Mission: Hoguwatsu
A Naruto & Harry Potter Crossover
By: GoldenDragonClouds

Chapter 9: Interlude and Triwizard Preparations

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, nor do I own Harry Potter

Kudos to all those who reviewed my story since my last upload:

katdemon1895, Androgynous-Heron, Sleepyreader319, Kenshin El, asredwer, angelofdeath8254, gardensigernumbli, Lunatic Pandora1, Blinded in a bolthole, Kjrs, lalala, SaturnXK, xXWWXx, Wolfsbane-Nin, DemonKittyAngel, Shadi Shada, jasmineflowr19876, EvilFuzzy, KizuKitsune10, theBrillianceofNight, punkymarz18, Little Kunai, and dzk87.

Special mentions to:

gardensigernumbli - Actually, there's going to be more than just a letter, and that's already in the works ;)
Kjrs - Thank you for that correction! I'll be leaving Chapters Eight and Nine as is, but I'll definitely keep that in mind for any future references I might make to the Ninkai.

Previously in Mission: Hoguwatsu

"Oh, and by the way, Mum wants to meet you."

Tenten's thoughts screeched to a halt and she snapped up her head to look sharply at Shoma.

"What?!"

In the following weeks Tenten found herself spending more and more time with Uchi and Shoma, no matter how annoying she had found them in the first place. Cho and the girls were pleasant companions at times and were still her primary "hang out group," as Marietta had put the other day, but being able to talk freely in her native language to people who understood her culture was definitely a relief for Tenten in this decidedly foreign place.

Cho didn't exactly understand Tenten's reasonings even after Su had gotten all the other girls in their group to "understand that she's homesick."

"I simply can not understand why you would waste a completely perfect opportunity to immerse yourself into a new language and culture and learn every aspect of it!" Cho was saying one particular morning as they had breakfast together. "I would love to perhaps look into an exchange program with your school so I could learn a third language."

"A third language, Cho?" Kelly asked, eyebrows raised.

"I swear, you're the most ambitious Ravenclaw ever." Lisa said, rolling her eyes.

Cho sniffed. "In my defense, Mr. Bartemius Crouch - you know, Marietta's mum heard he was going to come here as a judge for The Tournament - anyway, it's rumoured he knows over two-hundred languages! Isn't that amazing?

"Okay, so maybe that isn't so ambitious." Su muttered, frowning slightly. "Maybe I should ask Mum if she could teach me more Chinese."

Cho sighed. "Cantonese, Su. Your mum speaks Cantonese. Chinese is not…"

"One language, we know," Shoma interrupted, sitting himself down next to Tenten. Some of the girls gave him incredulous looks while the others ignored him, having grown used to his invasion of their space by now. The boy only grinned at Tenten. "At least Japanese is."

Tenten snorted, earning more looks from the girls around her. "Japanese too different accent difficult understanding," she teased her younger friend. "Anyone can see you never live Japan."

"Oh!" Cho suddenly exclaimed, interrupting the laughter around her. "Have you looked at the sheet I gave you?" she asked Tenten, who sighed, briefly lifting her eyes to the ceiling.

"Yes. Why you give me list?" she lamented, sparking curiosity in those around her.

"What list?" Kelly asked, almost pouting.

"Oh, just a short list of words she needs to know to improve her vocabulary. I decided that her grammar still needs work, but that it'd help if she had a larger vocabulary at her dispense in the first place. I expect you to memorize all those words, you know," Cho said, looking pointedly at Tenten while reaching for a treacle tart.

Tenten whimpered. There had to be at least a thousand words on that list! (1)

"Short? I've seen that thing, and that is not short," Shoma said, unsuccessfully trying to stifle his laughter. He and Su were exchanging glances and Leah also looked as if she was about to burst.

"Oh you go on laugh." Tenten groused, and the Ravenclaw table burst out into laughter, a smug looking Cho Chang patting Tenten reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Oh, and by the way," Cho said before standing to leave the table, "It's 'why did you give me the list.' Alright?"

Tenten slapped a hand to her forehead while Shoma kept on laughing.

Something else Tenten had taken to lately was training in a clearing just inside of the Forbidden Forest that Professor Hagrid swore was "absolutely, completely safe with nothing dangerous around for miles" (which she seriously doubted but he doubt wasn't stopping her) during her free periods with encouragement from Uchi and Shoma, the latter especially.

"You can't just stop being a kunoichi now that you're here!" he had exclaimed said one day during lunch. He had asked her about her training at Hogwarts and when Tenten had explained that she had neither found the time nor place to practice any shinobi skills both of them had exploded at her.

"I mean, how can you not find time to train yourself!" Shoma had continued, not caring about the scene he was making. "What were you, burying yourself into the library trying to find more information about your subjects?"

Bewildered, Tenten had only nodded.

Uchi snorted, rolling his eyes.

"I know you're a Ravenclaw and all but that is kind of pathetic."

Before Tenten could retaliate for the insult they had immediately frog-marched her down to Professor Hagrid's hut and and stayed nearby while she made arrangements with the professor in being allowed to use some space in the Forbidden Forest. It had taken merely a day to get approval from the Headmaster, and now she was at the clearing every night, except Thursdays for Astronomy, practicing her various shinobi skills for two hours after dinner. Saturdays and Sundays were exceptions when she instead practiced for the majority of the day.

Uchi and Shoma came out to watch her as many times as they could, and while Cho and the other Ravenclaw girls in her year noticed her increasing absences, they believed Tenten when she said she was with the boys and left her alone after that, except to nag her about homework and grammar and the like.

One day during lunch Shoma came rushing into the library where the Tenten and Uchi had been reviewing notes for a quiz Trelawney had oh-so-mysteriously foreseen for their next class, bursting about a letter he had just gotten from his parents.

"Tenten! Tenten!" He managed to get out before Madame Pince sent a glare in his direction. Shoma momentarily shut up until she turned away, then stage-whispered, "Mum and Dad said they'll be coming to watch the Triwizard Tournament anyway, so they want to see you then. They even want to invite your parents, Uchi, so we can have some sort of one big Japanese family get-together thing(2)."

Uchi raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure your parents did not state their intentions in that manner," he scoffed, and Shoma glared.

"Well just because you're-" he started before Madame Pince came back to shush him once more. Tenten rolled her eyes, and told him to write to his parents that she would be honoured to meet them and that she would look forward to their encounter.

"But I thought you didn't want to-?"

"Just leave, Shoma." Uchi drawled. "I know you want to finish your letter in your room with the mochi your mother probably sent you again and write back to her as soon as possible. Tell them I would love to see them too."

"I do not!" Shoma exclaimed, but pursed his lips and marched away anyway. Tenten and Uchi looked at each other with similarly raised eyebrows.

"He definitely does."

"At least he no make us kick out again."

"No matter, he's gone away. Now, what does the two of spades symbolize, again?" Uchi asked, absentmindedly, caring his neck to peer into Tenten's notebook. Tenten rolled her eyes before dragging her notebook back next to her.

"That should be in you note too. Not only mine." she scolded, but Uchi grabbed her notebook and after a brief scuffle she let go lest he rip her precious notes, filled with annotations in Japanese. The two of them shared a private laugh before going back to their studying for the quiz next period.

Divination classes were actually fun, having somehow changed into debate sessions between Tenten and Professor Trelawney after the first month. The subjects of debate ranged anywhere from correct interpretations of a dream or a tarot card dealing to the logistics behind certain terms, and Uchi claimed this was the most fun any Divination class had had in a long time. "Not to mention we actually learn things now," he had told her. Trelawney herself had proclaimed that the class' grades in general had been rising ever since she had started assigning homework and quizzes based on the respective days' debates.

The debating had started on the day Trelawney had found it appropriate to bring in Tarot Cards to their lesson, prompting Tenten to stop everything she was doing and pay her full and undivided attention to the professor.

"Tarot cards!" Tenten had exclaimed, brimming with enthusiasm. "I love tarot card." she had offered as an explanation, seeing the startled faces of her classmates(3).

Trelawney had turned to look at Tenten, large eyes blinking owlishly from behind her spectacles. "And have you been practicing the ways of the divinatory in the reading of tarot cards, my dear?"

"Oh, for long time, from I… uh, friend, give me…"

Tenten had then promptly started to speak up whenever she thought Trelawney had said something incorrectly or with disregard to some practices that she had grown used to, and eventually with subsequent lessons their class times had slowly turned into debates after readings, which any member of the class was welcome to join in.

It didn't mean that many of them did, of course.

Today's class was no exception, which meant that as soon as their quiz was over and done with the class launched into a debate about their next review topic on Ovomancy. Apparently Ravenclaws were experts in this field, and Tenten had found no shortage on people who were willing to help her learn all about the ways of Ovomancy.

Tenten had watched with a raised eyebrow before finding that playing with potential food could be very fun indeed.

"So, Beauxbatons, huh," Helen commented offhandedly later in the day while the Group of Giggling Girls were doing homework in Cho, Marietta, Helen and Tenten's dorm room.

"And Durmstrang," Marietta added, but Lisa interrupted her.

"But we're hosting Beauxbatons students in the Ravenclaw tower."

"But that's if the delegates don't have their own sleeping quarters." Marietta stressed.

"Beauxbatons." Shelia sniffed. "It's so… French."

"That's because they are French, Shelia." Marietta deadpanned, and Shelia sniffed again.

"Well we can't change the fact that they're coming here," Cho admonished. "We still have to be hosts whether or not they will be staying in our tower, so we should act in the most polite way possible. We should be honoured to host the Triwizard Tournament!"

"Well. Is anyone here going to do it?" Kelly asked in a hushed, but excited voice.

"Do what?" Tenten asked, looking up from her Transfiguration essay.

"Enter! Put your name in for the Tournament?" Kelly exclaimed.

"I'm not entering," Su declared. "Students have died in this tournament before. I'm only a fourth year, so I'm just not going to try."

Tenten blinked before raising her eyebrows and shaking her head as well. "I too busy," she said simply, before dropping her head to look back at her essay.

"Tenten's right, fifth years at least shouldn't enter. We're all O.W.L. students - and these exam are extremely important!" Cho nodded as if it would prove her point.

Tenten rolled her eyes at Cho's antics, knowing that she and Cho would be busy for completely different reasons for the rest of the year. She had just had another meeting with Dumbledore yesterday after the notice of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students' upcoming arrival had been posted all over the school. He had wanted to check up on her and on whether she felt up for the task looming ahead of her and she had cockily replied that yes, she was. After all, how hard could it be to defend one student from his or her death if there was simply a magical tournament going on? The previous fatalities that she had read about sounded like accidents that could easily be prevented with a few well-timed shunshin or weapons. Not to mention now she had spells to assist her.

Dumbledore had audibly sighed, but then had offered to have the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor give her supplementary lessons, just in case. Tenten had refused them on the case that she would most likely be using her shinobi skills rather than her meager magical ones, but truthfully it had been because she just didn't like that professor. There was an aura of a seasoned shinobi around him and while he did seem like an "amazing professor!" like so many of her classmates claimed, Tenten had been trained not to trust warriors of non-allied nations. Besides, he had shown off the three most unforgivable curses to, if she had heard correctly, all students of all ages at Hogwarts. And although she came from a profession that was not always known as the most honourable, unforgivable and forbidden curses, like jutsus, were forbidden for a reason. It was not a good sign for her that this professor threw around forbidden jutsus at the students of the school, even if this was supposed to be a "safe environment".

Tenten had then been informed about the details of the upcoming tournament, including the manner in which the Champions would be chosen and the tasks they would be going through. Whoever the Hogwarts Champion was, she would have to find a way to befriend them and she had honestly been futilely hoping that perhaps one of her Ravenclaw friends had been planning on entering. Unfortunately, however, she knew there was little chance that anyone she already knew were entering. After all, although they didn't know it yet, there was an age limit in place. None of them would be the chosen Champion of Hogwarts.

The next few days leading up to the thirtieth of October displayed a remarkable effort in the part of the professors, house-elves, and the caretaker as the castle suddenly seemed to have been scrubbed and shined at every turn and corner. Every spot of dirt and dust looked to have been banished and even the paintings on the walls looked lighter and brighter. Even the food was becoming more elaborate with more pickings as the days grew on. Tenten happily noted that there was suddenly some rice porridge at the Ravenclaw table one day, which she was grateful for after having substituted oatmeal for porridge for quite some time.

The professors were snapping at every tiny mistake that any student made, and there were numerous rumours of students of especially the younger years having been reduced to tears. But all was for a good reason, Tenten supposed. There were important delegates coming to Hogwarts after all.

By the thirtieth of October all final preparations had been made and the Great Hall was shining and sparkling and was decorated with enormous silk banners representing the four houses and Hogwarts itself. Tenten felt an irrational surge of pride at seeing the beautiful blue and bronze Ravenclaw colours on their house's banner - irrational because she knew she shouldn't be having emotional ties with the world she was in for such a temporary period of time. Nevertheless she found a small smile curling at her lip every time she looked up from her breakfast.

The day itself passed in an unusual fashion, as students and professors alike were so excited that no one really paid attention to the lessons at all. Charms passed by so quickly that Tenten couldn't recall if they learned anything in that lesson, and her shared free time with Cedric was spent with her listening to his theories on how the Hogwarts Champion would be chosen. When asked for her opinion she merely rolled her eyes and shook her head, knowing that everyone would be told what she already knew later tonight. Lunch was more rowdy than usual, and Arithmacy could not even be counted as a lesson. By the time her Defense class rolled around no one even bothered to pretend they were interested in anything other than the Triwizard Tournament and as soon as the bell rang it seemed there was a stampede of students rushing off to their respective dormitories to get ready for the arrival of the other school's delegates.

They were soon lined up by year and house in front of the castle, and there were various students' necks craning at every which direction trying to get the first glimpse at the much anticipated guests.

And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers - "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

As the students around her burst into chatter and shouting, Tenten steeled herself.

This was it, she told herself. This was where her mission truly began.

This was the start of the Triwizard Tournament.

OMAKE:

"Nice shoes," Tenten said, raising her eyebrows. Last time she had seen him, he had been rushing away from her, red-faced.

"Thanks," Malfoy said, smirking at her as if to dare tell him he had a girl's name again.

Tenten grinned back. Make me.

"They're Italian, I suppose?" Uchi asked, out of the blue.

"What?" Draco looked at him.

"Your shoes. Italian?"

Draco blinked. "Oh, yes. Dragon hide from Hungaria, though. From a male Horntail."

Draco buffed his fingernails on his robe, then examined them. "Nice, aren't they?"

"See?" Uchi snickered to Tenten in Japanese. "He's a very expensive boy."

"Girl," Tenten said aloud, in English. "Think his name! Dureiko!"

Uchi cracked up into laughter even as Draco flushed.

"My father will hear about this!" He spluttered, whirling around to stalk away from the trio.

Tenten and Uchi could barely stand it until he turned the corner - they burst out into hysterical laughter as soon as he did so.

"Oh! That was priceless!" Uchi chortled as their laughter finally died down, and Tenten grinned mischievously.

"We're doing that again sometime!"

.::..::..::..::
This was originally going to actually be in this chapter, but it seemed a bit too comical and well, it just didn't fit. So an omake it is!

(1) I'm thinking SAT vocabulary lists here. Since one of the hagwons that I went to gave me at least a hundred to five hundred words after every lesson I'm assuming that by the end of the summer I had at least two thousand in the full list.
(2) Shoma and Uchi aren't actually related, but I've found that many people of foreign descent that live in other countries know each other quite well if you're originally from the same country. This was what it was like for me a lot of the time, so here I'll say that the Akimo and Ichikawa families are close enough to count as family.
(3) Like I mentioned in Chapter 6, in the Naruto information books Tenten's hobbies are listed as fortune-telling and researching. I'm assuming that she's read tarot cards and done things like astrology, palmistry, tessomancy and feng-shui in the least.

BOLD lettering indicates quotes taken directly from Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.

Author's Note:

I am SO COMPLETELY SORRY about how long it took for me to update this story! It's literally been a year and I am so ashamed that I let this writer's block go as long as it did. Getting into college and moving to live in the US for the first time in my life has given me a bit of culture shock and it's taken me a long time to get settled in, but at least I'm back on track now. (I will also admit that Doctor Who has sort of taken up my life right now.) So here I am and I am actually almost a third done with the next chapter as well, so lets hope there isn't as long a pause until chapter ten. The next chapter finally has Triwizard Tournament dealings!

I'm also just realizing how much this fanfiction has deviated from my original plot for it. I found my initial notes for this fic one day and actually sat in my room for ten minutes laughing at how many things I either completely forgot about or just decided would not work… and also those things that I am still trying to somehow fit into this story and still make it make sense. For example, Uchi and Shoma weren't supposed to have such large roles in this story. They just, weren't. And you'll actually find that as the chapters go on they'll probably appear less and less, unless they completely take over my brain (again) and actually develop into well-rounded characters. Believe me, I have a hard time reading stories about OCs too. Further questions regarding Shoma's parents will be answered as the fic goes on.

Oh, and if anyone wants to friend me on Pottermore, I'm a Ravenclaw and if you send me a review or PM asking for my username, I'll PM you back ;)

Reviews are love!

Ja Ne,
~Golden