Castle Guards
Castle Guards
By Ammie Hawk
Disclaimer: Don't own HP or Naruto, sad but true.
AN: Yay, I finally finished this chapter! You don't know the torture it was to get this out. You can blame Temari and Sakura for it though, they demanded a scene and when I agreed they hid in my closet for almost a week before telling me what they wanted to do.
Okay, enough of the blame game, anyway, I've decided that Kyu's gonna have his own body. I thank everyone who gave their opinion on the matter. I'm not changing my mind now, I've already written him into the sequel. And it also means one of my favorite characters gets to live :)
Alright, I don't have anything else to say, except that the last bit is dedicated to greeneboy313, and hopefully the next chapter won't take as long.
On with the show.
Chapter 13: Talking Sense
The next day, Gaara had a detention with Umbridge, though he refused to tell anyone why. The trio knew of course but none of the shinobi did. Kiba and Shino were preparing to head outside, along with Kankuro and Temari, the four of them having never had the opportunity to play in the snow before. Neji hadn't been seen since breakfast and Naruto was sitting quietly by the fire, which in and of itself caused the other shinobi to take notice. They had decided to let Sakura handle it, as she was the closest one to Naruto at the moment.
She waited till they were relatively alone, only Harry and Ron remained in the common room, before approaching her former teammate.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" she asked quietly, laying her hand on his shoulder.
"Huh?" he looked up, apparently he had been thinking too hard to notice her until she touched him.
"Talk to me Naruto," she smiled encouragingly. "Tell me what's bothering you."
"Oh, it's Neji," he shook his head.
"What did he do?" the pinkette asked, cracking her knuckles menacingly. "If he hurt you, I'll punch his face in."
"He didn't," Naruto sighed. "Not really, considering I was the one who broke up with him."
"Oh Naruto," Sakura pulled him into a hug. "Can you tell me why? What happened?"
"I'm sorry, Sakura," he smiled slightly, returning the embrace. "I won't betray him like that, it's between us at the moment. If he feels like telling you, that's up to him."
"Well then, I think I should go have a word with him," she nodded firmly, leaving no room for the blonde to argue.
Sakura got up and left for her dormitory. She returned moments later, draped in a cloak, one Naruto would've recognized if he'd been paying attention as the one she had received from their mission to the Land of Snow. With a slight backward glance at her obviously broken teammate, she left the tower.
Naruto had gone back to looking at the flames, but in truth, he wasn't seeing anything. He had delved deep into his mind and had been curled up with the Kyuubi ever since he returned to Gryffindor tower the previous evening. The only reason he wasn't still in bed was because the stupid fox had forced him to at least pretend to do something.
"Kit, you can't keep this up," Kyuubi sighed, wrapping his long tails around the small blonde figure. "You've got more important things to do than sulk in here with me."
'I can't, Kyu,' Naruto sobbed. 'I can't face them. I can't face him. I just can't do it.'
"Listen here, brat," the fox growled, he couldn't stand to see his vessel like this, so broken. "You have a mission to complete! You can't do that from inside my cage."
'I don't care anymore,' he tried to burrow deeper into the demon, trying to hide.
"Naruto Uzumaki!" this caught the human's attention, never before had the demon called him by his given name. "If you think I'm just going to sit here and let you give up on everything you've ever dreamed, you've got another thing coming. So what if Hyuuga's confused? So what if he never comes back to you? The Uchiha brat left you too! Do you think he's coming back anytime soon? Doubtful! But did that ever stop you? No! I won't let you give up on your dream of becoming Hokage just because some stupid boy broke your heart. What happened to that stubborn determination to never give up? What happened to the human I came to respect? Do you think I would've helped you so much if I didn't believe in you? I have adopted you as my kit, now get out there and show them that you deserve to be treated as such."
'But…' Naruto finally looked up at the irate fox.
"No buts Uzumaki," Kyuubi shook his head. "Neither one of us chose to be in this situation, that was decided by your dear Fourth Hokage, but both of us have made what we can out of it. Now hold your head up and show them all why I chose you as my kit."
'Thanks, Kyu, I needed that,' the blonde hugged him one last time and then withdrew from the cage.
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When she left the tower, Sakura made a half-hearted search for the prodigal Hyuuga, but she was more determined to speak with the others at the moment. She found them on the grounds. Temari and Kankuro were busy throwing snowballs at one another, while Kiba was wrestling around with Akamaru, Shino, it seemed, was more interested in watching his boyfriend's antics than actually joining in any of the activities. However, when they spotted the medic approaching, they all stopped and moved closer to speak with her.
"So what's wrong with the squirt?" Kankuro asked, rubbing his hands together, trying to return some warmth to them.
"He broke up with Neji," the pinkette sighed. "He wouldn't give me any details, said if I wanted them to talk with Neji."
"Why would he do that?" Temari scowled. "It's not like Naruto to give up on someone. Maybe Hyuuga was cheating on him? Ooh, maybe Malfoy entered the picture and stole his affections; you remember how he said he liked Naruto?"
"That's not like Naruto though," Sakura sighed again. "He doesn't give up on someone easily, Neji had to have done something big."
At her words, Kiba stiffened. His fists clenched at his side as he stared between the two oblivious girls. It wasn't their fault they didn't know what was really going on, it's not like either of them were especially close to any of the Hyuugas.
"And Malfoy's out of the picture," she continued, oblivious to the dog ninja's state, "he's not Naruto's type, it would be a constant reminder of Sasuke."
"Akamaru!" Kiba snapped out of his reverie, causing the others to look at him startled.
The pup bounded over to his master and sat at attention, awaiting orders.
"Go get Iruka, tell him Naruto's in trouble," the brunette commanded.
The dog yipped and took off toward the gates of Hogwarts. The other shinobi watched as the small dog jumped the gate with a graceful leap. When he was out of sight, Sakura turned to the dog shinobi.
"Why did you do that, baka?" she snapped. "Now Iruka-sensei's going to come up here all worried about Naruto."
"That is the point," Shino answered for his boyfriend. "With Iruka in a rage, it will be easier to handle Neji. Kiba, I expect you can handle this on your own." He turned to the other three, "Come."
Without another word he took off across the grounds. Kankuro followed without question, but Temari and Sakura waited a few minutes, looking at Kiba in confusion.
"Go," he waved them off. "I'll handle it."
They had no choice but to follow the two boys away. But they didn't bother to catch up with them. Temari could tell Naruto's state was bothering her teammate. She wanted desperately to comfort the pinkette but wasn't sure how.
"Sakura?" she placed her hand tentatively on the other kunoichi's shoulder.
She expected some sort of reaction from her teammate but what she wasn't prepare for, however, was for the pink-haired girl to throw her arms around her neck and begin sobbing into her shoulder. To say she was shocked by this behavior would be a complete understatement. She was at a loss as to what to do, her brothers, while reliant on her for their emotional traumas, never broke down on her. Ever so gently, Temari gathered the crying teen into her arms and began running her hands in small circles on her back.
"Shh," she said softly, trying to calm down her companion. "What's all this about? Come on, talk to Temari."
"I can't stand it," Sakura sniffed into Temari's shoulder. "I can't let him get hurt again. He's like a brother to me, annoying at times, but still a brother."
"Sakura," the Sand kunoichi lifted the pinkette's chin, "take it from someone who has two brothers, they're all annoying at times. But I truly don't think that's what has you so worked up. According to what you said, Naruto broke up with Neji, not the other way round."
"That's just it, it's not like him at all," she shook her head. "I mean, look at what he went through to try and get Sasuke back. He'd never give up on something he believed in, and I know he loves Neji, he has for a long time now. So why did he just quit?"
"There's something that neither one of us can see," Temari sighed, absently running her thumb against Sakura's cheek. "Naruto has his reasons, you know how he is about teaching someone a lesson. Maybe Neji needs this time."
"You're probably right, and I'm just overreacting. Thanks Temari." The medic stood on tiptoe and placed a kiss on the other kunoichi's lips.
Before the blonde had time to react, Sakura was pulling away, her eyes wide in shock at her own actions. Her hand rose slowly to her lips and then, without warning, she darted off, following the two boys, leaving Temari standing there.
"So that's how you want to play it?" the Sand kunoichi smirked. "I'll play along for now Sakura. Just know that I always win."
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Iruka was sitting in the main room of the house he and Kakashi had been lent by the Headmaster, reading in front of the fire. He wasn't too concerned about anything at the moment. He knew that Kakashi had set up several alarms around the perimeter of the school, and Naruto and the others were safely infiltrated inside. However, there was something that had been tickling the back of his mind since the previous evening. He wasn't sure what it was about, but he was sure it involve Naruto for some odd reason.
"Iruka," Kakashi sighed as he entered the room, "I'm bored. There's nothing to do anymore."
"Honestly, Kakashi, you sound worse than Naruto," the brunette smirked. "We've only been gone from the school since last night and you're already out of things to do. How do you manage to fill your days off?"
"Well," he plopped down on the couch next to the younger man, laying down and placing his head in Iruka's lap, "when I can't convince the Hokage to give me something to fill my time or my team is on one of their rare days off, I usually read my book. But I finished all the ones I have and Naruto wouldn't let me borrow his new one."
"And that's all you do in your spare time?" the chunin raised an eyebrow, his eyes never leaving his book.
"No, I also like to spend time with a certain chunin, but he's ignoring me at the moment," Kakashi whined.
"Is that a fact?" Iruka's lip twitched, trying to fight a smile. "Why don't you go find a turtle to save or something? I know you always tell the kids some outlandish story like that when you're late, you've even tried to use it on me. So why not fill your time with what usually keeps you from being on time?"
"I can't," the jounin said quietly. "The stone's back home."
The brunette tore his eyes away from his page and looked down at his lover, "I'm sorry, Kakashi, I shouldn't have brought that up."
"It's okay, love," Kakashi reached up and began playing with the chunin's hair, which was falling over his shoulder, free of its usual restraint. "Kiss me and I might forgive you."
Iruka smiled as he placed his book on the table beside him. He then began peeling the mask away from the silver haired man's face. Kakashi, getting impatient, grabbed his neck and pulled the younger man forward, claiming his mouth in a demanding kiss.
They broke apart when they heard frantic scratching at the door. Kakashi growled as his plan to seduce his lover was now ruined, but slipped his mask back into place and rose to answer the door.
"Akamaru?" the jounin looked at the dog in confusion. "What are you doing here?"
The dog cocked his head to the side and gave a quick bark before darting into the house. He ran over to Iruka, who was once again reading on the couch, though his book was upside down, and grabbed his pant leg and began pulling, growling as he did.
"Akamaru, what's gotten into you?" the brunette asked concerned, the pup wasn't usually like this. "Do you have any idea what he wants, Kakashi?"
"Not a clue," Kakashi replied, but he was lowering his mask as he said this.
He bit his thumb and his hands flashed through a series of seals, until he finally slammed them down on the floor. A moment later, a brown pug appeared in a puff of smoke.
"Yo," Pakkun waved. "What's up Kakashi?"
"We'd like to know that as well," the jounin shook his head. "Akamaru here just showed up and started attacking Iruka's leg."
Akamaru broke away from Iruka long enough to exchange a rather rapid dog conversation with the summon. In the end Pakkun nodded and turned back to Kakashi.
"It seems Kiba sent him to fetch Iruka," the pug shrugged. "Something about Naruto, and Neji being a baka."
"Alright then," Iruka pushed to his feet. "I'll go see what this is about. It shouldn't take too long, Naruto's probably up to no good again and just dragged Neji into it."
Akamaru growled, and Pakkun spoke up, "It's not about Naruto. It seems Neji's the one who needs to have the tongue lashing. According to the pup here, Naruto's sitting quietly in front of the fire, not doing anything."
"Is he sick?" the brunette asked in concern.
"Doubtful," Kakashi sighed. "He's probably talking to Kyu about something important, probably about the mission, he'll be fine."
"Very well," the chunin shook his head. "I'll leave Naruto be. Come on, Akamaru, let's go see what we can do about Neji."
The white dog bounded over to the door and preceded Iruka into the street. Kakashi and Pakkun watched them until they turned the corner to head to the Hogwarts' gates.
Akamaru and Iruka found Kiba waiting for them by the double doors into the castle. Iruka was slightly confused as to why the dog shinobi had called on him to help with Neji, but he wasn't going to argue.
"Okay, Akamaru, find Neji for us," Kiba said once they were all three together. "I'll fill you in as we search, Iruka."
"Alright," the scarred brunette nodded, falling into step with the younger man as they followed the dog.
"Well," Kiba bit his lip, "I guess I should let you know, just in case you didn't already, that Naruto and Neji have been going out for a few months now."
"I guessed as much," the chunin replied.
"Okay," the ANBU sighed. "Well, apparently, last night Naruto broke it off. We all know that Naruto doesn't give up on anything easily, but Shino and I think we know why he did it."
"And what might your theory be?" Iruka asked curiously.
"Well, you see, we, Shino and I that is, know something about Neji that only his family is supposed to be privy to," Kiba chuckled nervously. "The only reason we know about it is cause we kinda sorta forced it out of Hinata."
"Are you going to let me in on this tidbit of information," the older man shook his head, trying not to smile at his old student, "or are you just going to continue trying to justify yourself for knowing said information? I fear the latter will not help in the situation with Naruto."
"Oh yeah, right," the dog ninja scratched his head sheepishly. "Anyway, Hinata told us…"
"You switched to Japanese? Why?"
"Well, no one outside the Hyuuga clan is supposed to know this information and, if my theory is correct, the only ones on our squad who don't know are Sakura and the Sand siblings," Kiba sighed. When Iruka only nodded, he continued, "As I was saying, Hinata told us that Neji is betrothed."
"And he still got together with Naruto, knowing this?" the chunin was furious.
"Yeah, but he kinda forgot about it," the younger brunette defended his second-in-command. "Shino and I reminded him a few weeks ago."
"Who is he betrothed to?" Iruka asked quietly.
"That's the rub, really," Kiba chewed his lip in thought. "You see, Hiashi decided that he wanted Neji to take over the main branch, but as he's a side branch member that's not possible, technically. So he arranged for him to marry Hinata, since she's the heir to the main branch."
"And I take it Hinata is not pleased with this either?" the older shinobi said contemplatively. "If that is the case, there shouldn't be a problem then, the betrothal is off."
"Huh?" Kiba looked at his former teacher confused.
"There is a law that states that two shinobi cannot be forced to marry," Iruka shrugged. "If one or more parties involved do not wish for the marriage, then no one can force them. Of course, they have to stand up for that right."
"Hinata's too meek for that," the dog ninja sighed. "And Neji feels so honor bound to his clan, he'll never fight it."
"Damn him and his pride," the chunin rolled his eyes. "Well, let's see if we can talk some sense into him."
The pair had stopped on the seventh floor, where Akamaru was pacing back and forth before a plain expanse of wall. Kiba joined him and, on his third pass, a door appeared. The shaggy haired teen smirked at his former sensei and slowly opened the door to the Room of Requirements.
Inside was a room that greatly resembled so many around Konoha. It was a training room, with targets along one wall and many wooden dummies to practice jutsus on. Neji was standing in the middle of a ring of training dummies in his usual stance for 64 palms, his back toward the door.
"I wanted to be alone," he said quietly, not turning to look at the other two shinobi.
"Well, good for you," Kiba rolled his eyes. "Apparently that's what Naruto wants too, only his way of going about it is to hide inside himself with the damn Nine Tailed Fox. What did you say to him Hyuuga?"
"I told him the truth," the long haired teen straightened up, the training dummies disappearing.
"Oh?" the canine ninja stared at his superior's back. "And what did he have to say about it?"
"He said what I expected him to say," Neji shrugged. "He broke up with me."
"That's not all he said and you know it," Kiba folded his arms across his chest. "He wouldn't just give up like that, besides he told Sakura that if we wanted answers to come to you. I know what's going on with you, now spill."
Neji turned and glared at his fellow ANBU, but it was the sight of his former sensei that gave him pause. Iruka was giving him a scowl worthy of Hiashi himself, but the sadness in his eyes was the young ANBU's undoing.
"He said we could fight it," the Byakugan user sighed in defeat. "He mentioned a law about arranged marriages between shinobi being void if one or both parties weren't willing to go through with it. But even if such a law existed, Hiashi would work around it, I know he would."
"He can't," Iruka stated flatly. "If you don't want to go through with this marriage, he can't stop you, not without fear of banishment."
"So Naruto was telling the truth?" Neji asked in confusion. "There is such a law?"
"Yes, there is," Iruka nodded. "It was one of the final acts of the Fourth Hokage, the Third made sure it was put into effect, and I'm sure the Fifth would uphold it."
"I can't fight my uncle," pale eyes lowered in defeat.
"Can't or won't?" Kiba snarled, sounding like the dogs he worked with.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Neji snapped.
"It means you're pathetic, Hyuuga," Kiba scoffed, giving the older teen a disgusted look. "You act like you're all high and mighty, but really you're just a coward."
"Watch it, Inuzuka!" pale eyes narrowed dangerously.
"You don't scare me, Hyuuga," the shaggy haired brunette shook his head. "You couldn't fight me, you can't even fight a man who's half a world away! Grow a backbone already! I know you've got feelings for Naruto, act like you care! Don't run away from your problems like a coward!"
"I'm not running away!" the Hyuuga had finally lost the reign on his temper. "I would never run away!"
"Hiding behind a mask of indifference is running away, Hyuuga!" Kiba snapped back, just as angry. "You think that stuffing everything that bothers you into a nice little box and shoving it away solves anything? Well, let me tell you something, it doesn't! All you're gonna end up doing is hurting yourself! But guess what? This doesn't just involve you! It involves our captain too! You can drag yourself down into your self imposed prison, but I'll be damned if I let you take him there too! Not to mention Hinata, who wouldn't stand up for herself to save her life! You may not care about your cousin, but some of us do!"
"Enough," Iruka placed his hand on the dog ninja's shoulder. "You need to cool down, Kiba. Go find Shino."
Kiba turned to snap at his former sensei but, upon seeing the hard glint in his eyes, thought better of it and left the room. Iruka watched him leave and then turned his attention to the irate teen in front of him. He closed the distance between them and placed his hand on the ANBU's shoulder.
"He's right," he said calmly, but his voice was like ice. "You can't hide away from your problems."
"What do you know about it?" Neji spat, not wanting to face the truth of the situation, the fact that he was hiding. Hiding from Naruto, hiding from his feelings, hiding from his uncle, in fact he'd spent his whole life hiding behind one mask or another.
"People have called you a genius all your life, Neji," Iruka sighed. "It's about time you use that head of yours and start thinking rationally. You've always cut others down. I won't let you drag yourself and Naruto down as well. Naruto loves you, though why, I haven't the slightest clue. You're an egotistical bastard most of the time, but he obviously sees something else there.
"Now, I'm going to leave, but I want you to take some time to cool down and think about what has been said, by both Kiba and myself, and also what Naruto said too. That kid's got a good head on his shoulders and a heart the size of Konoha. If you're smart, and I know you are, you won't let him get away."
With that he turned and followed Kiba out of the Room of Requirements, leaving Neji alone once again.
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Later that evening, Naruto wandered through the corridors, lost in thought. Kyuubi was right. True, what Neji had said hurt, but he'd move past it, he'd pick himself up like always. Besides, he'd gone through worse with Sasuke, right? True, Sasuke wasn't his boyfriend, but Naruto had thought of him as a brother and that meant just as much if not more to him.
Without realizing it, he had drifted into the dungeons. He was still trying to think of a way to convince Neji to come to his senses but was drawing a blank, there was only so much he could say to the stubborn teen, and only so many times he could kick his ass into submission.
Suddenly, as he passed an unused classroom, a hand shot out and pulled him inside.
"Shit!" he muttered under his breath at being caught unaware.
"You look a bit lost, little Gryffindor," his captor drawled.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Naruto rolled his eyes, he could easily take the Slytherin if push came to shove.
"I heard you and your little boyfriend broke up," Malfoy smirked. "He must be an idiot to let you get away."
"Leave me alone, Malfoy," the ANBU captain snarled, not wanting to be taunted at the moment.
"You see, that's the thing," the Slytherin reached up with his free hand and ghosted the back down Naruto's whiskered cheek, "I can't do that. I can't get you out of my head."
"Not my problem," Naruto jerked his head away from the light caress.
"I can make it your problem," Malfoy whispered, leaning in seductively. "Hyuuga was a fool, now you're defenseless."
"I don't need Neji to protect me," the kitsune vessel snarled. "I can handle myself."
"If you say so," the blonde wizard smirked.
Without another word, Malfoy pushed Naruto against the wall, capturing his wrists and holding them in place.
"What are you doing?" Naruto snapped, beginning to panic, without his hands how was he to do any jutsus.
"What I've wanted to do since I saw that idiot kiss you," Malfoy leaned in and planted his lips firmly over the struggling shinobi's.
Naruto didn't know what to do. He didn't want to kiss this bastard, who reminded him so much of Sasuke, but he couldn't get away without compromising the mission. He opened his mouth to yell for help, but Malfoy seized the opportunity and shoved his tongue in. Naruto let out a small sob, there was no way he was going to get out of this now.
"Get away from him, Malfoy!"