Ripples in the Ocean Chapter 9, a Harry Potter + Naruto Crossover fanfic

Disclaimer: Currently, I do not own any HP or Naruto franchises…sad…

AN: Yes, I loved all of you guys' reviews and some of them were really helpful! They gave me several ideas of how I could spin Reina..hopefully you guys continue on liking the story. Don't forget to check out the poll on my profile page!

….If it doesn't make sense…just roll with it. (^.^) I butcher ages and timelines for fun.

===============================Chapter 9===============================

The month of October promised to be a hot one and it was only the first day so far! Reina wiped the sweat off her forehead before proceeding to the next room. She was currently helping out the hospital staff by clearing out recently vacated rooms of flowers and get well debris.

In the mornings, Reina either usually attended Itachi's training sessions or helped watch over Shikamaru, her baby cousin. Nowadays, from a little after lunch to before dinner, she was hiding out in the hospital. Well, it wasn't so much as hiding out but more as making strategic retreats when faced with a stronger opponent. Yeah, that sounded much better to her.

A lot of ninja that she knew avoided the hospital even when they were bleeding out and seeing colors with their mouth. Yeah, they really didn't like being stuck in the hospital. Shikaku and Fugaku were no exceptions. Lately, if she came into contact with them, the conversation would turn to them asking when she would be joining the Academy. In her clan's head case, he usually tried to trap her by siccing Shikamaru on her…that devious man. He knew she couldn't resist him. Fugaku's strategy was getting Itachi to invite her over to 'see' Sasuke for a bit. Usually, she'd get stuck being alone with him for a few minutes. All of which was spent by Fugaku waxing on the advantages there were to joining the Academy early.

It got annoying.

It really got annoying after a while.

So Reina hid out at the hospital. Of course, she couldn't do so without a reasonable cause or else the Director would kick her out. As a result, for the last two months, she hovered in the hospital and did odd jobs ranging from cleaning out rooms to reading stories to the younger children.

In the beginning it was rare for her to even see a medic nin perform on a patient. She lucked out last month. One of the more experienced medics had let her observe one of the most basic medical healing jutsus and even showed her how to do it after Reina demonstrated her excellent chakra control and understanding of the human body. Of course, the nin was surprised that a girl as young as Reina knew so much about it, but chalked it off as part of the genius that the Nara clan was known for. There was no need for Reina to tell her that she had learned a lot of it from her previous life as a Wizard.

Now, whenever she saw Kagome-sensei, the elderly nin would either let her practice her jutsus, quiz her on the odd scrolls or books that were given to her, or just be questioned on what she would do in a certain medical situation.

Although some of the terms and topics used/discussed got a bit confusing, Reina was able to either get reference books on them, ask some of the others nurses and medics about it, or even go to her father for help. The Nara clan was known for producing some very valuable medicinal creams and medications after all.

Ryuuta had been initially shocked to find out that his daughter had been hiding out at a hospital of all places! Though, he was glad she was using her time productively, even if she adamant about not joining the Academy yet. This was much better than his only child being dolled up and paraded about in those civilian pageants that his wife was always going on about. ***shudders***

When he could, if his time wasn't spent running missions, working in the Hokage Tower, or just plain helping out his clan head, Ryuuta tried to dedicate bonding time with Reina. More often than not, they ended up training instead. He was proud of her creative and effective use of the few Nara clan techniques that she had revealed to him so far as well as her superb chakra control. He was never quite sure just how much his daughter knew though. Some days he would find a scroll or training booklet missing, only to find it back in place another day but another scroll would be gone in its place. For now, Ryuuta decided to just let his daughter be. After all, nothing seriously bad had happened to her so far…besides the psychological scarring on Itachi, but that was Fugaku's responsibility, not his.

It was uncomfortable. The air felt heavy. Reina and Itachi were tensely walking through the village after their lunch was finished. All around, they could see shinobi and kunoichi alike hurriedly dashing over the village rooftops. The fact that they could even detect several ANBU moving about was a sign that something serious was going on.

The two had visited Kushina the other day and were hoping to see baby Naruto soon. They wondered if the baby would take after his mother or if he would favor Minato more. The debates had kept them in a fine mood since they had seen the kunoichi, but it was currently being crushed under the ominous atmosphere.

They were doubly surprised and anxious when Kakashi had landed in front of them.

"Get home, now!" He ordered before hurrying towards the Hokage Tower.

Both didn't think to disobey. The harsh and forceful tone indicated it was coming from a superior to his subordinates. To not even obey his order didn't even cross their minds. Besides, they were both children in a clan full of ninjas. They knew an order when they heard it. It was not the time for childish tantrums or civilian curiosity.

They ran. Eventually, they had to split up, but made silent promises to see each other again.

================Uchiha Clan=================

Itachi ran straight to his parents' home. All along the way, he saw the ninja Uchiha and Konoha Police Corps rallying near his father. The civilian Uchiha were taking inside any yard material that would prove injurious should it fly into anyone. The elderly and children were seen being escorted and barricaded inside.

Once Itachi made it home, he was surprised by having Sasuke literally shoved into his arms. A few bags plopped onto the ground near his feet. Mikoto gave them both a crushing hug.

"Intel has confirmed that Kyuubi has been sighted making its way to Konoha. Civilians are to get to shelter. All those below the rank of genin are to also take shelter with them. Any ninja above that have been ordered to report to duty…including me."

All of this was said in a rush. Mikoto gave her two sons one last hug before warning her eldest to get to shelter.

Itachi was left holding his baby brother in his arms as he watched his mother's departing figure get smaller.

=====================Nara Clan======================

Reina got home and saw Shikaku and his family there as well. Beside them, there were about five other families that she recognized as her nearest neighbors. She slowed down and made her way to her parents. Her clan head looked so serious.

"Scouts have informed us that the Kyuubi has been seen making its way here. All ninja that are chunin and above are to report to duty. Everyone else is to take shelter."

"What about us genin?" A young teenager asked. A shiny hitae was tied around his neck. Next to him were about four other teens around the same age.

"Genin and academy students are to take shelter like the civilians. I've already alerted the other sections of the clan. This is the last portion that hasn't taken shelter and received orders yet." Shikaku answered. His face looked even grimmer if that was possible.

"Ninja, report to Hokage Tower."

"Hai!"

The ninjas gave last hugs to their family. Wives, husbands, children, relatives, and friends all gave crushing hugs to their loved ones. There was no telling if they would see them again.

The civilians were escorted by the younger ninja to their designated shelter. Reina moved to follow. A hand clamped onto her shoulder, preventing her from following. She looked up to see that it was her clan head.

"I know that you've been hanging out at the hospital lately and I'm pretty sure that you can take down any of the genin being sheltered with you." Shikaku said before stopping her feeble protests.

"You probably have a few tricks up your sleeves including a medical jutsu or two." Shikaku added before kneeling down in front of her. He looked straight at her. "Protect them. Take care of them. Heal them if needed. Take charge if things go out of hand."

He held her close and whispered softly, "This might be selfish, but watch over Shikamaru and Yoshino." He was the clan head. He shouldn't prioritize the life of clan members like this, but he was a father and husband. He loved his family too much to not be selfish.

'Please' was left unsaid and it was unneeded. Reina knew her duty to her clan and her clan head. Her love and loyalty for them would let her do no less. After all, neither a lion can change its protective attitude towards its pride nor can a mothering snake abandon her hatchlings. Those traits were too ingrained in her, whether it was a remainder from her previous life or formed from her new one, she didn't know. All Reina knew was that she had to protect her precious ones.

"I will, Shikaku-sama." Reina solemnly said.

Shikaku gave her a hug before shunshining out. Reina resolutely made her way to the shelter.

Time passed. It could have been minutes, hours, or even days. No one had thought to bring a watch underground with them. The tunnels had no windows so there was no looking at the rising or falling of the sun to tell how long they had been in there. All those taking shelter could do was wait until a higher ranking ninja of their clan told them it was clear to leave.

At random times, screaming and shouting could be heard. Loud thuds, sounding like falling buildings or even the possible footsteps of the Kyuubi, made the walls vibrate.

Sometimes, the crying of the younger children could be heard. It usually set off the wails of the few babies with them. There was something depressing about hearing the cries of children.

A few times, parts of the ceiling would fall down. Most of the injuries caused by it were easy to remedy. Just spray some disinfectant, bandage the wound, and it was done.

Reina had to pop out a diagnostic jutsu to align and stabilize/set a broken ankle. She also had to heal a deep wound on Yoshino's arm when a surprise rumbling of the of the walls and floor made her fall against a jutting piece of wood.

Time passed. Tensions had built up slowly. Many of their group was tired. They had to move several times due to walls caving or ceilings being too unstable and threatening to fall on them. Reina estimated that they were at least half a mile away from their original shelter. She suspected that the other sections of the clan taking shelter also had to move a few times.

Eventually, Reina's group had found another group taking shelter and just decided to stay with them. It seemed easier to cope. The younger children had new faces to see and play with. The elderly gossiped with dear friends.

Of course, with more people, conflicting personalities also clashed and tempers rose. Several of the genin and even some of the Academy students got into arguments. A few rising of KI and death glares from Reina settled down more than one fight. The only time it got really serious was when two newly minted genin physically got into it. They were too amped up, from the tense atmosphere or even arrogant egos, to even think about the repercussions of fighting in an enclosed space with children and civilians present. Reina took them down. Hard. They were still unconscious.

Yoshino had settled down near some other women and mothers her age. She trusted Reina to take care of Shikamaru. In fact, aside from going to put down the fights and keeping things in control, Reina held Shikamaru the whole time beside her.

Sometimes, Reina wondered if Itachi was doing the same as her, only with Sasuke.

Eventually the sounds tapered off. An hour or even a day could have passed and they wouldn't have known it. They still had plenty of emergency supplies. It seemed like they wouldn't have to worry about running out though when echoes of cheering could be faintly heard. One of the jounin Nara finally made it down to them. It was finally ok to go above.

===========- Aftermath…..-========

The village looked awful. The bodies of both civilians and ninja alike could be seen littering the village streets. Parts of the several market places were destroyed. There was even the destruction of homes scattered about. Electricity poles were down and a piece of the Hokage Mountain was broken off. There were uprooted trees crashed into homes. Overall, it looked so horrible.

There was so much devastation and Reina wondered why there would be cheering of all things…

A few days later, Reina found out some cold hard truths:

Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, was dead. He sacrificed his life to save Konoha from the Kyuubi.

Kushina Uzumaki, her mentor and sister figure as well as beloved of the Fourth, was dead.

The Sandaime, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had been reinstated as Hokage.

Kakashi was nowhere to be seen, and according to village gossip from both the civilians and ninja, he had joined ANBU…most likely to escape his grief.

And finally, baby Naruto Uzumaki was the new jinchuriki of the nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi.

Whew, another chapter done!

I anticipate maybe one more chapter coming out this summer.

Read and Review, it makes the world (me) happy!

Word Count: 2,400+

Updated 7/9/13