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

Chapter 10: The Triwizard Champions

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

Previously in Mission: Hoguwatsu

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

This was the start of the Triwizard Tournament.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized theparchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out - "Harry Potter."

Tenten silently seethed, glaring daggers at the people left at the faculty table as if trying to intimidate someone, anyone, into explaining what exactly was going on. She had been told that there would be one champion, not two! What would she be told to do next, protect all three, no, four, of the champions by herself?

She had been happy, and not just for Cho, when Cedric had been chosen as the Hogwarts Champion. It had made her job so much easier, or so she had thought. But now there had been a second name chosen. And not just any name. Harry Potter. The alleged baby saviour of the Wizarding World. Not for the first time since coming to this strange place, Tenten wished she had her teammates with her.

But when had Harry Potter entered his name into the Goblet? And how? And if it hadn't been him to do so, who? Tenten had been watching it the entire time, foregoing sleep (she had tricked her Housemates with a light genjutsu), and the only times she had seen the Age Line act up was when those idiots had attempted to cross it. The mischievous twins from Gryffindor's attempt had been a good laugh, but it had shown everyone that you really couldn't cross Dumbledore's line.

And the most suspicious person who had entered his name had been a tall, skinny man whom she had assumed to be an older-looking seventh-year she just hadn't seen before, or maybe one of the Drumstrang or Beauxbatons lot. Everything had gone without a hitch, so why was this happening now?

The judges of the tournament had disappeared into the back chamber, and Tenten longed to stride up to the door and barge in, demanding to know what was going on. But as if on cue, Professor Flitwick came out of the room, and the noise level of the Hall abruptly died down to a halt.

"Miss Long, please come back here." Flitwick came hurrying down between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables to tug at Tenten's sleeve. To the others in the Hall he squeaked a quick explanation, "Miss Long is from a different school - and these are grave interscholastic matters."

Tenten, meanwhile, was barely restraining herself from running full speed into the back room of the Great Hall. She slipped into the room without waiting for Flitwick and glared at Dumbledore, his long white beard making him easy to locate.

"Well, shall we crack on, then?" A portly man, one of the judges, had been saying when Tenten finally mustered enough calm not to scream.

"What is going on here?" she demanded in Japanese, startling the others in the room. "I was told that I needed to protect one person, not two! And he!" Tenten pointed at Harry, easily the smallest person in the room. "Is too young! You yourself said so!" she hissed.

Everyone else in the room seemed surprised that she was even in there. Most of them hadn't noticed her enter.

"Tenten," Dumbledore said, rather calmly in her opinion, "It would, I think, be appropriate to speak in English here?"

Tenten glowered at him, but complied.

"So," she ground out, "You explain what going on now?"

Dumbledore gave her a quick run-down of the situation, including Moody's theory that Harry's name had been entered, by someone with hostile intentions towards him, under a fourth school.

"And indeed," he continued, addressing the entire room this time and holding up a burnt piece of parchment. "Alastor is right. Harry's name on this piece of parchment had been entered under the Konoha Institute of Magic… of which Miss Long here was a student of."

Heads turned to Tenten, who held her own high, still glowering at those nearest to her. She caught sight of Cedric, mouthing the word "was" with a confused frown on his face. Good, he was a smart one. Maybe she wouldn't have such a hard time guarding him.

"However," Dumbledore continued, "Miss Long has been called here for entirely different reasons. Miss Long's speciality, as she was taught in her school, is body guarding. I had hired her as a precaution against unnecessary deaths during the tournament." His voice faded into a silence, as all these in the room sent unmasked stares in her direction.

Tenten inwardly groaned. At this rate she would actually end up body guarding all four of the champions.

"Zees leetle girl?" Madame Maxime laughed. "She doesn't eeven look of age! How old are you, leetle girl?"

"I am now fifteen year old." Tenten said cautiously.

"Ha!" Karkaroff scoffed, "A fifteen year old?"

Tenten's eyes flashed, and she sent a sharp glance towards Dumbledore, as if asking for permission. He nodded, a barely discernible yet weary nod, and Tenten slashed.

Desks crashed and suddenly Igor Karkaroff was pinned to the wall behind him by six small knives that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Tenten let down a tanto knife from her sleeve, the blade flashing in the firelight in the room.

"You dare question Konoha education?" she whispered softly, dangerously. Chakra-infused kunai meant that they wouldn't be pulled out of the wall so easily.

"I am mercenary, from Konoha. Bodyguard, messenger, assassination is my speciality. And… weapon." she said. She didn't dare mention infiltration. "Konoha magic, different. We have nature-magic, not wand-magic."

"Miss Long graduated when she was twelve and has passed the… coming of age exam recently. Her apprenticeship allows her to accept long-term jobs, and so I have brought her here to watch the champions. I believe that, for any dangers during the Tournament, she will be more than capable of being a bodyguard."

"Whoever put Potter's name in that goblet will be trying extra hard to get him killed, Albus." Moody growled. "Such a young girl can't-"

"No," Tenten spat, fed up with these wizards belittling her. She was a kunoichi of Konoha and Might Gai's student. She could do this. "I am Konoha Chunin. I capable."

Then the portly judge from before just had to run her moment by rubbing his hands together and shouting, "Oh! How very exciting!" in a most childish manner. Tenten attempted to silence him with a glare, but it seemed to serve only to spur him on. She sighed, shifting her weight onto a more comfortable position on her feet. If this was going to be as long and complicated a meeting as she thought it would be, she would seriously consider writing to Tsunade-sama for back-up assistance.

By the time the meeting ended, it was well into the evening. Tenten was drained both physically and mentally, and was still highly confused about most of the situation. A few things were clear to her, however. Just as she predicted, Maxime and Karkaroff, the headmasters of the other two schools, had made it very clear that they expected her to protect their students as well.

So now she was not only babysitting the two Hogwarts champions but also that blonde girl that reminded her of Ino - Flower, was her name? She had sat at the Ravenclaw table near her but Tenten really hadn't been paying attention to her… And the famed Quidditch player. In her opinion, he was just the magical world's version of Uchiha Sasuke.

The tasks would be dangerous as ever, and Tenten felt she was prepared for whatever would be thrown at her during the Tournament itself. It was the attacks that Dumbledore and Moody predicted would be trained on Harry Potter outside of the Tournament that she was afraid of. She had talked to the Potter boy once on the train to Hogwarts and he had seemed like a completely normal teenage boy, if not a bit lovestruck by whoever other boys in the train with them had been teasing him about. But if he was truly such an important figure in the magical world, his also magical enemies would be highly difficult to protect him against. She really hoped it wasn't some kind of freaky Orochimaru-like villain she was up against.

Tenten allowed herself to let out a sigh as she trudged up towards the Ravenclaw Tower. She had thought use had already had her work cut out for her, but apparently not. She would definitely have to write a report to Tsunade-sama tonight, to accompany the letter Dumbledore had promised her he would send.

Was she even ready to take on this task? Tenten didn't know. All she knew was that despite the better parts of her stay at Hogwarts, she was quickly becoming fed up with this world around her.

She tried to slip into Ravenclaw Tower without fanfare, but it seemed her entire House had been up waiting for her. There were various groups huddled together all around the common room in discussion, and while the room was usually quiet, today it seemed everyone had something to say about the fourth Triwizard Champion. Only three people were brave enough to come up to her, however. Cho, one of the three, jumped up to her as soon as she stepped inside the door.

"What happened?" Shoma questioned, also bounding up to her. Tenten ignored him, heading towards the entrance of the girls' quarters. "How was Potter's name chosen?"

"Was it him?" Cho asked, and Tenten sighed. At least Cho had the sense to ask her.

"Well, did he do it!" Marietta demanded, coming up to them as well. "Did Potter put his name in the Goblet?"

"No," Tenten said, simply. "I know you not believing, but Potter no enter name into Tournament."

"But how did his name-" Shoma started, but Cho cut him off with a short sigh.

"Alright then. I believe you." she stated simply. "If anyone knows anything, it would be you."

"Cho!" Marietta exclaimed, obviously about to protest, but Cho cut her off with a "hush!" and brushed past her friend, obviously still distressed, to head towards the girls' quarters. Marietta raced off after her Cho, the rest of their group of friends following them closely as well. Tenten, rethinking her decision to go up to her shared room, no doubt being filled by curious girls by now, sought out the nearest chair to slump down on.

"How was his name entered?" Shoma asked her again, still not letting go of his question.

"Someone else probably put his name in," Tenten ground out in Japanese, her head in her hands. She started massaging her temples, trying to block the headache she felt coming on. "Dumbledore thinks someone might be trying to kill or hurt him."

Shoma gasped a little, but Tenten just rolled her eyes, closing them briefly as she let out a sigh. Everything was just so… troublesome, for lack of a better word. She brushed off Shoma's further questions, most of them just a bit too probing, and headed off to bed. She needed to think. A lot.

Sunday passed without much fanfare for Tenten. Despite Shoma and Uchi's pestering she stayed silent about her thoughts on the Tournament and spent the day training in the clearing in the forest. She had found over the years that this was the best way for her to clear her mind, and she dearly needed all of her brain to be functioning at the moment.

But at the end of the day, her tentative plan was just to let things sit for a few days. Because the entire school had seen her rushing to the room behind the Great Hall, the professors of Hogwarts had spread the word that she had only been called on because Harry's name was entered under the name of her school.

Judging from the whispers in the hallways in the next few days, however, it hadn't stopped people from still thinking that Harry Potter had entered his name on his own. Idiots. Morons, Tenten thought of them. Many people had seen other underaged students attempt to enter their names, none of whom had been able to. So how would he have done so?

But there still was the issue of her needing to seemingly get close to the Potter kid. Harry. The Boy Who Lived. She would of course be talking to the other Champions in order to see what their strengths and weaknesses were and therefore how exactly she should be prepared to protect them from what. But Dumbledore also wanted her to guard Harry. The person, not the champion. And outside of the tournament. And so somehow, she would need to get close to him.

As for the other champions, she would work on them as she had originally planned.

The Beauxbatons students ate at the Ravenclaw table a lot, so it was almost no trouble to talk to the champion that reminded her so much of Ino - Fleur, she learned her name was, which was damned-near unpronounceable - one day in the following week. It seemed that Fleur relished in the attention she was getting from her champion status, or really any attention at all, and she somewhat haughtily but happily engaged in a short conversation with Tenten on what she thought the first task of the Tournament might be like. It hadn't given Tenten much information about the champion, but then again, there was nearly a month to spare before the actual event happened.

Viktor Krum, the Quidditch player, was nowhere to be found, and so was Harry Potter. Tenten actually ran into Cedric while she was looking for him. Literally.

"Are you alright?" Cedric asked, holding out a hand. Tenten grasped it.

"Thank you," she said, pulling herself up with his help.

"So," Cedric said once she was up, swinging his bag over his shoulder, "You're my bodyguard."

"You no talk here!" Tenten hissed. "We are in middle of corridor!"

"Well I know that you have a free period now like I do. It's nice weather, so let's get out to the grounds." Cedric suggested, looking at her from over his shoulder.

Tenten sighed, hitching her own bag over her shoulder as she made to follow him. Nice? It was so cold! "Why go outside? We have library…"

"We'll be able to talk more privately outside." Cedric said, and Tenten conceded to his point. She could feel that despite his calm exterior, Cedric did have conflicting feelings about the Tournament itself and the situation with the fourth Champion. She would probably be able to better answer his questions in a more private setting. Even if it was cold outside.

They walked in silence for a while before Cedric finally turned to her as they neared the lake.

"You knew, didn't you?" he asked, and Tenten raised an eyebrow.

"Knew? What?"

"How the champions were chosen. About the Age Line. You know. Just, Tournament stuff."

"Yes," Tenten admitted.

"And you didn't tell us."

"Yes." she repeated. "I supposed to not tell."

"But you didn't know Potter..."

"No."

"Why exactly are you here?" Cedric asked her, after another moment of silence. Tenten looked up from where she was sitting, having settled down with it in the meantime.

"You know already. I am bodyguard. Helping with no death in Tournament."

"But why you?" he persisted.

"I am mercenary. Bodyguard, messenger, assassination…"

"And you're a student because…"

"I am undercover. Also, I learning magic. I getting paid by me learning."

"So, what exactly do you do?" asked Cedric, turning to face her.

Tenten shrugged. "I do many job… when Hokage - no, leader - tell me to. When leader no tell me to… well, I no do job, I… train. Hah! I suppose to train now, but I don't because I talk with you!"

"D'you want to?" Mind if I tag along?"

"You?" Tenten looked him up and down. Well, Uchi and Shoma had already been watching her at times... Perhaps if she didn't go overboard. "Okay, just… no tell, and no be surprise."

"I doubt I'll be that surprised…" Cedric trailed off, raising his eyebrows as he caught the look on Tenten's face.

Tenten grinned evilly. "Oh trust me, you will be."

OMAKE:

Tenten spared the Bulgarian Quidditch player a glance.

Dark? Check.

Moody? Check.

Fangirls? Check.

Definitely the magical world's version of Sasuke.

No wonder girls were tripping over their own feet because of his mere presence. Tenten scoffed at the group of girls squabbling over a bit of lipstick. Apparently they wanted to get his autograph with that? Why they would have such absurd notions she would never know.

And nope, she was never like that with Sasuke, or Neji, or her amazing idol Tsunade-sama. Nope, she just hadn't been like that. Nope.

Author's Note:

Timelines are the worst. JKR makes it seem so easy, slipping scenes in here and there with possibly weeks passing in between without us noticing much. But no, there is lots of space between main events in The Goblet of Fire, and figuring out what goes where in this chapter and the next few has been… tricky. Extremely. Tricky. But I seem to be having fun with these timeline things, considering the other HP fanfiction I'm working on right now.

Also, I'm still a mess over what happened in Naruto chapter 614. But oh well, what's happened has happened. At least this particular fic hasn't been rendered AU.

Reviews are love!

Ja Ne,
~Golden