Hey guys...guess what...I really wasn't sick...Nope...just athsma acting up cause I was outta my meds...

meaning I really wasn't in denial ^_^

Though my best friend did have H1N1...and I was most definately around her when she was incredibly contagious....don't know how I didn't catch that exactly.....just call me lucky I guess?

.....and I've now been forced to make a facebook...meaning I have another account to keep up...blah...maybe I should use it for advertisement?

Anyways....

Thanks to my AMAZING reviewers:FallenHope-Angel, mangamaniacgurl, TrenchcoatMan, sandninjanaru, Sora Hoshi and , skytokio

Oh...and apparently...some of you have theories on 'Lexi...personally...I'm intrigued...and think you should tell me...Telling me sounds like a good idea.

And remember....

I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto.

ON WITH THE CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!

thoughts

japanese

'silent communication'

Naruto managed to drag himself to his classes, or rather, Sasuke's classes, the next day. And shockingly, the day after that. He was irritable, that much was obvious, and he looked like he'd barely slept in the past three days, but he continued to attend classes, eat his meals in record time, and spend every break period in the Hospital Wing.

Of course, he was also aware that Sasuke didn't have much time to wake up. According to a conversation his clones had informed him off, Sasuke's body was still normal, he was still functioning fine, but if he didn't wake up by the next day, they were going to ship him off to some St. Mungo's place. He'd probably wind up killing whoever tried to take Sasuke away in a Kyuubi-powered rage. He wouldn't mean to, but the Kyuubi was pretty forceful in his opinions, and after his host risking his life multiple times a week for the Uchiha-boy, he wouldn't be going anywhere, any time soon.

And sure, Shino was a strong guy, and sure, the Kikai could kill a man in a matter of seconds, but Naruto highly doubted the other could hold him down in a rage like that. And he really didn't want his "Friend-don't kill, Enemy-kill" senses to get all screwed up and wind up with a dead Shino. Oh no...he liked to other shinobi to much, not to mention that whole don't kill your comrades thing, and he really didn't want to come home someday, with Sasuke and no Shino. He wouldn't last long against Kiba, Akarmaru and Hinata like that. So killing his friend on accident was definately not a good idea.

So obviously the best thing to do was keep one Sasuke Uchiha-Pagano in Hogwarts. Of course, it wasn't like Naruto could explain his reasoning to the medic or Headmistress. He'd wind up in a loony-bin, Sasuke would still be in St. Mungo's and Shino would have to manage damage control while remaining under the radar.

Sometimes, Naruto really hated being stuck with no options.

Naruto groaned, flopping into the chair next to Shino in the Arithmacy classroom. It was one of the few classes he had with only Shino and Lexi, so there was no reason to appease any of Sasuke's friends by sitting with them.

"You're stressed."

"No shit, Shino. Why would I ever be stressed?" His saracasm didn't even phase the bug user, stupid emotionless bug-ninja.

"I have a feeling you'll be telling me."

"St. Mungo's. That's what they wanna do to Sasuke, send him to some St. Mungo's place." He complained quietly, even as the teacher levitated a thick packet towards them, and instructed them to finish it by the end of the class. "Ugh...I don't need this crap. When the hell am I going to need this?"

"It's just math, Naruto." Shino murmured, as others began working, talking as they did so, "Now what is St. Mungo's and where is it?"

"I don't know!" He growled, glaring at the papers.

"A hospital in London," Lexi informed them, offhandedly, from her position on Shino's other side "It's one of, if not the best magical hospitals in Britain. If they're sending Sasuke there, they have a reason for it."

Naruto spared her a small glare, the answer had done nothing to make him feel better. "Great...a hospital...I doubt they can do anything they can't here...."

Shino shook his head slightly, "Calm down, Naruto." he cautioned, "And think about it this way...all you have to do is wake him up."

"No...really? I had no idea." Once more his saracasm didn't appear to phase the other, who was somehow able to do the arithmacy work.

"Naruto....how have they been trying to wake him up?"

"Magic. Some Rennervate spell...some Finite Incantatem thing...potions...why?"

"Maybe they should try something different?"

"Huh?"

"There's more than one way to wake someone up, Naruto. It's common...you should know how to by now...or at least know it exists...shouldn't you?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, thinking of a way to wake up Sasuke, as he copied down Shino's answers as subtely as possibly. Shino thought he should know how to, but the other should have guessed Naruto hadn't spent his time reading. So that ruled out anything magical. He'd already tried shaking the other awake, he'd oh-so-subtley 'spilled' a glass of ice water on the other, so that meant Shino must mean a jutsu.

But what jutsu was there to wake someone up? There were jutsu to knock someone out, sure. But he didn't know how to reverse it, they would wake up soon enough after all. There were jutsu to heal, but there was nothing wrong with Sasuke, not to mention Naruto didn't know any. Momentarily, he contemplated the benefits of trying to have a summoning wake Sasuke up, but that would be noticed, not to mention Shino's insistance it was common. What the hell did the other mean?

He grasped the table they sat at for a long moment, taking out his frustration on it. The wood was just ready to give way beneath his hands when Shino stopped him with two simple words, "Release, Naruto."

Naruto complied, letting the table go, and resting his arm over the slight indents. It was several moments of silent copying that the double meaning of Shino's words hit him, and he felt like slamming his head against the table. Kai, commonly known as Release as an english translation. It could break a genjutsu easily, and had been what Sakura used to wake him up during the Sound-Sand invasion. But still, how could Sasuke be under a genjutsu? No one had put him under one.

Of course though, the other had been in pain for a while, and Naruto could easily assume he was reliving his past. Now, he wouldn't wake up. But was it more than that? Was he trapped in his own mind, unable to wake up? The Sasuke he knew had to strong of a will to let his memories keep him down. So it made sense some outside force was keeping his asleep...didn't it?

Was there some way Sasuke had put himself under a genjutsu? Or that whatever had hidden them from him could do it? It was the only answer Naruto could think of, and it made sense too.

Sometimes he was really happy Shino was stuck with him.

Naruto and Shino were wandering through the halls after dinner. The blond had insisted they eat quickly, and had spent every minutes Shino was still eating, glaring at him until he was done, despite the fact Naruto had been banned from the hospital wing until one hour after dinner. Apparently, the teachers were under the opinion the hospital wing wasn't the best place for Naruto to spend his time, so he had been given a time restraint during Defense Against the Dark Arts by Lupin. It would have been almost funny, had Naruto not insisted on rushing so he could spend more time waiting.

Eventually, Shino decided to break Naruto's stream of complaints. He'd planned to wait until Sasuke was awake, but he needed a change of subject, anything other than what would happen if Sasuke woke up, if he didn't, what he'd be like, how he'd deal with the memories. He was only human, after all, and could only take so much.

"You know....we aren't the only ones with chakra here...." He informed the other quietly, so the portaits couldn't hear him.

Naruto froze for a moment, "WHAT?"

"Calm, Naruto. I'm not sure how, not yet at least." Shino replied, just as quietly, "But I was monitoring Lexi...I wanted to figure out why she acted like she was threatened one night. And the next morning, I detected chakra. It's faint, not good for many jutsu as far as I can tell and it's overshadowed by magic, but it's there."

"...Lexi....has....chakra..."

"Yes."

"How the hell....does SHE have chakra!"

"I'm not an expert on chakra development, Naruto. So I can't explain it completely. But I'm relatively certain there are circumstances...."

"Circumstances?"

"Yes. Think about it this way, shinobi are all different, and yet most of us develop chakra...Since I found out about her, I've been trying to figure out why....And I have...some ideas." Silence was his only answer, "Think about it this way, Naruto. Some people develop chakra pathways at birth. My clan and the Hyuuga are two of them. You are as well. The Hyuuga are born with an ability that relies on chakra, and at birth, my clan are given the kikai, which feed on it. It's nessecity that causes our chakra to develop early. You however, hold the Kyuubi, and it is chakra. The only way you could survive, is if you had chakra pathways. Instances like that, cause near instant creation of the pathways, as a survival instinct of sorts. Most shinobi come from shinobi families though, either clans or just a small family, and they teach special jutsu at a young age, some even have clan based jutsu preformed on them at a young age to give them certain ablilities. Those clans, like the Inuzuka use the jutsu to create chakra pathways, and the chakra circulation allows them to bond with their dogs. They're trained about the mental and physical balance needed to produce chakra the moment they start understanding things, and they're introduced to it younger. They have a fairly easy time developing chakra pathways at a young age on their own. Following me so far?"

"Yeah...."

"Good. Now...I think civilian children who chose to become shinobi are a bit different. They aren't quite like most, because they aren't exposed to chakra quite as much. But if they go through a much more rigorous training schedule at a young age, if they can make that choice early enough, and learn to find the balance, they can develop chakra pathways, and become shinobi."

"Well how do you explain Lee?"

"I think he started training to be a shinobi to late. I've heard he started trying to find his balance not long before he started at the academy. It was to late in his life to start. So he couldn't. Physically he's a shinobi, but his chakra pathways are only half developed. Enough to hold chakra, but not enough to manipulate it."

".....And you think this applies to Lexi?"

"Yes. Her chakra is more stable than Lee's, if she tried, she could most likely manipulate it. But from how faint it was, I don't think she was trained."

"But she has it."

"Yes."

"How?"

"I've yet to ask. Obviously, that would be a little revealing to why we were here. I will ask when I think she will answer without jeopardizing us."

Shino and Naruto entered the Hospital Wing silently, the blond obviously still preoccupied with Shino's news. Naruto had begun to walk towards Sasuke's bed when Shino stopped him for a moment. "I'm going to distract the medic. I can't guarentee you much time. But it should be enough to try and wake him."

Naruto nodded, smiling gratefully, before continuing towards Sasuke's bed. He could hear Shino enter the medics office, making up some bullshit story about not being able to sleep. Claiming he kept having nightmares about what happened before Sasuke found them. The medic proceeded to ask an onslaught of questions, and Naruto smirked, Shino knew how to keep a medic busy.

Reaching Sasuke's bed, he touched the other's shoulder lightly. There were no restraints, there was no longer a need for them, the other hadn't moved an inch in the past two days. Taking a deep breath, Naruto drew his hand away for a moment, focusing his concentration completely on his chakra. There was no time for error, no time for second guessing himself. It was this, or nothing.

He touched the other's shoulder once more, letting his chakra flood the other's system for a moment, "Kai."

He didn't pull away for several long moments, he could feel the other's chakra shifting, though his body didn't move. The conversation in the other room came to a close, and Naruto finally pulled away.

Finally, it happened, Sasuke turned his head slightly, blinking at the harsh light of the ward. He cleared his parched throat softly, "Naruto?"

(While the last two scenes were happening.........)

Harry sat his chair, looking at the desks in the unused classroom that currently held pumpkin juice, butter beer, treacle fudge and a variety of cookies. The house elves had outdone themselves. His gaze turned to the friends he was with, Luna, Ginny, Dean, Seamus and Draco. Thankfully, he knewthe would be no issues over the Slytherin in question. Standing up for Harry against not only Ron but later a group of his old friends had done wonders for the Gryffindor opinion of the blond.

They'd met up a bit ago, just to hang out and talk, after the war, well, some relaxing was still in order, and it was kind of nice to gather around like teens, and generally gossip about what was going on in Hogwarts.

Dean switched the conversation from talk about the Hogsmead trip in three weeks and the upcoming Quidditch game to a slightly more serious one. "Hey Luna....by any chance have you noticed that Shino guy acting odd? 'Cause his friend, Naruto, is not only obsessed with Sasuke, but is generally really, really weird."

"Wrackspurts." Luna said simply, "It's like he's surrounded by Wrackspurts." At Dean, Seamus's and Draco's look, she elaborated, "They make your brain all fuzzy, and he looks like he can't figure anything out."

Seamus snorted, "Ever think that could just be stupidity?"

"In Ravenclaw?" Ginny countered

"And the girl who's escorting him....?...What's her name again?"

"Alexandra....most call her Lexi though..."

"From what I can see, most don't talk to her." Harry replied "Why don't they?"

"A girl started spreading rumors about her," It was one of the first times Draco had spoken, and he had all of their attention, "Slytherins considered seeing how she felt about The Dar....Voldemort."

"What the hell? Why?"

Draco shot a look to Luna, obviously wondering if she knew, "Back in our fourth year....she was accused of murder."

"Her? Murder?" Ginny clarified, shocked

"From what reached the Slytherin end...yeah. Some looked it up, thought she might be...useful. A few bribes in the Ministry covered everything. Her aunt and cousin had come to visit her house. When they got there...apparently her father was dead. No wounds, it just looked like he'd died of long term disease, though all his records were clean. They checked her wand too, and she hadn't done a spell since the year before in school. It's like he just dropped dead."

The Gryiffindor's all stared at Draco as he continued, "Apparently her family didn't believe the Ministry when they said she did nothing. They all thought she killed him, so she was disowned. That's the reason They were interested in her. She's a pure blood, but she chose to live with a Mu...Muggle born."

"That's why no one talks to her." Luna commented softly, "She can act like in never happened, but the cousin who was there, is in our house. And she won't let anyone forget."

Alright guys...gimme you comments, questions, issues, concerns, etc. You've gotten one answer...but most likely...a heck of a lotta questions now. I'm nice like that...its good to make you think.

And just cause you got that last little bit doesn't mean I don't wanna hear theories...I like theories (and if you think they sound stupid..I accept pms and I promise I won't laugh)

Oh...and the part with the little meeting...is cause I realized....that we've gotten no real wizardy input yet...so...I gave it

Oh...and Shino's little theory thing....is how I think the differences between Shinobi, civilians and well...Lee...exist. Cause really now. We didn't get any good explanation for chakra aside from tree climbing...did we?

On another note.... Reviews are amazing!!! And, you get cookies and soda!!!! And cause it's after Halloween....discounted candy!! Yay sales rack!

So...hope you enjoyed the story and see you!

~CP