"Dashing isn't he? Simply brilliant." She sighed, Ron snorted making a rude jab at said man, if you could call him that, he was more like a fairy then a human. Harry picked up his things and headed for double potions, which, he was dreading. Harry couldn't figure out why Snape hated him so much, Harry tried his best to not do anything wrong, or to make the man hate him, but it seemed even the act of breathing was enough to infuriate him.
Harry collided with something and stumbled back nearly falling over, he did how ever manage to drop his books. "I'm sorry." The person he had bumped into said apologetically, his tone some how sounding forced but the sincerity was still there.
"No I'm am, I wasn't watching where I was going." Harry said, just now getting a good look at who he bumped into. It was one of the new teachers, Professor Uchiha. Harry couldn't help the slight bush spread across his face when the not-so-much-older male helped him pick up his things. Professor Uchiha was stunning to say the least, his long midnight hair, his coal colored eyes that seemed to follow you're every movement even if they weren't looking at you directly. Harry could tell his beauty was miss leading, that though his appearance be that of a weak effeminate man, something wafted off of him that clearly said I could harm you if under the right circumstances, he reminded Harry a lot of Lucius.
"I take it you are headed to potions class, considering you are not a Slytherin and it is the only class down here. I wish you luck on the remainder of your classes." Professor Uchiha lightly bowed to him handing him his things and continuing on his way.
Potions went like any other potions class did, followed by a normal transfiguration class. Then, at dinner Harry finally got some alone time with Hermione and Ron, the new students and the new teachers were all absent from the Great Hall. Harry leaned in and started talking to Hermione and Ron, after Ron had finally slowed down eating enough to pay attention.
"You guys notice how at least some of the new students and teachers are acting nice? I mean I don't think they are bad people, but something seems off about them." Ron rolled his eyes to Harry's surprise. Hermione on the other hand inhaled ready to spew her theory.
"Well personally, I think they are hiding something, I mean why would they suddenly want to transfer here in their fifth year? I did some reading on the Japanese wizarding school and it is one of the best wizarding schools there are. And, they don't teach a subject that even remotely resembles piratical defense, in fact, they discourage such things." Hermione said matter-of-fact. Harry then told them of the letter he got earlier that half way through his detention he was to meet in the piratical defense room to spend the rest of his detention there. Ron then made a comment that maybe there was something going on with them, but how could that pretty pink haired girl be bad? The dazed look on Ron's face as he thought of Sakura made it clear he wasn't really paying much attention to the other transfer students and their teachers.
Harry spent nearly and hour signing autographs of a grinning Gilderoy Lockhart, said man also gloating the whole time on how he had to respond to his beloved fans and how gratifying it was to make some fan some where happy with his response. Needless to say, Harry was glad his detention with Gilderoy was cut short, he was beginning to wish he could swap places with Ron, at least he was used to using a little elbow grease. In some cases, his whole arm when his Aunt Petunia made him scrub out the storm drains, after each time it rained, after he was done, they would be as white and clean as the day they were put on the house, oh how he hated his relatives. He thought as he opened the door to the practical defense room.
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Naruto looked up as he herd faint foot steps out side of the door, resuming his lazy posture with his feet propped up on his desk as the door creaked open. Sakura sat in the row next to him her hands resting in her lap sitting upright, prim and popper, not a hair out of place with a faint smile on her face. Across from her in the next row was Sai, his hand resting on top of his table, fingers interlocked, eyes closed because of the giant fake grin that was almost always plastered on there. Kakashi was leaning against the right side of the desk if you were facing him, legs crossed casually, reading Icha Icha. Kisame was leaning on the left side his arms crossed and a displease look planted firmly in place.
Itachi stood to the left of the desk leaning on the wall, arms and legs crossed with his head tilted down and his eyes closed as if he were sleeping. Naruto knew better though, Itachi was thinking, or at least contemplating something, but never was his guard down despite his lazy posture. Naruto would bet, apart from him sleeping, that this was the most relaxing posture Itachi had.
Harry was no further then a step into the room when all of the sudden Kakashi lifted his head band and charged Harry, something shiny catching the pale light in the room was the only warning Harry got. To almost every one's surprise in the room Harry ducked and rolled just before Kakashi's, pen? Almost stabbed Harry in the side of the head. Harry sat crouched hugging his knees as Kakashi twisted in his direction with the momentum of his swing to kick Harry right in the head.
But just before the hit landed, Harry brought his arm up to take the blow, the force of the kick sent Harry flying into a corner where he skidded to a stop on his side, still half hugging his knees. He managed to block another two kicks that would have landed in vital spots had his arms not been blocking them.
An angry red mark was visible and Sakura was now screeching at Kakashi about what he was doing to him. She ran over to Harry and immediately started healing the buries, lucky for Harry the arm didn't break because Sakura hadn't learned to heal much more then minor cuts and bruises. Naruto, Sai and Itachi seemed to be the only two to see it coming, Kisame stood there with his mouth hanging open like a fish out of water, and of coarse Sakura's out burst. Harry to her surprise seemed calm, almost as if it never happened, he pushed he away before she was completely done healing her arm muttering that he was fine.
"I can't believe you Kakashi Sensei! Why did you attack him like that!" She yelled grinding her fist into her palm ready to beat the crap out of her Sensei.
"Those are some good defensive skills you have, care to explain where you learned them?" Kakashi asked skeptically while tugging down his head band again.
"I took karate lessons when I was younger." Naruto could tell right away Kakashi didn't buy the lie, even Kisame was catching on by this point.
"I doubt that, you see, Harry, we are in fact not actually wizards." Kakashi paused to let that sink in. As he had guessed the wheels in Harry's head were turning.
"But how does that work, I've seen you do magic." Harry said.
"Well, we can do magic in a manner of speaking, but the day we arrived at this school, was the first day any of us has ever used a wand. You see, we call our, magic, chakara, which roughly translates to, 'energy', it is a force that flows through your body much like blood. Every wizard has the potential to become what we are." Kakashi again paused to let that sink in, Harry still seemed to be in a bit of shock from the attack just moments before.
"A-and what are you?" Harry asked almost terrified of the answer.
"Shinobi, rather ninja or assassins." Harry's expressing was blank, as he stood and walked toward the door mumbling to himself.
"Yep, finally lost my mind, vampires, werewolves or mermaids I would have expected, but really couldn't my imagination come up with something better then that? I'm kind of disappointed, I thought insanity would be more, inventive..." He said, slowly pulling the door closed. Kakashi sighed and motioned for Naruto to go get him.
Naruto stood with a sigh of his own and stalked out the door. Harry hadn't made it far down the hall. "Yo, Harry wait up!" Naruto said jogging up to him and placing a hand on the younger boy's shoulder.
"Look we weren't joking and you aren't crazy, we really are shinobi." Naruto said, steering Harry back into the room.
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Harry allowed Naruto to lead him back to the room, some how his mind kept telling him if he walked back in that room one of them was going to kill him. After all Professor Hatake had said they were assassins. He looked at the normally 'warm' and charming Professor Uchiha and a chill ran up his spin. He had suspected something was off about them, but this, he was not expecting.
"Now Harry I know all of this is, strange, even for a wizard like you. You see the shinobi world is hidden from civilians, muggles, a lot like the wizarding world is. Very few wizards know shinobi are real and the same goes for shinobi knowing about wizards. Turns out there are very few things that separate shinobi from wizards. It all comes down to a matter of how we use chakara really, shinobi use chakara to train our bodies in the ways of fighting, instead of wands we use hand signs to channel our chakara. Wizards call it magic and use wands to call upon their chakara with out physical training and hard work, you also use it for day to day life, not just battle." Professor Uchiha paused again, but there was no need, Harry had slipped out of his shock and now his mind was trying to figure out why telling him this mattered?
"You see, Harry, we were hired by the Head Master to do three things." Kakashi said, looking to the corner as someone moved Harry hadn't noticed before. He must have entered the room when Harry was trying to leave.
"To protect this school, you and teach you the way of a shinobi." Harry looked at the boy clad in armor and a bone white mask.
"So you were really there! Tell me can you walk on ceilings?" The boy in the mask nodded and Harry sighed with relief. Harry had spotted the masked boy on his way to transfiguration, as soon as he had laid eyes on the form hovering above, it was gone.
"It's surprising you noticed me at all, I had a notice-me-not jutsu over me. Might I ask how you knew?" The boy in the mask questioned.
"I don't know, I just, it was almost like there was a chill in the hall, or something." The man in the mask nodded.
"It's called killer intent, it means you could sense the danger that would have become you if you had not looked up. Even though you were in no actual danger, you would have got a spit ball to the back of the head." The masked boy twirled his fingers and a straw was produced out of thin air twirling along with the fingers.
Harry looked at each of them before asking. "Why? Why teach me or come here at all?" Harry asked, he was smart, they had said they were hired, but it didn't make sense, even for him, people who sell them selves for things like killing people or being a body guard, it was just too, Mafia sounding.
"Because, our leaders ordered us too, we of coarse had the right to refuse the mission, but we were offered good money." It nearly made Harry jump when Professor Uchiha spoke, it was so cold and void of emotion, even if he had suspected the smiles were fake, he never expected to this extreme. But Professor Uchiha wasn't the one that scared him the most, it was Professor Hoshigaki.
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Naruto sat back down, he was surprised Harry had noticed Raven, as far as he knew, he, possible Itachi, Mr. Stinky Fish Face (Kisame) and Kakashi at some point during the day, were the only ones to notice that Raven was there most of the time. He was pretty sure none of the other students had noticed him, as well as Sai and Sakura, but if Harry had, then maybe others had too. Naruto would ask the Anbu later if he 'bumped' into him.
"So Kakashi Sensei, when are we going to start his training?" Naruto asked. A menacing cloud formed behind Kakashi as an evil smirk appeared across his face.
"Right now of coarse, after all, you four are still in detention. You're going to run laps around the room until your legs fell like they're going to fall off, then you're going to do push ups until you're arms fall off and then sit-ups until your spin feels like it's going to snap in half and then some. All while wearing these." Kakashi said, holding up some weights, three of the four students sweat dropped, Naruto stood snatched a bundle of weights from Kakashi and started his laps. Reluctantly the other three followed.
After training ended Kakashi handed Harry a book on shinobi essentials and made him swear not to tell anyone, even his friends about what he was learning, that the parameter of this mission only allowed Harry and the Teachers to know of the shinobi and only Harry to actually learn shinobi techniques, that he couldn't grantee the safety of his friends if they find out.
Which Naruto completely agreed with Kakashi, the Akatsuki would probably depose of anyone who knew, who wasn't supposed to know at the end of the mission. After all they were only hired to protect the students for one year, anything after that was fair game. Another thing that bugged Naruto was why the Akatsuki leader agreed to take this mission? Did he know about magical people already? Or is he looking to use that power in some way like the tailed beasts?
Naruto was ripped from his thoughts as killer intent flooded the hall. Naruto scanned the area quickly and found nothing there, something was wrong, he knew, but there was nothing in the hallway. Then he herd it, the faint scuffing of something he couldn't quite make out, it was too far away. Naruto ran down the Hallway following the sound. What ever it was, was moving fast.
Naruto skidded to a stop when the hallway turned to the left, the sound seemed to vanish, he looked around and took in the area, there wasn't much there, a door to a girls bathroom, suites of armor, a few paintings here and there. Naruto sighed and scratched the back of his head, he had a feeling this year wasn't going to be as boring as he expected.
To his dismay though the next couple of months were uneventful. Naruto was just glad that tonight they would have an evening off, it was the Halloween Feast, Harry and Ron were going to Sir Nicholas, Death Day party, and Raven had volunteered to go so every one else could rest. Which was totally cool by Naruto, he had heard a lot of things about Halloween from the buzz around the school, a night rumored for demons and gods-of-trickery to walk the earth, spirits wondering freely. Something stirred in Naruto's gut but he paid it no mind as he made his way to his last class of the day.
Naruto found it hard to concentrate in class, his eyes felt heavy, which was odd considering he wasn't really tired before class started. As everything started to go black Naruto could hear the fait, ting of water dripping from pipes. "Sorry kit, but this is going to zap you of your strength for today, you'll have just enough to keep the clones going." A far away voice said apologetically. Next thing Naruto knew was that Professor McGonagall had smacked the top of the desk with a ruler.
Naruto was so startled he brought a kunai up to her neck with a feral growl. Lucky for him the other fifth years couldn't see the kunai. Surprise over took Naruto's face as he quickly scrambled back in his seat.
"Sorry Professor, I'm not feeling well." Naruto said looking up at her to try and covey they would talk about it after class.
"If you feel so badly then walk your self down to Madam Pomfrey, if not I would ask you at least act like you're paying attention." She said with no where near the bite she would if it were one of her other students, turning to continue where she left off in her explanation.
After class Naruto dragged his feet so that he was the last one to remain. He finished packing his things and walked up to the front desk. "Sorry Professor, I've apparently used too much chakara lately and it's drained me some. After our little break tonight I should be good as new, promise." Naruto half lied. Professor McGonagall accepted his excuse and sent him on his way.
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A/N I know Itachi is OOC (Out Of Character) until that last bit, there is a reason for it!! T-T It kind of creeps me out writing Itachi that way. I like him the way he is, personally, except, after his final battle with Sasuke. (For those people who know what I'm talking about. *Sulks.* I hate Masashi Kushimoto sometimes. But hey, wouldn't be a good story if everything happened the way you thought it would, then there is no surprise at the end!)
Yes I refer to Kakashi Itachi and Kisame as 'Professor' while in Harry's point of view and to Raven as 'masked boy' because Harry doesn't really know them by anything else yet. LOL incase any of you were thinking I forgot what I named the Anbu. Actually Raven isn't an original idea for naming an Anbu, buuut I did that on purpose, you'll see why later. ^_^ I own no claims to the name Raven either just to get that out of the way! Oh and I also don't own Mr Stinky Fish Face either, it's from that stupid phone commercial. XD But it so fits Kisame though.
And one last note, I do appreciate and reply to ALL reviews and would like to thank every one who likes this story! ^_^ I have low self esteam (spelt wrong), so really reviews keeps my steam up so my lazy caboose keeps witting.
*Chuckles.* Sorry that was a lame pun, but I couldn't help it. There's another one in the story too. XD I couldn't help my self. like this one time a friend of mine was making fish chowder, she used blue potatoes in it instead of regular potatoes, so naturally it turned the cream blue, she also added in shrimp and haddock, so we dubbed it, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Soup. XD She then made a comment that it looked like it should have eye of newt in it or something (Insert pretending to look for eye of newt.) Then said she didn't have any, so I said. "Well, you could put dice in it." She gave me a bewildered look and asked. "Dice?" I said. "Yeah, snake eyes."
*Laughs.*
I thought she was going to hit me for using that lame of a pun. XDD But I totally got her with it. *Pats self on back.*