angrily.
"Yeah, and we're going to be leaving here soon," Gaara pointed out, trying to keep the small amount of doubt out of his voice. "It's not like we really care about what a simple article could say."
"And Hagrid isn't hiding anymore! He should never have let that excuse for a human being upset him! Come on!" Hermione continued, leading them to the gamekeeper's hut.
The curtains were drawn and they could hear Fang's barks in the background.
"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted, pounding on the front door. "Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if you're half-giant!"
"Yeah!" Naruto added. "Besides, Gaara and I are practically half-demon so we understand how you feel!"
"You can't let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you!" Hermione continued. "Hagrid, get out here, you're just being—"
The door opened. "About t—" Hermione stopped as she found herself face-to-face with Albus Dumbledore.
"Good afternoon," he said pleasantly, smiling down at the peculiar crowd before him.
"We—er—we wanted to see Hagrid," said Hermione in a small voice.
"Yes, I surmised as much," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Why don't you come in?"
"Oh . . . um . . . okay," said Hermione.
Hagrid looked horrible and it was all the wizards and shinobi could do to convince him to not care about what Rita Skeeter said and they begged him to return to his classes.
When everyone left an hour later everyone felt much lighter—all except for Harry. Hagrid's expression of imagining Harry winning the tournament was burned in his memory and he figured that it was high time to swallow his pride and follow Cedric's hint.
That night when everyone was in bed Harry crept downstairs and sought Gaara, who was already looking in his direction quizzically, noticing the egg and Invisibility Cloak he had with him.
"I hope you're not thinking of working on that now," the redhead said calmly. "It would wake everyone up and they wouldn't be happy with you."
"I-I'm not working on it—on it here," Harry tried to explain. "I need to be somewhere else in the castle . . . and no one can know where I'm going."
"What do you need me to do?" Gaara asked, able to ascertain the meaning behind Harry's approach.
"Do you think you could open the portrait for me? I-I'm going to travel under the Invisibility Cloak so I can't have the Fat Lady know I'm walking around as well as anyone else for that matter."
Gaara nodded his understanding and picked up Crookshanks while Harry concealed himself beneath the robes. The genin pushed the door open just wide enough for Harry to get through but not too much that it would arouse suspicion.
"What are you doing?" a groggy voice called out. Gaara glanced at the half-asleep portrait and said simply, "I thought that Crookshanks would want to get out, but apparently he doesn't want to," he said as he focused his attention to the placid cat in his arms.
"Fine—just shut the door already," the Fat Lady sighed before falling back into her blissful sleep. After making sure Harry was gone, Gaara shut the door quietly and made his way over to the couch, where he sat down with his legs crossed and closed his eyes in concentration. When Harry wasn't looking Gaara had put some of his sand into the boy's hair so he could track him wherever he went through the castle.
He would have rather used the Third Eye, but seeing as how Kakashi said that even the Sharingan couldn't see through the Invisibility Cloak, he doubted the small ball of sand would be able to. The jounin confided in him that when he first learned about the cloak he had pretended that the Sharingan could see through it, just to make Harry think that he wouldn't be able to get away with anything with the jounin keeping watch. The only way he knew he was there was because he could hear, smell, and sense him.
And so Gaara had to resort to keeping a mental tab on Harry, wondering how long the journey would take. After a few minutes the connection broke as Gaara felt the sand become too heavy and dispersed for it to be of any use to him now. Judging from past experiences, the genin surmised that it was because Harry had his head under water. Frantic, Gaara leapt to his feet and transported himself to the location he felt the connection last.
"What's wrong, Harry?" he called out in concern, some of his sand already out and his whole body in a defensive position.
Harry just stared at the shinobi with his mouth slightly open, not even bothering to move the dripping hair out of his eyes.
"What in blazes are you doing here?!" he shouted, finding his voice. Gaara's eyes widened as he took in his surroundings. They were in some sort of hot spring, with the large bathing pool and all, but instead of being open to the outdoors and inviting, it was enclosed and there were hundreds of faucets surrounding the rim. It was apparent that they must emit some type of fragrant bubbles, due to the incredibly strong smell Gaara detected.
Harry apparently had used a lot, for the water was frosted in a layer several centimeters high, and the dark haired wizard was almost completely hidden behind them.
"Did you have to use so much?" Gaara asked irritably as he covered his nose in an attempt to protect his sensitive nose, but it was pointless.
"I said—what are you doing here?" Harry demanded, ignoring Gaara's question. He sure was glad that the shinobi had come when he was already in the water.
"I put some sand in your hair to make sure that you traveled safely, and when the connection broke due to water I left immediately to make sure you weren't in any danger," he explained, not an ounce of regret in his tone.
Harry groaned and slapped his forehead. He knew Gaara meant well, but honestly—was he going to have to be followed around by someone for the rest of his life?
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Gaara asked.
"Trying to find out the clue," Harry answered curtly. "I can hear a song when I open the egg under water."
"Really?" Gaara found himself intrigued at the very least.
"Who is this, Harry?" Gaara's eyes widened as he discovered he wasn't alone in the room with Harry, but relaxed when he discovered that it was only a ghost girl. Because they didn't have bodies the shinobi couldn't sense them like they did other creatures, but there was a faint something they could sense, but it was so commonplace in a magical castle that it wasn't worth trying to interpret every tiny disturbance they encountered.
"Sabaku no Gaara," he answered, not even waiting for the wizard to reply, and he didn't seem to mind.
"My name is Myrtle," she responded with an odd smile on her face as she floated over to Gaara. "I must say, I've never met you before—"
"Hey! Aren't you helping me solve the clue?" Harry yelled, frustration clearly evident in his voice. He just wanted to get this over with. "Would you mind leaving?" he added, frowning at Gaara. "I assure you that I'm not going to be assaulted on the short walk to the dormitory."
For a second Gaara entertained the thought of refusing to leave and waiting out, but decided against it. Harry most likely hated the thought of being tailed around, and he could relate to that. There was a time when he was followed by an assassin every time of day and night. Of course, he dealt with the irritation by coming up with different ways to kill the assassins and once he found the perfect one was when he struck, but those thoughts were useless now.
Gaara nodded to Harry and found himself back in the Gryffindor common room where he continued to study English. After about ten minutes had passed Gaara was startled out of his studying by the distinct wail of the Triwizard egg, and after spending a moment identifying where it came from in the castle, was puzzled as to why it wasn't anywhere on the route Harry had to take to return to the Gryffindor tower. Granted, there were various ways to get to the same place in this peculiar castle, but according to the path Harry had taken to reach the strange hot spring, it was in a completely different direction.
The genin took the wailing as a signal from Harry that he was in trouble, seeing as how the wailing continued for more than a minute . . . two and a half minutes to be exact. There was no chance that it could have simply slipped from his fingers and accidentally opened because Harry would have shut it within the first 30 seconds. Realizing that Kakashi was bound to have heard the scream Gaara sent some of his sand to the jounin's bed where he wrote the message that all was well and he was going to check it out. He doubted that would stop the man, but he might as well let him know that he had control of the situation.
Wasting no time Gaara teleported himself near the source of the wailing, not too close but close enough to where he could easily assess the situation and determine the best course of action. Normally he would just enter right in the middle of the commotion, but Baki had stressed to him the importance of going into an unknown situation with a plan.
Thankfully, Harry wasn't in any immediate danger, but it was evident he could be. From what Gaara could make out, Harry was in the middle of the staircase covered in his cloak, while Filch, Mrs. Norris, and the egg were at the bottom yet Filch started making his way up and if he continued he would run straight into Harry. The wizard didn't make any motion to get out of the way and Gaara wondered why, until he remembered that this was where the trick step was. Naruto had stepped on it on accident within their first week at Hogwarts, and the other wizards had to explain it to them. The genin found it utterly pointless as to why the step existed in the first place, but then again, he found he felt the same way about a lot of things in the castle.
Gaara began to step forward and prevent Filch from running into Harry when he sensed someone running their way from the top of the staircase so he halted and waited to see who it was. To his surprise it was Professor Snape and then he and the caretaker argued about whether or not Peeves had stolen the egg until Mad-Eye Moody came onto the scene, sounding slightly out of breath.
Kuso! The Suna shinobi had a hard time thinking about how to get Harry out of this one, because there were just too many people involved now. If it were only Filch and his cat, things would have been much simpler. He needed a plan to be able to get Harry without raising too much suspicion.
"Potter," Snape said quietly, dragging Gaara back into the conversation. "That egg is Potter's egg. That piece of parchment belongs to Potter. I have seen it before, I recognize it! Potter is here! Potter, in his Invisibility Cloak!" Gaara's eyes widened at the mention of the cloak (How did he know about that?) but realized he had to do something as Snape came closer and closer to Harry, his stretched fingers just millimeters away from where Harry was supposed to be.
Snape was surprised when his fingers touched flesh, but it wasn't Potter's. One of those foreign brats was standing right in front of him!
"What are you doing here?" the Potions teacher snarled, straightening himself into a proper standing position. His snarl curved upwards more as the impudent student looked up at him calmly and replied, "Trying to find out what made that sound earlier," with such a derogatory tone, as if he thought he as a mere child was better than him.
"Quite peculiar place to—show . . . up," he countered, unsure of how to describe what just happened.
Gaara shrugged nonchalantly. "I just appeared where I heard the noise. I can't know the exact layout."
The way the boy showed no expression infuriated Snape as well as the feeling as if the kid was patronizing him. Foreigner or not, the boy needed to understand that there were manners such as respecting one's elders.
"The screaming ended a couple minutes ago," he sneered. "What took you so long?"
"It's a big castle."
There was silence for a few moments as the two stared each other down, with Snape's fury increasing every moment while Gaara remained impassive. He always felt some sort of thrill at being able to manipulate other's emotions so easily. Snape had better watch his temper, he noted.
"Now if you two are done bickering I think it's high time we all go to bed," Moody said gruffly as he came up besides them. He made Filch give him back the egg and sent both him and Snape away, where he then turned to Gaara.
"I take it there's another reason you're here?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Well if it's about Potter, I suggest you pull him out quick or that step is going to eat him alive." Gaara nodded and held out his hands for Harry to grasp and once he felt them Gaara pulled forcefully and to his surprise Harry sailed right past him onto the steps behind him.
"Bloody—h-how—how did you do that?" a half-transparent Harry sputtered. "You guys are just too strong," he muttered as he pushed himself off the steps and placed the cloak back over himself.
"Close shave if I ever saw one," Moody smirked. Harry found he had to agree. If Gaara or Moody hadn't come along, he would have been a sitting duck.
Gaara waited patiently as Harry and Moody discussed some map of Hogwarts, ending with Harry letting the old man borrow the map, and the professor told Harry that he should consider being an Auror someday.
"All right," he said as he pocketed the map. "It's off to bed for the two of you. I trust you can make sure he makes it back to the dormitory without any other necessary detours?" Moody said, directing the last part to Gaara, who nodded. "Splendid."
As the two walked on in silence, Harry muttered, "Thanks, Gaara. Snape would have found me if it weren't for you." Gaara simply shrugged and they were silent the rest of the way to the dormitory.
"She's gonna be mad that you're waking her up," Harry whispered.
"Not if we don't wake her up," the genin said simply as he reached out and grasped Harry's shoulder and before Harry knew it they were in the common room with the sand that surrounded them going back into Gaara's pant pockets.
"That's so cool," he admitted wistfully.
"So what did you find out?" Gaara asked, curious now that they could talk freely.
"That I've got to find a way to breathe underwater for a full hour," the wizard said dejectedly. "You wouldn't happen to know of a way, d'you?" Gaara shook his head. He didn't even know how to swim! Shukaku had prevented the boy from learning because he knew that Gaara could subdue him for a while by drenching himself, so whenever he tried his mind was filled with the horrible images of him drowning. He learned to keep his distance.
"Perfect," Harry moaned. "I'm a goner." With that he said good-night to Gaara and he went upstairs, leaving Gaara to his studies.
Glad that crisis is over with, Kakashi noted with relief. Despite Gaara's assurances that everything was all right Kakashi still trailed the Suna nin and was about to step in the same time Gaara was, but thankfully he didn't have to. It was much less suspicious for a student to appear like that than an adult. Of course, Kakashi could have done so easily and simply made the other three forget with his Sharingan but unless they were looking at him at the same exact time, he would have had to use it on them separately and they were bound to find out something was wrong. Kakashi was curious as to how Harry would solve his little dilemma, already knowing what the task would be seeing as how he was overseeing the safety of the champions. He would have to tell Naruto and Gaara about their part in this soon.
With a small chuckle Kakashi returned to his dormitory and set to work devising tomorrow's little surprise.
The Weasley twins were essentially unpredictable, so it was natural that they expected things to happen unpredictably.
Somehow, this was the first time in their life they were truly, and utterly——surprised. Neither of them woke up that morning knowing that halfway through study hall with all the Gryffindors they would be hanging from the ceiling by their boxers. Kakashi had snuck up on them and before they could blink they found themselves with an uncomfortable, gravity-induced wedgie.
The first few seconds were completely silent save for their howls of pain, then everyone erupted in uncontrollable laughter and cheers for Kakashi who smirked up at them.
"It would have been in your best interests to discover the potential consequences for your actions," he explained.
"SENSEIIIII!!!!"
"My, my . . . what do we have here, Obito-kun?" Minato teased. The unfortunate Uchiha was dangling from a nearby tree, strung up by some shinobi string woven through the back of his boxers. To prevent him from escaping his hands were tied in a very intricate knot that only a jounin could escape from, and a very talented one at that.
"GET ME DOWN!!" he pleaded. "I GOT SOMETHING IN MY EYE AND I CAN'T GET IT OUT!"
"Nice try, crybaby," Kakashi sneered. "You're crying and you know it."
"KAKASHI'S BEING MEAN! PLEASE GET ME DOWN!!!"
"Just be grateful it wasn't Sennen Goroshi (One Thousand Years of Death)," Kakashi muttered, to which he and Obito shuddered slightly, the image and pain still engraved in their memory when Minato used it against them when he got too fed up with their fighting. Needless to say, they were civil with each other for an entire week.
Hermione was shocked beyond belief. She had heard of the prank that the twins had pulled on Kakashi during the Yule Ball from the others, but she felt like this payback was a little bit much. It left her wondering if boys ever grew up.
"Oi, Naruto," Kakashi said, directing his gaze to his student. "You should tell them to be thankful it wasn't Sennen Goroshi."
Naruto paled at the name and involuntarily touched his backside, the memory still fresh and decided that his sensei had been very lenient.
PHEW!! Kuso, looks like I wasn't able to beat last chapter's record for word count. Sorry pamellka! At least it's still over 10,000 words!
Real quick, I seem to be at a loss for an idea for Naruto's new jutsu. I have no idea what to do but he needs a jutsu. Does anyone have any ideas for me? Sometimes people bouncing ideas off of me is just enough to get me going. Thanks!
Also, I have no idea how much of the Forbidden Forest the Marauder's Map covers, or the basic layout of the grounds so I just made a guess.
I feel I must apologize for this being somewhat of a bore and not much action happening, but next chapter is all about the 2nd task, so stay tuned! If I'm lucky I can get another one out by/during Christmas break.
What does Rita have in store for our shinobi? Let me assure you that she has something quite nasty ready for them, so stay tuned!