Remember, remember,
The 5th of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and plot;
I know of no reason,
Why the Gunpowder Treason,
Should ever be forgot.

Happy November 5th, V for Vendetta fans! Here's the 5th chapter!

Edit: Thanks to Karin Kinomoto for being my lovely Beta!

XXXXX

The sky was a dull gray, cleared from the previous day's heavy rain. The ground was semi wet and spongy, so if there was an attack, he would have to add chakra to his feet so it would give him a firm base to run and jump off of, and to counter the slippery grass, he thought automatically. But that wasn't what was bothering him at the moment. Ron and Hermione weren't speaking to one another, and Itachi sighed in irritation, walking between them and feeling the friction from their anger.

"Ron, Hermione." He said finally, not wanting to put up with their antics. "Stop acting like pouty little, immature children. It is impossible for Harry to have seen the Grim, if it even does exist." He turned and glared, stopping Ron's angry retort. "If it does exist, it has been far more then a day since he saw the creature you claim being the beast. Even following your superstition, it wouldn't be the Grim Harry saw." His eyes turned to the girl, who looked far too smug for his liking. "Even if you don't believe in Divination, doesn't mean it is all lies. Most superstitions have a truthful base, and it would be stupid to just brush it off. Now apologize and get over yourselves." They gaped at him a moment, not thinking he would have the audacity to start berating them when he only just met them, but not being able to find a fault in his argument.

"...Sorry, Hermione." The red head begrudgingly said, not looking at her.

"Sorry, Ron." She replied in a small voice.

"Good." He was beginning to regret this mission, despite the valuable information he had already learned in regards to magic. There was a reason he didn't hang out with people his own age.

"Whoa," Harry said, staring at him. "I'm impressed. I can never get them to cooperate after they had a fight like that."

"I have a little brother; I know how to handle things like this."

"Oh, bollocks!" Ron suddenly groaned, stopping in his tracks. "It's the Slytherins." He was looking towards three particular people, the dying Yamanaka Itachi saw earlier, and two burly looking boys behind him. He was talking while partially acting, causing his guards to laugh thickly, and Itachi could make a good guess to what he was saying.

"Apparently we're taking this class with them. Wonderful." Hermione agreed, the animosity between them disappearing completely.

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" The impossibly large man was waiting for them in front of a cabin, in his leather coat with a semi large dog sitting at his heals. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"

He led them nearer to the forest that almost seemed alive—but had nothing on the Forest of Death in Konoha—before he swerved suddenly and led them instead to a fence with nothing in it. Itachi crouched comfortably on one of the sturdier polls, waiting, perfectly stable and positioned incase of an attack. "Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" The man said again, "That's it—make sure yeh can see—now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books—"

"How?" Said the impossibly blond boy in a cold voice.

"Eh?"

"How do we open our books?" He asked again, fishing out his book that was bound with a length of rope and a crude, inefficient knot. Itachi watched as the others took out their books as well, each bound shut by something. Curious, he got out his own book, which was calm in his hands, and perfectly free. The Monster Book of Monsters it read in gold letters.

"Ah, see now, this kid has got it righ'." Hagrid said proudly, approaching Itachi.

"Actually, I got the book and it was like this." He replied evenly, opening the leather bound book, glancing at a few pages.

"Hasn'—hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books on their own?" The man looked around; growing disappointed, and was responded with shakes of the head. "Yeh've got ter stroke 'em. Look," He said, grabbing Hermione's. Tearing off the black tape, Itachi was surprised—but he had grown to expect the unexpected by now and didn't react—as the book flapped open on it's own a tried to snap at the large fingers that easily avoided it. Hagrid ran a finger down the spine of the book, and it shuttered, falling limp into his hands, perfectly calm.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" The unknown Slytherin sneered in obvious sarcasm. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess?"

"I—I thought they were funny," The giant man said uncertainly while handing Hermione her book back.

"Oh, tremendously funny! Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!" He said, and the Uchiha had a growing dislike for him.

"Shut up, Malfoy," said Harry, telling Itachi the other boy's name. Malfoy was filed under the 'Annoyances' list in his head.

"If you are unable to handle a book," Itachi said, drawing the attention of the entire class to him even though he didn't speak loudly. "Then you have no business in this class. We're not going to save you when you get scared by a Pixie that flies too close to you."

The Gryffindors—and some of the Slytherins—all laughed uproariously at that, and Malfoy flushed red in anger, but before he could do anything more then glare that could barely touch one of the Uchiha patented glares, Hagrid's booming voice erupted into life again, fully cheerful again. "Righ' then, yeh've got yer books, an' now I'll get the Magical Creatures. Hang on, I'll be righ' back." He turned and disappeared into the forest.

"Listen here, Foreigner." The child hissed, approaching with his two thugs—now named Team Three, with Malfoy as the girl—attempting to intimidate the ninja. "You have no place to challenge me. When my I tell my father—"

"If you don't like me," Itachi stood to his full height, still perfectly balanced on the thin support poll, and looked with utmost impassiveness down at the other thirteen year old. "You fight me. If you run to daddy every time you don't like someone, then you have no place here in this school. Also, you have no authority to say if I belong or not. Do not pretend you do." Itachi glanced behind him as he heard the oddest sound, dismissing the boy in front of him.

Malfoy made his way to probably try and unbalance him, but then the squeal of the dark skinned girl he still didn't know the name of caused the rest of the class to see what Itachi had already assessed; twelve Hippogriffs, being led into the fenced area. The picture in the book didn't do them justice, with their large, bright orange eyes, dangerous steel-colored beaks, front end like an eagle smoothly blending into the hind end of a horse. Each creature had a thick collar around their necks, attached to a chain that Hagrid held.

"Gee up, there!" He called, commanding the beasts into the paddock. The entire class backed away as they neared the fence line, all but Itachi, who calmly watched, more then confident he could handle it if any of them attacked, as they were ranked only a three X in the book.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid said proudly, throwing his chest out. "Beau'iful, aren' they?" And Itachi agreed, taking in the stormy gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black coats of the beasts.

"So," Hagrid looked around at the rest of the class, rubbing his hands eagerly. "If yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer..."

The class looked like it'd rather run the other way, but Team Six hesitantly approached.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is, they're proud," He explained, looking at them, and Itachi paid close attention. "Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do." The Sharingan user snorted lightly, but he wasn't fool enough to try it. Why provoke an attack, even if he could handle it? "Yeh always wait fer the Hippogriff ter make the firs' move, it's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt." Itachi suddenly wondered if Hagrid experienced this first hand.

"Right—who wants ter go first?" Itachi was tempted, but his duty was to guard the students, and thus couldn't leave them for his own wants. The black eyes, barely visible behind all the scruff of hair of the man, landed on Itachi, but then drifted off as if he knew the ANBU's thoughts, heading instead to Harry. "Harry, come 'ere. I'll let yeh get with Buckbeak."

Itachi attempted to give a, 'What the hell do you think you're doing?' look to the large man that stood taller then him even with the ANBU on the poll, but he seemed to ignore him as he clasped the slightly shaking Harry on the shoulder as the boy approached diligently. "Good man, Harry. Righ' then," He said, taking a chain off and drawing the resulting stormy gray one away from its fellows.

Itachi narrowed his eyes and stepped off the poll, dogging Harry's steps until he went into the fence, where he stayed in wait, preparing to intervene should anything go wrong. As a student, he was not allowed in yet, as a guard, he had to stay close. Hagrid took off the leather collar, and the class gave a collective gasp, but a bloodlust suddenly sprang to life. With a quick glance, Itachi moved Malfoy from 'Annoyances' to 'Possible Dangers' and would be watched accordingly.

"Easy now, Harry," Hagrid whispered to the boy next to him while he stood a bit away, and the beast turned to eye Harry with interest. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink... Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much... That's it, that's it... now bow." Harry did a pathetic attempt of a bow, and then waited, but the bird didn't move. "Ah, right—back away, now, Harry, easy does it—"

Itachi tensed, his hand grasping a kunai and he leaned onto the fence, but then the bird bent its scaly legs in an unmistakable bow.

"Well done, Harry!" Hagrid boomed, and Itachi reluctantly placed his kunai back, no one ever the wiser. "Right—yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!" He encouraged, and Harry looked like he'd much rather not. But he did it anyway, awkwardly patting the beak to the bird's delight.

The class broke into loud applauds, and Harry turned to give a grin at them. "Righ' then, Harry," Hagrid nodded, a hand stroking his beard. "I reckon he migh' let yeh ride him!"

The boy visibly paled, and again Itachi tried to give a warning glare to the oblivious teacher. He could not protect Harry if he was off flying on that thing. "Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint," Hagrid instructed, and Harry reluctantly did as told, causing Itachi to grit his teeth. "An' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, he won' like that..." He settled onto the bird, and looked quite lost to what to grab onto as the creature finally stood from its bow.

"Go on, then!" And he slapped the hind quarters of the Hippogriff.

Itachi's black eyes were firmly locked onto Buckbeak as he took to the sky, front feet clawing the air as he fought gravity while his charge clung to its neck. Thankfully the flight was short, and Harry was soon clambering down off the bird, none the worse for wear though obviously shaken.

"Good work, Harry! Okay, who else wants to go?" The rest of the class cheered and wanted to get partnered with a beast themselves, and Itachi was one of them, but he had wanted to since first seeing the beasts.

Soon, he was in front of the inky black one, calmly looking into the large orange eye. Bowing with practiced precision, he was smug to note a near instant return bow. "This is very easy," He could hear Malfoy say, who had taken Buckbeak and was patting him across the field. "I knew it must have been, if Potter could do it... I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you?" Itachi kept a close eye on him, his instincts telling him to while he petted his bird beast absently. "Are you, you great ugly brute?"

It happened faster then the human eye could see. One second Malfoy was next to the gray Hippogriff, and the next he had been violently shoved out of danger, painfully landing on his arm a few feet away, and Itachi stood where he use to, arms above him, two crossed kunai blocking the deadly talons. "Move, you stupid boy!" He growled at Malfoy, red eyes locking with that of the screeching bird that was struggling to get to the blond.

The class screamed as a group and fled the paddock, panicking the other birds slightly but they made it to safety. Malfoy quickly scrambled up and ran out himself, eyes wide in terror, as he dared not glance back to see what happened.

Buckbeak very suddenly stopped squawking his wrath, and he was now bowing deeply, his beak on the ground, backing away every so slowly while he hissed low in his throat as he stared at Itachi. The other Hippogriffs were reacting to the fear the gray one was showing, and they too backed away from the Uchiha. "Whoa, what's gotten inta yeh?" Hagrid said, easily tying the half bird half horses up again, speaking over his shoulder to Itachi, who eyes were black again as he calmly stood, his kunai disappeared. "I dunno what yeh did to scare 'em, but don' do it again or they migh' fly off. But I thank yeh for savin' the git o'er ther'," Finally tying the last chain to the fence, he stomped angry steps to the cowering blond on the other side of the paddock who clutched at his arm. "An' you!" He hissed with surprising malice, "Didn' I tell yeh to never insult a Hippogriff? I never want to see yeh in my class again! Outta my sight, yer lucky I don' allow Buckbeak to tear inta yeh fer yer impotence! And fifteen points from Slytherin!"

Team three was quick to run away, Malfoy too traumatized from nearing being attacked, and from being berated by a giant of a man—as well as in pain—to say anything as he dash out of sights. Itachi came up behind the large man coolly, ignoring the looks the entire class was giving him. "I'll put in a good word with Dumbledore, Itachi was it? No tellin' what coulda happen if Buckbeak actually got ter the brat." He smiled down at the boy before turning to the still edgy class, "Five points for every student who didn' insult their Hippogriff, and ten to Harry fer ridin' one, and Itachi fer savin' the blond git. Class dismissed,"

Itachi walked to Team Six, not saying word to their questioning stares. It was Ron who finally broke the tense air while they walked up the stairs into the castle. "How exactly fit do your 'jutsu' require?"

"I couldn't even see you move," Hermione whispered, wide eyed.

"I am one of the faster, stronger ninja where I come from." They walked through the main doors, turning to go up a flight of steps. "This is why we have to train our whole lives, not only for jutsu to work properly."

"Hey," Harry said reluctantly, "When you were blocking Buckbeak, I saw your eyes; they were red, how is that possible? What were they?" He said, looking at him suspiciously as the others agreed as well.

"Uchiha family quirk," He paused, eyes slightly glazed over as he thought, before ducting them down a small, empty hallway to avoid other students as they made their way to the common room. "My eyes turn red naturally as a self defense mechanism," He explained almost hurriedly in the slightly dim hallway, not wanting to be walked in on by anyone else. "Or if I choose to activate them for when I fight." He let his eyes bleed to their sharingan forms, careful to not add chakra and hypnotize the students, who leaned in eagerly to look at the sight in aw. "They have the ability to see magic and chakra, and able to let me see in the dark." He let them fade back, not telling them all the secrets of his eyes, but enough to get by. "But please don't tell anyone else. They are a very dangerous thing, and I do not activate them lightly. I only told you because you would distrust me if I didn't."

"Is there other forms of this eye thing?" Hermione asked, and Itachi considered answering her or not.

"Only one, where the three black commas—tomoe are what they're called—of my eyes morph into blades, but I do not have it." Yet, a dark voice whispered in his head. "Very few do, and it is far more dangerous then my eyes." He glanced around, herding them back into the main hall.

"I think it's cool," Ron said, nodding his head in finality.

"Hey, what do you think's for dinner?" Harry responded, changing the topic while he sniffed at the air hopefully.

And with that, the incident passed from their minds. Of course, by dinner, the entire school knew of the event, but thankfully no one else had apparently seen his eyes. He had been surrounded by kids from every table and every age, bombarding him with questions; but this time with questions to see if he really did fend off an enraged Hippogriff.

"Now, now, children," A voice caused the group to jump, spinning to see the Headmaster standing at the edges. Near instantly a path formed, and even a few students skittered away in revered fear. "I'm certain Mr. Uchiha doesn't like being surrounded and asked pointless questions. There are plenty of others who were there and can tell you what exactly happened. Go on," He waved them off, and they complied, grumbling as they went to their seats. "Itachi-san, I thank you very much for protecting Malfoy even though it wasn't what was expected to be a threat. His wrist is sprained, but it could have been much worse, so nothing will come of it. I'll send a word to Sandaime." He smiled, speaking in Itachi's language.

"No need, Dumbledore-sama. I was told to protect the student body, and that incident would be included in that command. Unfortunately, my charge and his friends know of my Sharingan now. The charge saw them while I dealt with Buckbeak, and I explained some things about it to avoid suspicion." Team Six, who hadn't left, were looking back and forth between them, trying to figure out what was being said, only catching English names.

"Ah well, it was unavoidable. Well, carry on. I'm sure you're hungry."

"Yes, sir." Dumbledore patted him on the head, and then heading off to sit at the teacher's table, and for some reason Itachi's eyes followed him until the elder man sat down without his conscious thought. The ANBU captain turned and walked to the Gryffindor table and took a seat, Harry to his left and Hermione to his right as Ron sat next to her.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked, reaching for some weird dark, chunky pudding.

"Headmaster was asking what happened from my view. He already talked to Hagrid and Malfoy."

"Why did he speak in that weird language instead of English?"

"That 'weird' language is my native language, Japanese, and I suspect because he wished to not seem a hypocrite. After all, he had just told off the other students for doing the same—and what is that?" He had been looking at the strange pudding, which was now on Hermione's plate as well as Ron's. He allowed a hint of confusion to enter his normally emotionless voice, implementing a trick that caused the questioners to be thrown off a track you didn't want them on. They were looking doubtful at his explanation, but now they were shocked and amused he didn't know what the brown gunk was.

After an eventless dinner, they were walking back to the common room; Team Six talking animatedly about something or other while Itachi just listened. Once there, they got out their homework and began working, genuinely quiet but still some conversation between them.

He noticed it a few hours later, when he was finishing his transfiguration homework. Everyone else was already done, but he was still slow with writing in the strange language with the stranger grammar, so he still had one part left.

But he could feel eyes bore into his back, as they had been for a while now. He couldn't avoid them once he didn't have the excuse of homework, so he thought up a plan as he finished up his work on the scroll.

"Alright," He turned, and saw about dozen kids jump and turn their heads away, "I will do this only once. Gather everyone who wants to ask me something and I'll answer as much as I can tonight and only tonight."

The response was instantaneous, and about twenty kids did just as he ordered. Soon, every Gryffindor he had ever seen was clustered around him, looking at him expectantly while asking questions that jumbled together in the mass. He hopped onto the table, letting his feet dangle as he gestured for them to sit on the ground. "Quiet, sit, this is going to take a while."

They complied, reluctantly, sitting before him like small children in their first school lesson, though a few dragged some chairs over. "Anything I tell you tonight you can tell anyone who also wishes to know. But do not ask me anything from this point on. I do not like being questioned about every single thing I do at every waking moment, understood?" They nodded, and he could almost hear their minds filling with questions. He first asked their name one by one, and allowed one return question when they told him. After that, he picked on the ones with raised hands, allowing them one question at a time. After the first hour, some of them drifted off to the abandoned squishy chairs next to the fireplace, their curiosity sated. More and more flecked off as time went on, and soon there was only five—girls—who he was curious to what they wanted to know. He had told of his large clan, his father mother and brother, vaguely of what ninja did (expertly avoiding most questions with a half-answer), the verity of jutsu, how fast he was (word of his speed at protecting Malfoy spurred this), what his normal food was, what that thing on his arm was an why it was there, what mythical beasts (and then went on to explain the Kyuubi for a while, lying when he needed to) there were, why 'muggles' were in the same towns as ninja and how they knew of them, how much technology was there, and so on. What else would they want to know? He had all but told his darkest secrets already... Well, not really, but they weren't to realize that.

Parvati smiled shyly at him, fluttering her eyelashes; suddenly he understood why they had waited. "So, do you like girls with long or short hair?"

"What about color? You know, blonds have more fun," Another, Katie, fiddled with her hair—a dark blond.

"I am thirteen. I am uninterested in any of that at this point of my life." He said rubbing the bridge of his nose, a habit picked up from his ANBU instructor years ago.

"Aw," Emily—a surprising 17 year old, in her final year—pouted, "I can teach you a lot, you know."

Even he couldn't help but blush slightly at the suggestive tone and blatant innuendo. "I think I'm finished answering questions. Good night, I am going to bed. In my room. Where you're not welcome." He almost hastily got up, quickly gathering his things and made his way to his room. He could only sigh with relief as they took the hint. At least the women in this country were smarter then the fan girls in Konoha and didn't ignore his will and—sometimes—forcefully try to convince him they would be 'perfect together.'

He was pleased to note that there was no new bed in his spot, and his things had gone untouched. There was, however, a poorly scrawled note that apologized profusely for displeasing him. He set up his bed, and was changing when two of his dorm mates came in.

"You have a tattoo?" Ron said, staring at the swirl found on his bicep.

"No, it's a smudge of dirt that's yet to come off."

"Ha-ha, very funny." Ron said, wrinkling his noise in distaste for the obvious sarcasm as he went about getting ready. "I meant your mother allowed you to get it. My mum would kill me if I did."

"In Konoha, I am considered an adult in every aspect. She had no say in the matter whether I got it or not." Besides, he finished in his head, it was required for my profession.

"Wow, thirteen over there is an adult?" Seamus whistled, "I'd like going there and doing anything I wanted!"

"No, you have misunderstood." He sat himself onto his futon, bare feet curling under his legs as he took up a meditive stance. "The age limit is twenty to be a full adult. However, if you remember from my earlier explanation, if you go to the ninja academy and graduate—normally at twelve—and get a hitai-ate," he tilted his head to the headband, sitting proudly on the trunk. "Then you are an adult, able to live on your own freely and do anything else an adult does except for drinking in most cases. I, like many others of my age, choose to continue living with my parents."

"Konoha's weird." Ron said simply, sliding under his sheets. "Weird laws, weird language, weird magic, weird people."

"Lesson one; Do not antagonize the ninja." Itachi said, sending a glare over for the insult.

"You're teaching us now? I thought we weren't supposed to be able to handle doing jutsu."

"I'm not teaching you jutsu," He said, eyes closing again. "I'm teaching things necessary for your survival."

"Right, well, I'll try working on that." Itachi could almost feel the sarcasm. "Good night, oh powerful ninja."

"Good night," He replied, smirking slightly. "Oh weak wizard." He caught the pillow, chucked forcefully at him, not even turning to look. "Lesson two, throw something smaller; it's less likely to be caught." He ducked the shoe with ease, still not looking. "Lesson three, don't throw things at ninja; they can dodge better then you can throw and don't take kindly to it."

With a flick of his wrist, he sent the pillow back to its owner, and hearing a thump and oof, he calmly resumed his meditation, waiting for the three other occupants to arrive and fall asleep before he could.

"Bloody ninja..." He heard, muttered behind him, causing his smirk to widen.

XXXXX

The days passed, with Itachi falling into his place of a student wizard (sneaking past the mob—greatly reduced—that still waited for him to ask him questions becoming second nature) and adjusting his biological clock so he could sleep properly. He, not wanting to loose his edge while on this mission, woke up an hour and a half earlier then the others in his dorm, and set up a morning routine. He would jog lightly around the lake before practicing his smaller jutsu while standing on the lake (to work on improving his control and reserves) when there was a less likely hood of someone seeing him. He then would move off the lake and do some taijutsu, sometimes combining it with target practice before he finished up with another lap around the water. By the time the male part of Team Six were ready to go down stairs for breakfast, he had already showered, changed out of his training clothes and into his school uniform. At night, after finishing homework, he would be a source of amusement as he did a thousand one finger push ups (on each hand), and an equal amount of sit ups. His self-imposed regiment would keep him from becoming out of shape, but it wouldn't push his limits like he was use to.

Soon it was Thursday and they were down into the dungeons that served as Double Potions. Malfoy had yet to be seen since the Hippogriff incident, and rumor had it he was in the Hospital wing, bemoaning his sprained hand despite the school medic saying there was nothing wrong with it. Team Six didn't believe it, for it was too unbelievable even for Malfoy, instead opting to think (also known as hoping) he ran home to his daddy to never be seen in the school again.

Of course he then swaggered into the class, his wrist wrapped lightly in bandages, dousing that fantasy.

"How's your wrist? Does it hurt?" Patsy said, looking worried.

"Yeah," He gave a sly glare over to Itachi, who just calmly looked at him, knife poised over cutting his roots. "I think when I was shoved I landed on it, twisting a muscle or something. Sometimes, those can never be fixed." He gave a fake sniff.

"That liar," Ron hissed as Snape just told the class to quiet down. "He's totally faking it."

"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey can fix anything. She re-grew half my bones last year. All he has was a sprained wrist." Harry replied, leaning over he wouldn't be overheard.

Itachi had opened his mouth to question that statement, when the sound of a stool scraping across the ground was heard. Malfoy calmly set up his caldron next to them, so he'd be sharing the same table.

"Sir," He said, sitting in the stool next to Itachi, who was now ignoring him as he carefully diced his ingredients. "Sir, I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots, because of my wrist—"

"Uchiha, cut Malfoy's roots," Snape said, not even bothering to look up.

"You heard him, Foreigner. Start chopping." He sneered over to him, a cruel smile on his thin lips.

"..." Itachi set down his knife, face devoid of emotion. He reached over towards the Slytherin's roots, but at the last moment, snatched up Malfoy's 'hurt' wrist that was hidden by the table, squeezing hard enough for it to give quite a shock of pain but not enough to crunch the bones together. He leaned over slightly, dragging the arm down so the blond leaned as well, until he could whisper in his ear while keeping an eye on Snape, who still wasn't looking. "Unless you want me to really hurt your wrist, I would highly suggest moving to another table." He emphasized his words by squeezing even tighter until the other boy whimpered in pain. When he let go, Malfoy was in such a haste to leave, he tipped over his chair in a loud crash.

Snape was there by the time the Slytherin moved to a vacant table, on the other side of the room. "What happened here?" He said dangerously, looming over Itachi, who just picked up his knife and cut away as if nothing had happened.

"Malfoy reconsidered sitting in this spot after I told him it would be cooler in the back, so his wrist wouldn't be bothered as much." He replied evenly, pushing the perfect squares he made across the table to Ron with a wet scraping sound. "You can ask him yourself. Sir." He looked up, blank eyes locking with equally dark pits filled with disgust. In that instant, something sparked between them that only happens when two killers lock gazes. It was an unexplainable occurrence, something that showed that blood of another stained the hands of the person, noticeable only by a fellow murder. The teacher's eyes widened and he looked away, not daring to risk pestering he who had killed far more then he.

"Hn," Snape stalked off, and searched for something to vent his anger on.

Itachi turned back to the cauldron he, Ron, and Harry were sharing (Snape didn't allow him to be partnered with just one person as who knows how horrible it would end up as he'd never done a potion in his life before). "Great going, who knows that that git would have had us done." Ron said eagerly.

"Yeah, Snape's the head of Slytherin. He favors them, Malfoy in particular."

"Orange, Longbottom," Snape found his target, and his voice broke through their conversation. Itachi turned in his seat, to watch Snape ladle out some of the shaking boy's cauldron and let it drop back, so all could see the pumpkin color. He glanced at their own potion, a bright green. "Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one cat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

The boy he was addressing sank into his seat, trembling from head to toe. When Hermione tried to defend him, the teacher lashed out at her coldly as well. "I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger. Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly." He turned and stalked off, leaving the boy nearly in tears.

"Help me," He cried piteously to the smart girl.

"Hey, Harry," Seamus said, leading over while reaching for the brass scales. "Have you heard? Daily Prophet this morning—they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted."

Itachi paused from his skinning, looking over. He had been well informed on who he was protecting Harry from, and news that the man had been spotted was news indeed.

"Where?" His partners said almost in unison.

"Not too far from here," He replied, eyes glinting excitedly. "It was a Muggle who saw him. 'Course, she didn't really understand. The Muggles think he's just an ordinary criminal, don't they? So she phoned the telephone hot line. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone."

"Not far from here..." Ron said, giving a Harry a meaningful glance.

"No." Itachi said, stabbing his knife into the wooden table, making the boys jump and turn to him. He turned to look at them, catching their gazes. "Lesson four; never go after someone far more powerful then you when you know they're out to kill you."

"How do you know of Black?" Harry said, eyebrows bunching. How could he know of Black, but not him?

"Before I came here, I was told of possible dangers. He was one of them." And he is the reason I am here.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but then Snape cut him off. "You should have finished adding your ingredients by now; this potion needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away while it simmers and then we'll test Longbottom's..."

Whatever Harry was going to say, it was lost in their movement to pack away unused ingredients and clean their things. Itachi caught Hermione muttering quick instructions out the corner of her mouth to the round boy, and he shook his head at the poor cheating method. He supposed, in her credit, that Snape was too unobservant to realize it.

Later, when the clock neared the end of lesson, Snape stalked over, eyes glittering with malice. "Everyone gather 'round and watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned."

Itachi watched with mild curiosity—it was only a toad—as Snape forced a small spoonful of the now green solution down it's throat. A moment later, a tadpole wriggled pathetically in his palm.

Clapping along with the rest of the class, he watched as the Professor withdrew a small bottle and dropped a few drops into the animal, causing it to suddenly spring back into adult hood. Odd things, potions, he thought.

"Five points from Gryffindor!" He snarled, rounding onto Hermione and the clapping stopped abruptly. "I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed." He was unobservant, but not stupid.

The ninja followed the group up the steps, listening to Ron bitch and complain about getting the five point dock until an unanswered question caused him to look around for their brown haired friend. "Where is she? She was right behind us,"

Itachi remained quiet, ignoring the glare Malfoy gave him as they stalked by, looking down at the steps as Hermione came running into view, her large book back grasped in one hand as she slid something down her shirt with the other.

"How'd you do that?" Ron said as she came up.

"What?" She asked, panting.

"One minute you were right behind us, the next moment, you were back at the bottom of the stairs again."

"What?" Looking confused, before her eyes sparked as she realized whatever she was searching for. "Oh—I had to go back for something. Oh no—" Her book bag gave up its attempt to remain closed, and a seem split with an audible sound, sending books, papers and quills scattered onto the ground. Luckily, no ink was spilt.

"You guys go ahead, I'll help her. We'll meet you in the Great Hall," Itachi said, kneeling down to pick up a few papers.

"Sure." Harry said with a shrug, grabbing Ron's arm, leading him away. "Come on then,"

He listened to their retreating foot steps as he finished collecting the articles within his reach, standing up when he saw that she finished gathering her half. "Thanks," She said as he handed his collection to her. But he didn't let go when she grabbed them, instead leaning closer to her to her shock, and slight blush.

"Whatever you're doing when you use a lot of magic to go back in time," He said, having realized it awhile ago. It fit the situation perfectly, and her eyes widened in horror at his admission to knowing, confirming it. "Be more careful with it. They're getting suspicious." He leaned away, letting go.

She clutched at her books, eyes still wide in shock and slight fear. "H-how...!"

"Do I know?" He finished for her, walking towards the dining hall. "Ninja are trained in the art of deception. It is only natural we know when someone is trying to deceive." He stopped and turned, seeing her still looking at him frightfully. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Now, are you coming?"

He turned again and started walking, following the sound of her feet as she sprinted to catch up with him, "Thank you... For not telling."

"If I am correct in assuming Professor McGonagall knows," She nodded quickly, "Then you are not breaking any rules. If you wish to use time to get to more classes, then that is your own business."

They entered the Great hall, seating themselves with Ron and Harry. Out of Team Six, Itachi liked Hermione the best. Not because he was attracted to her—even if he was, he wouldn't pursue her as he had a suspicion she had a crush on Ron, and he her. Not to mention the fact Itachi was going to slaughter his clan and she wouldn't care for that—but because she was the most intelligent, and polite of the group. They had got into a discussion once (actually persuading him into one was a feat in and of itself) and he had been impressed by her reasoning. Not that he disliked his charge or his school partner. Ron was similar to Shisui, but he had a much fowler temper, showing exactly when and why he was displeased. Harry could only be described as a goody two shoes, as he always tried to do the better thing when it didn't come to Slytherins or his own pride.

If he had the ability to have friends (Shisui and Kakashi being the exceptions), they'd be on the list of possibles, he concluding to himself while eating a piece of bread.

XXXXX

MDF: It will never cease to amaze me that people have favorited and alerted this fanfic, yet do not bother to review. I love reviews; it shows people actually read this fanfic. I'm paranoid about lying, or people actually thinking this story is crappy, so reviews blainatly telling me they like it and why they like it does so much for me.

Anyway, the next chapter is the reason I wrote this entire thing! I love it so much! (huggles it)