Author's Note: I have a saying of sorts: if you're going to make fun of someone, make fun of yourself.
Also, although I will sometimes be labeling the magical delegates by their countries, that doesn't necessarily mean that that country has a ministry unto itself. I imagine the magical boarders are different (because why would wizards care how muggles divide up the world?) and that either several countries make up one ministry, some countries are broken into multiple ministries, or the ministry boarders run all over the place taking bits and pieces from the countries we know. And let's not open the can of worms that is: how do the International Quidditch Teams line up with Magical Ministries? The cannon is unclear, let's leave it at that. It's easy to assume that the wizards just follow the countries but that just doesn't make sense to me.
I also assume that ministries sometimes are labeled under larger designations based on location such as (but not limited to): the eastern, central eastern, central western, and western ministries.
The point is, I'm simply using the countries we're familiar with to help keep track of people. I am not going down the rabbit hole of attempting to split up the world into the hundreds of magical ministries that are probably in the Harry Potter universe. The cannon material for such a venture is far too limited. So when I say a wizard is from Finland, they're from our Finland. I'm not going to worry about if their country has their own Ministry of Magic or if they're part of a Scandinavian Ministry or Northern European Ministry or something like that. Just take it that they're from Finland, and leave it at that.
Now that I'm done ranting, here's your chapter.
Chapter 6: Rediscovering Leaf Tower
After the initial pleasantries meeting and the evening meal the delegates were shown to the quarters they'd be using for the extent of their stay. Headmaster Jones was in charge of the Elemental Delegation.
"Our head house elf told me that you already have accommodations." The headmaster chuckled. "I must admit that there are still many parts of the castle that are a mystery to me. Do you know about the rooms to which he referred?"
Kakashi glanced at Guy who was rolling beside him down the corridor. Guy raised his eyebrows. Kakashi turned back to the headmaster, "he could mean Leaf Tower."
The wisp of a wizard frowned in confusion. "I'm sorry, Leaf Tower? I'm unfamiliar with that name. And there are only so many towers at Hogwarts even with all of its enchantments."
Kakashi nodded politely. "That was what we called it but it wasn't actually in a tower. It was a room that Headmaster Dumbledore had set up for us. If it's in the same place it should be-" Kakashi trailed off and began to walk toward a set of staircases. He was slightly embarrassed when his entire delegation plus a few of their magical friends began following him. He'd intended to confirm the location with maybe only Guy and the Headmaster in tow. If he was wrong, well, his memory was still pretty good, it should be fine.
As they stepped up to the staircase Kakashi paused before beginning his ascent. He only half glanced back but Draco understood his hesitation and responded instantly. The Malfoy withdrew his wand and muttered a spell. Guy's wheelchair slowly levitated to just above the height of the next stair. Satisfied, Kakashi made a mental note to thank the wizard later and began to climb the staircase.
As the group ascended using first one staircase and then another, Naruto came forward to walk evenly with his teacher. "Sensei, what's Leaf Tower?" Naruto began to ask.
Draco's voice cut through Naruto's with an uncharacteristically informal warning, "um, Kakashi-"
Kakashi nodded absently without looking at the wizard behind him, he hadn't forgotten. Two years at Hogwarts burned certain things into your memory. "Naruto, skip this step," Kakashi commanded. Naruto balanced precariously on one foot as he immediately readjusted his momentum. He stepped over the trick level of stair that Kakashi had already stridden over out of habit. The ninja, civilians, and wizards followed in kind. The ninja in particular stared at the step as if it were diseased.
Hinata activated her Byakugan and looked at the odd bit of magic as she passed. "What is the purpose of this?" She wondered aloud.
At last the congregation arrived at the familiar door to Leaf Tower. It was a simple wooden door with no entryway or special portrait like the student houses had. In fact, it was missing its key element, a chakra lock in the center rather than a doorknob.
Kakashi frowned as he approached it, wondering how or why the door had changed. As he did so the door opened of its own accord. Stepping inside, the Hokage was shocked to see, not their old room where his team had bunked for a year and a half, but a smaller stone corridor with ten doors on either side spaced closely together. The doors on the right side had chakra locks, the doors on the left did not.
The headmaster, who entered immediately after Kakashi, gaped at the sight. Then he chuckled again and shook his head. "Dumbledore, that old codger, he planned for this. I'd like to say that I'm surprised but-"
"I know the feeling," Kakashi said. Dumbledore never failed to astonish the ninja, even after he had passed on. "Although I'm not certain why he bothered with the chakra locks," Kakashi commented. "No lock in this castle will make a suspicious ninja feel safe when the house elves still move freely throughout." At this thought he turned to the lean wizard beside him, "you'd better inform your staff to steer clear of these rooms until we've left. It will be safer for everyone."
Jones nodded but Kakashi had a feeling that verbal instructions wouldn't be necessary. House elves had a habit of anticipating one's needs which included eavesdropping on conversations to reach that end. Without a doubt, word of the new instructions was already spreading.
Curious, Kakashi approached the first door with a chakra lock and put his hand to it. The door absorbed the small shot of chakra and opened, revealing a room much like the one his team had once slept in. In fact it looked almost exactly the same, but again, the amount of beds and dressers had multiplied to suit their needs. Kakashi closed the door, a small smile hidden by his mask. He thought of Ebisu reading by the fire, Guy naming their apartment, Kurenai constantly reminding the men not to hog the bathroom, his team ordering him to bed when he was too mulish to realize that he was exhausted, and Tenzo opening his Christmas gifts. The nostalgia was getting to him; he reined it in.
The Sixth Hokage turned to the Headmaster. With an eye-smile he said, "as usual the accommodations are perfect."
The thin man beamed with pride. "Well then, I'll leave you to it. Goodnight!" He called to the rest of the Elemental Nations citizens as he withdrew, parting the crowd by the entrance like oil among water. There were shy mutterings in response. Most of the people were more curious about the rooms and surged into the hallway.
Several of the guests looked at the spacing of the doors skeptically. "Each room can't be any larger than a broom closet," one Cloud ninja whispered. "How are we all going to fit?"
"The rooms will surprise you, I guarantee it. The spells they use for this produce a similar effect to those of our storage seals." Kakashi said loudly for all to hear. "Let me know if you have any problems." All eyes snapped to him and there were several nods. Formal good-nights followed as countries chose their rooms and disappeared inside the seemingly tiny spaces.
After seeing everyone else squared away, Kakashi's shoulders slumped the tiniest bit. He was all too happy to turn to his own room. The younger generation of Leaf ninja were already, no doubt, staking claim to certain beds. As if for old time's sake, Ebisu had to ruin his former captain's plans for turning in early. The bespectacled ninja held him back at the door. "Kakashi, Hermione would like a word. She's waiting outside. There's something she wants to try with your cloak."
The next day was just as laborious as the first, only longer. After everyone met for breakfast in the Great Hall the tables were rearranged for the morning meetings with a flick of Professor Jones' wand. The deliberations were, as Kakashi had suspected, pointlessly tedious. Things started off badly almost immediately.
Everyone settled into their seats and an advisor of the British Minister of Magic took a head count. The British Minister, Greyford, called the meeting to order. In the brief resulting silence a centaur sitting with one of the eastern delegations spoke. "Death follows him," he stated, looking at the Hokage shamelessly. The silence was deafening and then broken by several wizards gasping either in horror or astonishment. Heads and eyes flicked back and forth between the Hokage and the centaur.
Kakashi unhurriedly turned and met the centaur's eye. The Hokage looked serene but grave, like ground facing the threat of lightning.
After a moment the centaur continued, "you handle it well."
Whispers exploded among the delegates as the staring contest continued. Tension among the ninja increased as they realized that the centaur might not have been stating a fact that they'd long ago learned to live with. This was an accusation at best, a threat at worst. Brows darkened and much quieter whispers among the ninja ensued.
Draco licked his lips but couldn't think of what to say. The eastern ministries tended to stick together and they were powerful.
"You're wrong," Kakashi responded evenly, still not breaking eye contact. The wizards looked shocked at the response. They began to discuss among themselves to which comment he'd responded when another voice spoke out.
"Death follows us all," Harry stated plainly, watching the centaur. The majestic head turned, breaking eye contact with Kakashi, to consider Harry. Harry raised his eyebrows, "shall we?"
The centaur turned back to Kakashi and nodded. Kakashi responded in kind and the tension relaxed a bit. Harry made a mental note to give Kakashi a brief explanation of centaur culture sometime later. All seemed to be put to rest when another wizard spoke out.
"How are we supposed to trust a leader who won't even show his face," one wizard demanded. "We should be meeting on equal footing."
There were mutterings of agreement among the wizards. Their whispers were immediately drowned out by chuckles from the assembled ninja. This made many of the robed delegates look up and take notice. Several of the wizards looked shocked at the insolence of the foreigners.
Harry's eyebrows furrowed. As much as he'd like to finally see Kakashi's face, he'd long ago realized that it was less about everyone else's curiosity and more about his friend's privacy. If someone decided to push this issue then it could at best halt the meeting and at worst cause an incident.
Harry cleared his throat but a familiar voice was already speaking.
"Advisor Paddock, need I remind you that simply by being here, the Elemental Nation Delegation is not on equal footing with us. We insisted that they come here, to our lands, and they came. I believe we owe them a great deal, not least of which would be some privacy and courtesy?" Advisor Paddock did not appear to know any wandless magic. If he did, Draco Malfoy's head may have very well been removed from his shoulders. As it was, Draco simply stared the older wizard down.
"Shall we continue?" The British Minister of Magic spoke up, glancing between his subordinates. Advisor Paddock grunted and sat back, annoyed. Draco's face remained fixed for several minutes to hide his emotion but Harry could see the triumphant look in his friend's eyes.
Continuing the meeting was easier said than done. The four ninja from the Hidden Stone dug their feet in about everything. More often than not they would begin an argument with the Hidden Cloud ninja. A couple of well-timed glances from Kakashi got both groups to simmer down but nothing he did could keep the magicians from arguing. Sometimes it was between territories and other times within one ministry's delegation. The magical community was not united and hadn't been since Voldemort's demise.
"And you were worried about us cooperating?" Ebisu whispered to Hermione. He could have spoken in his normal voice, so loudly were the wizards from the United States yelling at each other, but he didn't want his fellow ninja to hear him either.
"But these are just words Ebisu," Hermione whispered back. "When you all argue it's with those knives, kunai."
"We haven't done that in years," Ebisu countered. "It's only been bandits and small skirmishes."
"Two years of peace after a three day long war isn't much of a run," Hermione countered.
Ebisu shook his head and looked up at a ninja he'd briefly trained. "Do you see that ninja over there? Kakashi's student? In the orange?"
Hermione nodded, knowing the man he meant instantly. Between the blue eyes, yellow hair, and orange apparel, it was hard to miss him. "Naruto? What about him?"
"He changed everything."
"So you said in your letters," Hermione replied, "multiple times actually. Could you elaborate?"
Ebisu looked at the wizards who were getting more and more red-faced. The argument didn't seem to be winding down. He gauged how much of the story he had time to tell. Ebisu took a breath and began, "once upon a time, there lived a fox spirit with nine tails…"
Author's Note: I went and re-read the manga and by counting the nights and days THAT WE SEE, that last war did only take three days. That's kind of hilarious to me considering how important it is. I'm sure it took longer, but I just decided to go with the three days number to poke fun at the cannon a bit.