Disclaimer: Believe it or not I still don´t own Naruto or HP.
A/N: This story is set during OotP in HP however it might be very different from the actual book not because I don´t remember the way events unfolded there, but because for a big part it just doesn´t fit with this story. So be aware of AU. Similar goes for the two Naruto characters. Thanks to everyone who read/favorited/alerted this story and special thanks to the DEVIL might care but I don´t (I´m not planning to abandon this;) and to Lightningscar (you know that I don´t know why but insight into thoughts and state of mind seems to be the easiest thing to write for me, it just somehow comes naturally- I guess it´s because I spend way too much time thinking eh overthinking things myself…) for reviewing.
CHAPTER II
The trio arrived to the darkness of London. If either of the two young shinobi was experiencing any of the usual unpleasant effects of travel by portkey they seemed to be hiding them well. Both quickly got up on their feet and carefully observed their surroundings. Dumbledore started to dig into the pockets of his robe looking for the small piece of parchment, when he finally got it he turned to the two ninja: "You´ll need to memorize what´s written here."
Itachi however was looking at the place were 12 Grimmauld place was with his eyes turned crimson red and just smiled: "There´s no need. I can see through it."
So this is the power of the Sharingan Dumbledore mused.
"Well, maybe for you, Itachi. For me there´s no need to waste so much of my chakra for something that can easily be achieved in another way," Kakashi commented as he took the piece of parchment from Dumbledore and read " The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London." Without any further comment as he was smart enough not to bring up something that Dumbledore was obviously trying very hard to keep secret so out in the open, he focused his one eye on the place where both Itachi and Dumbledore were looking.
"After you," Dumbledore smiled at the two young shinobi.
"Hey guys, it seems our two awaited guests have finally arrived...you know the two ninja that Dumbledore hired from that long lost place...," Fred announced barging into Harry´s and Ron´s room at 12 Grimmauld place. "Let´s go and greet them properly," George added giving them a devious plan making them realize that the Weasley twins would be quick to make the newcomers aware of their prankster nature.
"Yeah, let´s go," Ron said replying quickly not wanting to witness yet another of Harry´s angry outbursts that had become a pretty regular occurrence lately and he was very well aware that his best friend was not at all in favor of Dumbledore´s actions. "Let´s tell Hermione and Ginny on our way too," he added.
Before the boys now accompanied by the two girls as well even arrived downstairs they could already hear the reactions that the newcomers caused. As per usually the portrait of Sirius´ mothers had a few warm and welcoming words to say to the new faces but its outrage about scum, murderers and monsters got totally lost in the cry of the Weasley´s mother.
"You can´t be serious Dumbledore, they´re both still kids...,"
Even though Ron Weasley was aware that his mother tended to overreact when it came to matters as such he had to agree with her for once. Well, maybe the older of the two boys could be an adult already even though he still was barely older than Fred and George; the younger one was a totally different case.
"Sumimasen, Weasley-san, but our worlds are different and you should respect that. In your world I might be considered to be someone who´s barely become an adult and Itachi here might be considered a small child, but in our world I have been a legal adult for more than 14 years and Itachi has been one for over 4 years now," the older of the ninja spoke up politely.
"B-but he doesn´t even seem to be old enough to be a Hogwarts´ student...," Ron couldn´t hold it any longer and commented.
The small child turned to look at him and his eyes turned to crimson red from its previous dark black color and in an instant almost faster than light he was standing behind Ron holding what seemed to be something similar to a knife against his throat. The boy spoke up in a completely calm tone despite the situation ignoring Mr. Wesaley´s, Ginny´s and Hermione´s shrieks of horror: "You shouldn´t judge people by what they look like, wizard. After all what you see with your eyes might all be just a mirage. You looked at me and assumed that I was weak and helpless because my appearance is one of a mere child. The truth however is that someone like me could take care of someone like you without even moving a muscle. Yes, someone like you could be taken care of with a simple genjutsu that I was able to cast already 4 years ago."
"That´s enough, Itachi. No need to scare our clients, don´t you think?" the other ninja in the room who let his younger companion speak out his mind commented while not even looking up from his book.
Now, this is our opening- George and Fred smiled at each other.
"Hai, Kakashi-senapi," Itachi obeyed his orders, but he didn´t refrain from commenting: "However I think you already know that my intention wasn´t to scare our guests, but merely to show them the reality. Isn´t that a part of our mission too after all?"
"Hai, Hai," Kakashi smiled.
Before anyone in the room could even blink an eye Kakashi was suddenly holding the two Weasley twins with his hands around their throats as he commented: "Hmmm, it seems the two of you weren´t listening to what Itachi just said. Whatever you were planning against the two of us whether it be a prank or something else I suggest you drop it. As you must have seen there´s a huge drop between your skill and ours. I hear you kids all wanna fight in this war that´s about to start in your world. In that case it seems that we have loads to teach them, Itachi. Lesson number one, remember it well please, never overestimate your power and never underestimate your enemy even if it were to be a small bug."
"Well then, I should get going, I have a meeting to attend, "Dumbledore gave his good-byes and disappeared into the darkness of London.
The room had turned completely silent after his departure but it was not to stay so for long as it was disrupted by one of Harry´s outbursts.
"How come they get to become a part of the Order and get to fight and we don´t. It was me who saw Cedric die and who witnessed HIM to come back," he roared.
"So you saw someone die and you believe that justifies your claim to be there and fight? Don´t be ridiculous, kid," Kakashi growled.
"So you think we shouldn´t get to fight?" Harry angrily counter attacked.
"No, I don´t think you should be allowed to fight if you have to yet achieve the necessary skills to be able to fight without unnecessary losses. Idiots who overrate their own powers usually get not only themselves but also others killed," this finally made Harry shut up even though everyone could see that his anger wasn´t gone yet at all.
"Dinner´s ready, so you all can come to the kitchen. I will show the two of you your room after we´re finished, " Mrs. Weasly broke the silence and her voice showed that she too wasn´t happy with Dumbledore´s decision and with the way events unfolded and her voice might have been slightly harsher and colder than usually when she spoke to the two ninja as they had both somewhat attacked her children. It was true that the kids needed to be put into their place when it came to the exact reasons why they shouldn´t be allowed to fight, but there were other far less violent methods and she wasn´t exactly happy that it were two other kids who had taken over this task. She might have seen their skills and had to confess that they definitely were strong, probably way too strong for anyone but Dumbledore and a few others to handle in the Order, but she still couldn´t help it and not see a child and a young man not much older than her own youngest boy.
"Oi, what´s happening here?" Sirius commented as he came down the stairs. "I´ve been feeding Buckbeak and he got all uncomfortable by all the noise," he turned his attention to the two new faces: "Ahh, I see, that´s it, our long awaited guests have finally arrived.
The following day the two ninja joined Mrs. Weasley, Sirius and the kids in their efforts to get the Blacks house clean. A task that at times might have seemed impossible, but in the end quite a few of the ninjas´ jutsus were found to be rather useful in the cleaning process. Like when Itachi got rid of a seemingly innocent but according to his Sharingan rather dangerous piece of parchment with his Katon: Gokayu no jutsu. This of course earned him the praise and awe of the young wizards and witches. He smiled as he thought that the only one whom he knew in the shinobi world who´d be in awe after a demonstration of such a simple jutsu would be his little brother and other young genin shinobi wannabes. Of course he didn´t enclose this piece of information to the wizards as he gave the boys a few more demonstrations and explained chakra manipulation to a very excited Hermione. Despite the original feelings the kids quickly grew fond of the small child who was probably stronger than all of them combined and at least as smart as Hermione if not even smarter. Things were different with Kakashi however. For one thing the older shinobi mostly spent his time with the adults, but it also was because things were still hostile between Harry and him with neither side showing any sign of a wish for improvement and therefore Itachi decided to take matters into his own hands when he was alone with Harry and his two friends.
"Don´t be angry with Kakashi-senpai or me, Harry. You might not realize it yet, but everyone here means only well for you. Do not interrupt me and listen to what I have to say please…," he held up his hand when he saw that Harry was about to start his own argument.
"There´s no denying that you had lots of terrible things happen to you and that you witnessed some horrible things, but without wanting to boast about it, the truth is that for every bad thing or bad sighting you have seen we have both been through or seen ten things as bad or even worse as you have. And despite everything we have managed to survive through it all so far. Because we were the ones talented and trained enough to be able to take part in our fights and survive. Unlike others who weren´t prepared enough to fight…..just try to think about it, Harry, please," Itachi finished as he bowed his head and disappeared in a poof of smoke to take part in the Order´s meeting.
"Itachi, let me handle the talking here," Kakashi told his younger teammate in their own language before the meeting started and before the young Uchiha could protest he added: "I know you´re a smooth talker and you could handle it, but I believe the people in this world will be much more willing to respect an explanation coming from someone older than you. With that said I have a task for you, I need you to watch everyone who attends the meeting very carefully."
"Wakarimashita," Itachi replied.
The kitchen of 12 Grimmauld place slowly got packed by the Members of the Order and the meeting started with introductions. As Dumbledore wasn´t taking part in it a man called Remus Lupin took over it. Kakashi shared a look with Itachi to see whether he too had noticed the chakra of this man that seemed to be somehow different from the other wizards. Itachi just curtly nodded his head to show his acknowledgment of this fact. Kakashi sighed as he listened to the member's reactions to meeting Itachi and him. In a way they weren´t much different from the ones they got the day before. For a slight moment he wondered whether Dumbledore hadn´t planned his absence from the meeting on purpose just so he could see how they could handle the situation. Well, it didn´t matter now anyway.
"But they´re so young," commented a witch with bubbly gum pink hair who seemed to be one of the youngest between the wizards in the room alongside with one of Mrs. Weasley´s older sons Bill.
"Funny coming from you," Kakashi chuckled. "You don´t seem to be much older than I. Anyway as it has already been explained and demonstrated to some of you, where we come from talent and wisdom is valued above age and therefore we are both more than capable of handling this task. Also, you all have been living in peace for so long and some of you," he looked at the woman with bubbly pink hair and Bill:"have never even fought in a war before. We both have seen the destruction that a war causes, we have both seen comrades die and we have both shed the enemy's blood in battle before. Therefore I believe that we can be a valuable asset to you not only by protecting the school and the Potter brat, but also in teaching you and especially your children what it really means to take part in a war. Their education seems to have been incredibly neglected in this aspect," Kakashi finished.
The room fell into silence digesting the young ninja´s words, the only one who couldn´t stay silent being Snape.
"How can we now we can trust you?" he questioned.
"That´s somewhat of a weird question coming from someone who has obviously worked for the other side at some point of time," Kakashi answered. Itachi was quick to notice the small chuckle that came from the man called Sirius Black when Kakashi said this.
However Kakashi continued his speech: "I didn´t mean to offend you though. Sometimes good people make the bad decision when faced with impossible terms. Anyway your best shot of trusting us is to put your faith into Dumbledore just as everyone in this room has done in order to trust you."
"Kakashi-senpai, may I say something too?" Itachi asked his leader politely.
"Aah," Kakashi nodded realizing that the younger ninja must have had something very important to say if he decided to go against his previous orders. But it didn´t matter now anyway as from the facial expression of the people in the room it seemed that he had won them all over with his small speech.
Itachi stood up and looked into the eyes of all the wizards and witches in the room: "I believe right now you all look at me and what you´re thinking is what does this little brat think of himself to want to lecture us adult educated wizards and all. I´m begging you even if just for a little while to throw away these prejudices of your world and listen to what I have to say. This is not really a part of our mission, but I´d still like to say it. As Kakashi-senpai has explained we have both experienced war before in our world and if I understood everything correctly you´re not in a complete war, but just on its brink, and therefore what I want to ask you to do is to take a small moment and try to think whether this war you want to fight is really your only option at this time, whether there still isn´t a different better option to settle this matter. But even if my information is wrong and you´re already at war or if this war is absolutely unavoidable please be sure to fight it so that once it's over you will find actual peace," Itachi finished ignoring Kakashi´s confused expression and the beaming of the wizards.
"What´s wrong?" Itachi demanded of Harry as he ran into the room accompanied by Kakashi witnessing the sight of Mrs. Weasley standing over what seemed to be some kind of an illusion of Harry´s dead body. He gently pushed Mrs. Weasley aside determined to take care of this genjutsu or what this thing was on his own with his Sharingan or maybe just a simple release would be enough. But the sight in front of him made him freeze, there in sound and color a slightly older Itachi covered in blood was standing over his kneeling little brother. But what made Itachi freeze was the tears and words of his little brother: "Aniki, why? How could you kill everyone?"
Before he could get over his shock he felt himself pushed aside by Kakashi who decided to take over. Slowly the illusion transformed and instead of Itachi and Sasuke there was a younger Kakashi who stood faced towards an equally young boy none other than Uchiha Obito and their female teammate Rin.
"Those who don´t follow the rules are scum," the younger version of Kakashi told the other two and he turned away to walk away from them as the illusion slightly changed now showing Kakashi kneeling over the dead bodies of his former teammates.
"Kai," the older Kakashi whispered trying not to be affected by the sight in front of him and failing miserably. He breathed out a sigh of relief as the thing disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ignoring Harry and Mrs. Weasley who were both starring from Itachi to Kakashi he turned to his young subordinate and asked: "What´s the meaning of that, Itachi? You´ve been behaving rather strangely recently," he commented remembering the speech Itachi gave to the wizards and witches during the meeting earlier.
Itachi finally recovering from his weak moment carefully answered: „I guess it might have shown us that while you´re afraid of turning into the person you´ve once been again, I´m terrified of turning into the person I might one day be forced to become. It also shows the gap between our beliefs. For you the worst thing you´ve ever witnessed is losing a comrade in a fight and that´s why you´d be willing to sacrifice not only your life but also the greater good in order to save someone close to you. I too have seen numerous comrades fall in battle, but to me it was even worse to see so many people no matter whether friends, enemies or bystanders who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time die due to endless wars. In order to prevent that from happening again I am willing not only to sacrifice myself, but also others be it a brother in arms, a friend, a lover or family... Who´s to say that either of these two beliefs is wrong?"
Kakashi thought a while before answering: "I guess there might a bit of truth in both of our beliefs. You claim to be willing to be willing to sacrifice anything and anyone in order to achieve peace yet we both know that there´s a fault in that equation as we have just witnessed that even for you there´s a piece of the puzzle that you seem to value even above peace."
Review please?:D Arigatou.