And here comes on of my more favorite chapters to write, meeting up with Padfoot! Hurray! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Sorry that it came later than expected—I gave it to my beta the day before and I've got to remember that she has a life too! I'll work on getting it you earlier cardcaptor-eternity!
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bored wonder was the 700th reviewer, so as a request here are your chocolate chip cookies! Please enjoy! Oh, and I would also like to thank bored wonder for helping me with Naruto's new jutsu!
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The rest of the day was not very pleasant for the two shinobi. The Slytherins kept pestering them, calling them "daft and dangerous" while others glanced at them fearfully, not wanting to be too close to them for fear of being attacked.
"Honestly—do they think you're just suddenly going to attack them now even though you've been here a few months already?" Hermione protested indignantly.
"Yeah, and even if you were, the element of surprise would definitely be ruined," Ron offered.
"Ron!" Hermione said angrily. The redhead looked ashamed as he realized his attempt to help just backfired.
Naruto smirked. "Though if we really wanted to, it wouldn't matter if they were informed or not."
"So . . . are you—you know—okay about this?" Harry asked tentatively, knowing how vicious press releases like that could be from personal experience.
Naruto shrugged. "All she really did was restate what I'm sure the whole school knew already from gossip—it's just that now everyone outside of Hogwarts knows too."
"Including the parents," Gaara continued. "While some may have told their parents anyway, there is no doubt every one of them knows by now, and they might complain to Dumbledore to send us away."
The three wizards looked at each other fearfully, realizing they had a point.
Harry swore suddenly, turning to Ron.
"What's your mom gonna say?" All the color drained from Ron's face as he remembered that the article mentioned him being thrown against the wall when trying to help Naruto.
"You don't think she'll send me another Howler, do you?" he asked in fear.
"What's a Howler?" Naruto asked in spite of himself.
"It's a bewitched letter that screams what's written in the sender's voice. It's not a very pleasant thing to receive," Harry explained, recalling when Ron received his their second year.
"If you explain things to her she might understand," Hermione offered hopefully.
"Yeah—sure," Ron mumbled, sticking his hands in his pockets.
"Well—at least a visit to Hogsmeade will cheer you up!" Hermione said brightly.
"I guess so," Naruto grinned, already back to his old self.
"Oi, mates!"
The wizards and shinobi turned around to see Fred and George coming up to them.
"So we were thinking—" Fred began.
"—that with that horrible article and all—" George continued.
"—you might want some cheering up—"
"—and we're just the gents to do it," George finished.
Naruto raised an eyebrow but smirked all the same. "Sure! Why not?" Gaara simply shrugged and started following them, his mood lighter.
As they started walking away from the trio Fred turned around and winked at Ron, who mouthed a very relieved thank you. He had asked his brothers to invite the shinobi to hang out with them during their trip because they had a meeting with Sirius, and for obvious reasons couldn't have the shinobi hanging around.
Of course—the twins had no idea they were meeting Sirius, just that they had something they needed to do without them. They weren't completely keen with the idea, but Ron had let the possibility slip that he would write mom about the mysterious letters they were sending, so they immediately consented, promising their brother that he owed them at a later date.
Unbeknownst to the wizards, Kakashi was trailing them. He had uncovered what the last letter said—telling them to meet him in Hogsmeade, and he knew that this was his best chance to uncover who this mysterious man was and be able to determine whether or not he was dangerous.
He had searched for a man by the name of Sirius in the library's records, and discovered that he was most likely Sirius Black—a mass murderer who killed thirteen people a couple years ago. The jounin remembered scoffing at the number. Thirteen? A typical shinobi had killed three times as much as that as a chuunin. It was probably a lot for this society though, he figured.
At any rate—this man was rumored to be extremely dangerous and mentally unstable, and that was the cause of his worries. However, he and his two students (Gaara was as good as one by now anyway) were labeled as such and while it was true they were killers and dangerous, it didn't mean that they were evil. It's just what a shinobi is by definition. Besides, rumors and gossip generally weren't the best sources of truth; he should know.
Despite the simplicity of the "mission" because they were mere children with no shinobi training, Kakashi went into full ANBU mode, just for the sake of it. The wizard world was fascinating and had its surprises, but there wasn't much action and he did not want to go back to Konoha all rusty. Not being in top form meant you'd die.
Just as Kakashi was beginning to wonder if the children had been given previous instructions contrary to the message he intercepted, the wizard trio soon made their way down a forlorn road. The jounin sighed in relief, because there was only so much sock hunting for Dobby he could have taken. For some reason the children were carrying bags of food—chicken, judging by the smell. Perhaps they were giving it to him as a sort of tribute or truce?
As they neared the edge of the village a scraggy, black dog made its way towards them carrying a newspaper in its mouth. Kakashi felt sympathy for the dog, seeing that it most likely hadn't had a proper meal for a while, but was astonished when Harry greeted it, addressing the dog as Sirius.
So their secret meeting is with a dog? Kakashi thought incredulously. Perhaps it was just the pet of the real person.
Yet when he focused on the creature, he realized that it wasn't completely a dog—that there was something off about it.
Is it a type of genjutsu? he wondered. No, that wasn't it. He would have sensed the expelled chakra. Could it be that the dog could shapeshift? It was possible that this Sirius person was an Animagus, but there had been no record of any Sirius registered as a dog—although Kakashi couldn't rule out the fact that he was unregistered.
The dog-creature led them up the mountain, with the wizards struggling to follow. Kakashi was amazed at their lack of strength and agility, figuring that the people of this world didn't place as much emphasis on physical strength. It was obvious they cared more about the mental strength seeing as how they were in school for such a long period of time.
Finally the dog brought them to a cave and Kakashi had to be more careful with being in a more confined space. His eyes widened in surprise as he caught sight of what he assumed to be a hippogriff, if his memory served.
Another creature employed by this 'Sirius' character? However, his attention was soon drawn to the dog who had instantly transformed into a man.
"Chicken!" he said hoarsely, snatching the meat from Harry's bag and attacking it with a ferocity that only came from great starvation, one that Kakashi knew from experience.
He felt slight pity for the man, especially when he revealed that he had been previously living off rats, going by his frail and ragged appearance. However, the fact still remained that he was a possible dangerous person and since his duty was to take care of Harry, he had to make sure that he posed no threat.
Harry had correctly identified the man as "Sirius" and a few comments later Kakashi learned that he was apparently Harry's godfather—whatever that meant. Everyone seemed to be relaxed but there was still doubt in his mind.
"You three and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," Sirius said, continuing to savagely devour the chicken.
So I was right, Kakashi noted with slight satisfaction. He is an unregistered Animagus, which probably is how he was able to evade capture all this time.
Time was running out of options for him to take action, and he figured that now was as good as ever.
"Don't move," Kakashi warned.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione jumped back in surprise as Kakashi materialized out of nowhere, holding a kunai to Sirius' neck with the other hand gripping his left arm tightly.
"What are you doing?!" Harry yelled angrily.
"Protecting you, obviously," was the reply. "Do you know how much harder you make my job when you wander off meeting convicted criminals? I cannot allow you to besmirch my reputation, be it in this dimension or my own."
"What a charming man," Sirius scoffed, as if he were unaware of the weapon resting directly above his jugular nerve. "Where'd you find this piece of work, Harry?"
Before Harry could respond Sirius transformed into a dog once more, releasing himself from Kakashi's grasp. The jounin back up instinctively and Sirius bared his teeth, growling dangerously at the shinobi. Then, as if moved by a signal they charged towards each other at once, Kakashi's hands going through a flurry of hand signs while Sirius snarled.
"Immoblius!" Hermione cried, pointing her wand at the two men. They froze in midair somewhat comically and were it under different circumstances the wizards would have found the situation hilarious. "Now before you go and kill each other," she huffed, glaring at each in turn, "why don't we settle this like civilized men?"
"We'll only let you go under the promise that you won't attack until we have explained everything to you," Harry cut in. "Agreed?" They each gave a muffled grunt of reply and Hermione complied, releasing the spell and allowing them to fall to the floor yet they each landed gracefully, moving to opposite ends with Sirius reverting back to his real form, resuming his meal.
"First off, Sirius this is Kakashi Hatake from another dimension," Harry began, gesturing to the shinobi. "He and two of his students were accidentally brought here by Neville and Dumbledore is trying to find a way to send them back, but in the meantime they are helping with security of the Tournament and—" he added bitterly, "—Dumbledore has requested he keep an eye on me."
Sirius nodded in recognition. "So you're one of the 'daft and dangerous' foreigners we all need to be worried about, huh?"
Kakashi frowned. "'Daft and dangerous?' What do you mean?"
"In today's article," Sirius replied, confused that he did not know. "Rita Skeeter—"
"Never mind about that now," Ron said quickly, not wanting to move too off topic.
"Anyway," Harry continued, "This is Sirius Black, my godfather and—"
"An escaped convict from Azkaban, I know," Kakashi interrupted. "Which is exactly why I am at a loss as to why you are meeting him willingly—"
"He's innocent!" Hermione said angrily. "He was falsely accused by Peter Pettigrew, and has been hiding from the Ministry ever since!"
Kakashi quirked his eyebrow. "So he says."
"I swear on my life that what he says is true!" Harry protested angrily. If they didn't convince Kakashi then Sirius was dead for sure, and there was nothing he could do about it.
"Even Dumbledore agrees with us," Hermione added.
There was complete silence for the next few minutes, save Sirius' munching on the last of his chicken and Buckbeak gnawing on the bones thrown to him. The jounin glanced from wizard to wizard, seemingly deep in contemplation.
"I believe you," he said finally, smiling as he did so.
All three wizards let out a breath they didn't realize they had been holding. That had been close!
"I apologize for my actions earlier, Sirius," Kakashi apologized, nodding slightly in the wizard's direction.
"No need," Sirius smiled. "You seem to be quite an interesting man. One who doesn't take no for an answer and a true warrior. Just the type of man I like. Perhaps we could talk later, share our stories."
"Indeed—I should like to hear more about your story as well," Kakashi grinned. Now that he knew there was no need to worry about him, Kakashi was eager to befriend the wizard. Sirius had a certain air about him that was not too unlike a shinobi.
The topic of discussion soon moved to the whereabouts of Barty Crouch and speculations about who wanted to kill off Harry; everyone doing their best to try and figure out the evident problem before it became serious.
"What's the time?" Harry looked down to check his watch only to remember it died after the plunge into the lake and Hermione opened her mouth to answer after consulting her watch, but someone cut her off.
"Half past three, I believe," Kakashi said, glancing outside quizzically.
"How'd you know?" Hermione asked in amazement.
Kakashi shrugged. "Just judging from the weather outside."
"At any rate, you three had better get back to the school," Sirius interrupted as he rose to his feet. After giving Harry some sound advice to his safety he moved to transform back into his dog form. "I'll walk to the edge of the village with you; see if I can scrounge another paper."
"Someone might find it curious that you are returning to the village while being led by a dog," Kakashi interjected. "Doing so could risk Sirius's cover, so I'll just have a bunshin transport you inside Hogwarts." As the three wizards looked up with shock and excitement, Sirius frowned as Kakashi chanted, "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" As the second Kakashi appeared Sirius's eyes widened in amazement, looking back and forth between Kakashi and the bunshin.
"Now I believe you're from another dimension," he said incredulously.
Kakashi chuckled and directed his bunshin towards the wizards, giving some instructions in Japanese. Once they disappeared the jounin turned towards Sirius.
"So, about this Peter Pettigrew . . . . "
"A pity you don't live in my dimension," Kakashi laughed as he stroked Buckbeak. "A man like you would make an excellent shinobi."
"I'll take that as a compliment, judging by your description of what a shinobi is," Sirius grinned. "I would very much like to visit someday if I could."
"If there is a way to get us back," Kakashi sighed.
"If you were brought here, then you can be put back, my friend," Sirius concluded, standing up and stretching his muscles. "I wish that I could be a better host, but . . . " He gestured their surroundings. "My current situation can not call for it."
Kakashi shrugged. "Doesn't matter." Then he furrowed his brow contemplatively and stood up with his hands in his pockets. "If . . . if you don't mind—I think I may have a way for us to go into Hogsmeade without you needing to resort to your other form."
Sirius laughed. "Even though the dementors are no longer here, the moment anyone sees me I will be forced to flee again."
"No—I have the ability to change your appearance with a jutsu of mine. It's usually used on oneself, but the ability to change other objects remains."
"What, like a Polyjuice Potion?"
"Better than that, because it can be done instantly and the duration depends on the chakra capabilities of the shinobi," Kakashi explained.
"You can . . . really change my appearance?" Sirius asked skeptically. Kakashi held his hands up in the traditional sign.
"Henge!" As the smoke cleared Sirius gasped in amazement and had to rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing things correctly. Standing before him was an exact replica of himself!
"Is that really what I look like at the present moment?" he asked with slight disgust as he encircled the shinobi.
"Sadly, yes," Kakashi chuckled before reverting back to his normal self.
"Living on the run can do that to you, I guess."
"I can change your appearance so no one would know you are Sirius Black and you can join me for a decent meal at the Three Broomsticks," Kakashi offered. "My treat. We could even get you some decent clothes to wear."
"That would be nice. I haven't had a cooked meal in—who knows how long," Black said quietly.
"All the more reason to do it, Sirius," Kakashi said kindly, placing a hand on the man's shoulder.
"Why do all this for me? We were ready to fight each other to the death earlier you know," Sirius reminded him.
"It has been my experience that friends are scarce," Kakashi said softly. "Might as well make time with the ones you have."
"Well I'm honored," Sirius smiled. "May it also be due to the fact that you have to look after bratty wizards all day?"
The jounin chuckled. "Quite true, quite true. The only ones I have to socialize with are young teenagers and aged teachers. Can get boring after a while."
A few minutes later, "Obito" and "James" were sitting down at a table to a hearty meal, with brandy to wash it down. Kakashi had chosen to change his appearance as well, because people would notice him eating with a stranger and questions that didn't need to be answered would arise. Plus, he was tired of eating in the fashion he always did when wearing his mask.
"This brandy of your world is quite interesting," Kakashi noted as he sampled the foreign liquid. "Can't compare with sake though."
"Another reason I wish I could visit your dimension!" Sirius chuckled. Kakashi had altered his appearance according to the suggestions Sirius made before leaving the cave. Black was now a tall, lanky man with messy black hair, and Kakashi looked like an older version of his dear friend. His first thoughts were to look like his sensei, but that would only raise suspicion if someone looking just like Naruto were to be walking around. Now the two men looked like they could be brothers.
"So what other friends do you have?" Kakashi asked as he started cutting apart his steak.
Sirius sighed as he pulled apart his roll into small pieces before putting them in his mouth. "Well, Peter's out of the question—don't know where he is or what happened to him. James—as you know—is dead, so I guess the only other real friend I have is Remus Lupin. He was a teacher here at Hogwarts for Defense Against the Dark Arts and I finally got to meet him after all these years. Of course, he suspected me for a moment but once I explained to him the situation with Peter he immediately understood and welcomed me back. He's quite a dear friend of mine."
"Sounds like a great man. Wish I could meet him someday."
"And you?" Sirius asked politely, now finished with his roll and moving on to his steaming mashed potatoes.
Kakashi was silent for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. "Well, other than the members of my original team who are all dead, I suppose there are Gai and Asuma who are my closest friends, as well as Yamato. Gai is uh . . . an interesting character to say the least. He is always challenging me to ridiculous duels and if he were here now I'm sure these wizards would do their best to lock him up," he chuckled.
"That crazy, huh?"
"You have no idea," Kakashi warned as he drank some more brandy. Thinking back to his friends in Konoha made Kakashi homesick all of the sudden—something he had been trying to distract himself from. As time wore on he couldn't help but feel a sense of hopelessness, wondering if there really was a chance for them to be sent back. The jounin figured he'd go mad if that were the case. Konoha was his home and fighting was his life. He was also amazed to find that he would miss a lot of people dearly, including his other two students.
Despite the many facts that proved otherwise, Kakashi still held a small sense of hope for Sasuke's return. He had of course been furious with the boy's decision, especially since it was right after he had tried to show the boy that there is more to life than revenge. Sasuke's betrayal was like a slap in the face to all they'd been through together as a team, contrary to everything he had tried to instill into his subordinates about teamwork. Although he did not show it, Kakashi had been deeply affected in the week that followed, unable to go on any missions because of the grief it left him with.
He spent most of that time in front of the memorial stone, head buried in shame as he realized that he had been so blind and he had failed the last hope for the Uchiha clan. He knew of what happened to Sasuke and wanted to help him greatly because the boy scared him in a sense. Kakashi saw too much of himself in the Uchiha and tried his best to keep him from making the same mistake he did. Lot of good that did him.
The next day Kakashi was walking through the corridors when he ran into Harry and his friends. "Visiting the house elves again?" he asked, gesturing to the bags of food they were carrying. All three of them nodded sheepishly.
"We ah . . . thought we could give some food to Snuffles!" Ron chuckled nervously. "We were just on our way to the Owlery."
"Aren't you putting him in danger by sending him stuff?" Kakashi asked. "An owl continually going to a certain place on a regular basis would raise suspicions."
"But we'd use a different bird each time," Harry offered.
Kakashi shook his head. "It's too risky."
"So what—you want him to live off rats for the rest of his life?!" Harry said indignantly.
"I didn't say that," Kakashi sighed. "Just give the food to me and I'll save you the trouble."
Hermione smiled. "That would be a lot safer. Come on, let's go talk to Hagrid."
Monday morning, Naruto and Gaara noticed that Hermione and Ron seemed to be in a sour mood and figured it was best to ignore it. From what they could tell it was over something regarding the house elves. Their past Hogsmeade visit had been quite enjoyable with Fred and George, spending a great deal of their time in Zonko's Gift shop and then outside to play tricks on passing Slytherins. Malfoy had been quite an—unfortunate target.
The argument soon was pushed out of their minds as the shinobi and Hermione received quite a few letters.
"What are all these owls doing here?" Naruto wondered aloud. "Why would we get mail?"
"I have no idea," Gaara admitted as he shooed away an owl that was perched on his head. As they opened the letters Hermione became flustered and turned pink while the shinobi just stared at the letters in confusion.
"We can't read English!" Naruto protested. "What are they?!"
"Hate mail," Hermione spat. "You are a wicked girl. Harry Potter deserves better. Go back where you came from Muggle . . . Oh they're all the same! You deserve to be boiled in frog spawn . . . Ouch!" Upon opening the last envelope a sickly colored liquid came out and surrounded her hand, erupting in yellow boils.
"Undiluted bubotuber pus!" Ron exclaimed in amazement as he examined the liquid.
"Ow!" Hermione said as tears sprung into her eyes.
"Go to Madame Pomfrey!" Harry urged her, to which she immediately obeyed, cradling her hand as she did so.
"Oi! What do these say?" Naruto asked, waving two slips of paper in front of Harry's face. "They look like they're cut out of something so we can't use our wands to translate them!"
Harry snatched the two papers out of Naruto's hands and looked them over. "You had better leave and go back where you came from . . . None of us want you here endangering our children . . . "
"Monsters like you can't be trusted . . ." Ron continued, glancing over Gaara's. "You don't belong at Hogwarts . . . Don't open that!" Ron cried as Naruto reached out to open another letter, but it was too late. The area around Naruto erupted in a small cloud of smoke and those nearby covered their noses as the smell of dung reached their noses.
"Someone sent you a dungbomb!" Seamus yelled as he backed away from Naruto. The blonde barely heard what was said because he was too busy dealing with the intense smell, due to his heightened senses.
Is this how Kiba felt in the chuunin exams? he wondered to himself. In the back of his mind he could almost hear Kiba laughing at him, telling him that he deserved it and justice was finally served.
"Leb's ge ouba here," Gaara said as he covered his nose. Naruto nodded his agreement and the two transported out of the Dining Hall. Lavender quickly used her wand to fill the surrounding area with a flowery scent to mask the dung smell, much to the appreciation to all those in the immediate vicinity.
Suddenly there was another loud bang that brought everyone's attention to the front of the hall at the teacher's table. Kakashi had been so distracted by what had happened to his students that he didn't realize he was opening a letter without first examining it. The letter had erupted into small fireworks all around him, singing the sleeves of his jacket and burning his wrists slightly. Thankfully he was wearing the dragon hide gloves from Hagrid so it wasn't as worse as it could have been.
As the teachers looked at him in concern after he had cried out in surprise Kakashi felt embarrassed. A shinobi of his stature shouldn't have been caught off guard like that! He had been previously reading through various letters that parents undoubtedly had sent just for him, telling him that he should stay away from their children or else, he needed to leave Hogwarts, he was evil, etc. He had of course read through the article once he got back from Hogsmeade and was slightly concerned over the repercussions that it would bring, but figured it couldn't be too serious—yet it appeared he had been wrong.
"You should get those burns looked at," Professor Flitwick suggested in concern. Kakashi nodded despite the fact that he had received worse in the past but he estimated they were at least second-degree burns and that would certainly inhibit his ability to create hand signs at his normal speed.
"I apologize for making a mess," he said with a slight bow as he stood up and gathered the remaining letters and cleaned the scorch marks on the table with a flick of his wand, then disappeared. After landing in the hospital wing he performed a slight katon jutsu to destroy the letters and waited patiently as Madame Pomfrey attended to Hermione's injured hand.
Later on that night Kakashi found himself in Dumbledore's office, his clothes restored and bandages around his wrists. They hurt every so often when he moved them, but he didn't have time to dwell on the pain at the moment. Once he had been taken care of he had went to see how his students were doing and they had to burn Naruto's robe and clothes due to the overpowering stench.
"What happened earlier today was certainly regrettable," the headmaster sighed apologetically. "Now that we know that you, your students, and Miss Granger are now susceptible to these types of letters I shall employ a simple screening on any mail addressed to the four of you."
Kakashi nodded his appreciation, but he could tell there was more.
Dumbledore paused for a second, a bit unsure of how to go on. "I am sorry to tell you that, in light of recent events we are going to have to cancel your weekly taijutsu lessons."
The jounin's eye widened in shock but his voice betrayed his emotion. "May I inquire as to why?"
The Headmaster rubbed his temples wearily. "Believe me that I don't make this decision lightly, Kakashi. I have been receiving owls from concerned parents who know that their children have been taking the class from you, complaining that I am endangering their students by allowing something like this to happen. I'm having a hard enough time as it is convincing the Ministry to let me keep you here at Hogwarts, and I think that is all I am able to do in the situation."
"For that much we are grateful," Kakashi said, bowing in respect. "I do not want to cause you any trouble. Thank you very much. Is that all?"
"We are going to inform the champions about the third task in about a week, and I would like your students to be there as well so they can learn what they will do to assist us." Kakashi nodded and left.
Kakashi soon made regular visits to Sirius's cave, bringing him food that Harry and his friends nicked from the kitchens and just sat down to chat with the man. He felt pity for Sirius, having to stay cooped up the way he was because Kakashi knew he was a fighter like himself, someone who enjoyed the lure of danger and was a warrior. They even sparred a few times through spells and taijutsu, each giving sage advice to the other.
One day, however, instead of transporting back to Hogwarts he decided to walk around Hogsmeade for the fresh air and once he noticed a certain woman an ingenious plan started formulating in his mind.
"I'm telling you, I'm tired of not knowing anything about Barty's condition! We have to dig up something about him, my readers are quite anxious seeing as how the regular news has nothing to report," the woman complained to her cameraman.
Today she was sporting a neon-green dress with pink stripes—the colors almost making Kakashi gag but it was nonetheless different than her other outfits. He was currently leaning against a tree and as she passed he coughed loudly.
"Oh, Kakashi—was it?" Rita said with fake cheeriness, turning her attention to him. "What brings you here?"
"Your . . . charming article," Kakashi chuckled dangerously, pushing himself off of the tree and walked over to her.
"It was necessary to expose the truth," Rita said offhandedly. Because they were out in the open she obviously assumed she was safe. "That's my job, and you can't have any objections to that."
"No-no-no-no-no," Kakashi said, waving his hand placidly. "My problem is not that you wrote the article, but the fact that you did such a mediocre job of conveying the truth to your readers."
"A mediocre job!" she exclaimed, clearly offended. "I'll have you know that—"
"Oh, it's hardly your fault," Kakashi continued, placing his hands in his pockets. "It was expected because you did not have enough material."
"And you can . . . provide me with—more material?" Rita asked, unsure of his intentions.
"Yes," Kakashi smiled.
The female reporter folded her arms and pursed her lips, turning over the offer in her mind.
"You really want to help?" she asked skeptically.
"I give you my word as a shinobi," Kakashi pledged, placing his right arm over his chest in the traditional ANBU salute—minus kneeling for obvious reasons.
Rita shrugged. "Why not?" With renewed vigor she whipped out her Quick Quotes Quill and levitating pad.
"Oh—I don't think you'll be needing that," the jounin said with dark humor. As Rita frowned Kakashi reached up to his headband and pulled it up, uncovering his scarred eye. The journalist cringed but was unable to turn away.
"Wh . . . what are you . . . what are you doing?" she asked slowly. Her companion frowned, looking back and forth between her and Kakashi and made a move to comfort her, but he stopped the instant Kakashi opened the eye, exposing the Sharingan.
"Merlin's beard . . . " the man whispered.
"Why is your eye—" Rita began.
"You said you wanted to know the truth," Kakashi growled. "Now it's time to give you a taste of what you're really dealing with." His eye started spinning and Rita tensed, her body grew rigid, and Kakashi leaned forward, keeping Obito's eye trained on the reporter.
Suddenly she screamed, with those nearby covering their ears protectively yet Kakashi did not flinch. He simply moved in closer and glared at Rita who continued to gaze into the pride of the Uchiha with a complete look of horror. She covered her mouth and shrieked some more.
After a few more minutes of screaming Rita's eyes rolled in the back of her head and she collapsed into the arms of her cameraman who barely recovered in time to stop her from falling to the ground.
"What did you do?! You monster!" one of the nearby women called out.
Kakashi said nothing as he carefully placed his headband over his left eye and turned towards the woman with a sad look in his visible one.
"Monster, ne?" he sighed, looking at the ground and then back at the woman. "I showed her some monsters all right. I only wish it wasn't true." Those nearby frowned in confusion at the strange response and watched as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"What's going on?" Rita called out. "Where am I?" One moment she had been staring at that weird foreigner's eye—and the next she was in some large, empty space. Everything around her was gray and there seemed to be some sort of fog gathering around her.
"Where am I?!" she screamed, more hysterically than before.
"In the recesses of your own mind," a voice called out. It was obviously the foreigner's, but it was as if he were a million places at once. "Though I must admit I'm not surprised—this place is as empty as a bottle of sake when Tsunade's around."
"Get me out of here!" she pleaded, ignoring the strange insult.
"You said you wanted the truth!" the man said angrily. Rita whimpered and covered her head.
"I don't want to know anymore! Let me go!"
"Not until you know! Watch—and remember." Suddenly Rita's gray world was shrouded in orange and she glanced around frantically. A deep, unnatural laugh cut through the air and for some reason it sent such a chill down her spine that she couldn't move at all and she wished that something would come and swallow her up.
"Open your eyes you worthless witch!" Rita whimpered fearfully and complied but immediately wished she didn't. Standing before her was the most fearsome creature she had ever seen but it couldn't be real! It just couldn't!
The creature was enormous, such that she could only see the face but it appeared that it had nine tails, and its eyes were pure evil. She guessed it was a fox, but unlike any fox she had ever seen.
"You can stop screaming now," the foreigner sighed as if he were disgusted with her actions. Rita closed her mouth, not even aware that she had opened it.
"What is that thing?" she cried.
"Kyuubi no Kitsune—one of the monsters from where I am from. Here is another like it." The giant fox soon gave way to another enormous creature that appeared to be made of some strange material, with one tail, and it reminded her of some type of cat or dog-like creature—what it was exactly she had no idea.
"Shukaku, another demon from my home." The demon chuckled happily and Rita couldn't help but scream again—it was absolutely terrifying! Going by sheer size alone it was as big as or maybe bigger than the Hogwarts castle.
Then to her relief the creature disappeared and the foreigner materialized before her.
"Please—please!" she begged, rushing forward. Her trembling fingers grasped his jacket frantically and she shook him. "I'll do anything! Just get me out of here!"
Kakashi threw her hands off him and backed away in disgust. "There is still a little more for you to see."
"I don't want to see anymore!" she cried, losing control as she pounded her hands in the air and shook her head, a few tears running down her face.
"You still haven't seen mine yet." Suddenly the creature disappeared and Rita found herself surrounded by hundreds of violent and scary-looking men in strange uniforms similar to the foreigner's. She turned to Kakashi but to her amazement he had transformed into what was obviously a younger version of himself, still with a mask, but he scared her more for some reason.
"What's going on?!" she wailed, trying to appeal to the young boy. He paid her no heed and withdrew a small, white sword of some kind and then took off, ruthlessly killing each and every person that surrounded them with deadly accuracy. Rita screamed in fear and agony as blood flew everywhere, getting on her clothes and face. She had never really been all too fond of blood anyway, and now there was so much on the floor that it was as if there had been a rainstorm.
Within minutes every single person had been killed, their bodies strewn out all over the floor and the young boy was a few feet in front of her, his glistening sword littered with the iron substance hanging at his side.
"This is the power that my associates and I contain," the boy said, but with his older voice which added to his fearful appearance. "Do you see now that you have been quite misguided?"
"Yes—yes, I agree!' she sobbed, sinking down to her knees as she buried her face into her hands despite the fact that there were splatters of blood all over her. "Just let me go."
"As you wish," Kakashi complied vehemently.
As Kakashi made his way to the Gryffindor common room he thought back to his previous actions. Maybe that was a little harsh, he thought with a small twinge of guilt. It might have been too much for her to handle. Deciding he didn't really have an answer (and that he didn't care) Kakashi then focused his attention on his students. They were going to inform the champions about the third task tomorrow, so he wanted them to be ready.
"They're hedges!" Harry exclaimed as he and Cedric made their way to the Quidditch field. The shinobi listened as Bagman explained to the four champions that the third task was a maze and that the object was to get to the center to reach the Triwizard Cup. After he told them the order of when they would enter, he turned to Kakashi, gesturing for him to continue.
"Naruto, Gaara, and I will be watching from the top of the hedges during the entire tournament. Whenever someone sends up red sparks we will be there immediately to help assist you in anyway we can and then bring you back to the front where you can be treated by Madame Pomfrey if you require assistance. Remember—sending up red sparks means that you are willing to come out of the maze because we will not bring you back. Understood?" All four champions nodded grimly and Kakashi stepped back.
"Any questions? Very well . . . we'll go back up to the castle, shall we, it's a bit chilly . . . " Bagman continued once they were finished. Naruto and Gaara immediately took off, with Naruto saying something about wanting to work on a new jutsu, leaving Kakashi to travel behind everyone else. The jounin narrowed his eyes as Bagman came closer to Harry with the full intent to talk to him, but to his surprise Krum reached him first.
"Could I haff a vord?" the boy asked, his voice rich with accent.
"Yeah, all right," Harry replied, obviously as surprised as Kakashi was.
"Vill you valk vith me?"
"Er . . . " Harry glanced at Kakashi, who nonverbally asked him if Harry wanted him to stay, but the boy urged Kakashi on with a look of, I'll be okay. Kakashi nodded his assent and kept on walking while Harry and Krum took off in a slightly different direction. Kakashi knew that nothing could happen while Harry was with Krum because he had done somewhat of a background check on him and he could tell Krum was kind so there was nothing to worry about.
It's not like they were going to be attacked or anything—right?
Real Quick: iAlly from deviantART drew some fanart for this chapter! Thank you so much and I urge you all to check out her drawing! It's really good, here is the URL:
http: //ially. deviantart .com /art/NxHP -Dogs-of-War- 112331407
(If for some reason this doesn't work for you I have the link in my profile!)
Well, what do you think? I had a lot of fun and I hope that Kakashi's revenge on Rita wasn't
too bad. I enjoyed tormenting her so.Wow . . . there was a definite lack of Naruto and Gaara in this chapter. Oh well! I guess I couldn't have helped that.