Castle Guard
Castle Guard
By Ammie Hawk
Disclaimer: If you haven't got the message already, I suggest you go and read the other chapters.
AN: Okay, so this chapter didn't come out as fast as I thought it would, but it's still better than some of the wait's I've put you through.
Okay so my usual thing here: I'm considering making this a Draco/Harry pairing, I know I said I wouldn't do that, but the more I think about it the more it's leaning toward that. The main reason is because I can't come up with a suitable uke for Draco, cause I see him as a seme. And none of the shinobi I have left really fit into that category. If anyone has a suggestion on someone to pair with everyone's favorite blonde Slytherin, I'm open to suggestions.
Anyway, that's all I have to say for now, let's get to the good stuff.
Chapter 16: A Very Merry Ninja Christmas
"Are you sure you're alright, Harry, dear?" whispered Mrs. Weasley, leaning across Ginny to speak to him as the train rattled along through its dark tunnel. "You don't look very well. Are you feeling sick?"
They were all staring at him. He shook his head violently and stared up at an advertisement for home insurance. Naruto came over and plopped down on the other side of him, pushing Mad-Eye out of the way.
"Hey, Harry, mind if I have a word with you?" the blonde looked at him curiously. "That would be all right, right, Mad-Eye? We'll just be over there, still within sight, just not where everyone can hear."
To Harry's, and almost everyone else's, surprise, the ex-Auror nodded, it was a well known fact that he distrusted the foreigners. Naruto jumped up with a grin and dragged the stunned brunette over to an empty section not too far away. He shoved Harry into a seat and once again flopped down next to him.
"I know what you heard back there, and what you're thinking," the ANBU sighed. "I'd like to tell you a story, it's a legend from my village, maybe it's a myth, or possibly a fairy tale, I'm not sure."
The wizard looked at him in confusion. He knew from experience that the blonde only rambled when he was nervous, but telling him a story shouldn't make him nervous, should it? He finally nodded to show Naruto he was listening.
"Okay, so there was once a boy, a very lonely boy with no family, who everyone hated. He didn't know why the people in his village treated him like they did, but as time went on he grew used to it, granted he didn't like it at all. He resolved to himself that he would prove himself to his village and make them respect him. He even said he'd become the leader of his village and they'd have to look up to him.
"Now, as the boy grew up, he became horrid, not evil, but a nasty prankster, just to get people to notice him, even if it was only to yell at him."
"This isn't a very good story, Naruto," Harry gave him a longsuffering look. "So if you don't mind, please get to the point."
"Fine," the shinobi rolled his eyes in mock annoyance. "Anyway, one day he found out why everyone hated him: one of his teachers told him of a way he could get ahead in his classes and so, foolishly, the boy followed his advice. Only the teacher was setting him up, he wanted what the boy had taken and was going to use it to betray his village. Only before he could take what he wanted from the boy, another teacher found them.
"Trying to convince the other teacher of the boy's worthlessness, he said some very mean and hurtful things. But he finally did the one thing that no one else would do; he told the boy the truth. He told him why everyone hated him and treated him so badly. You see, on the day the boy was born, the village was being attacked by a demon, and the leader at that time decided that the only way to save the village was to lock the demon away inside a newborn baby. The boy was chosen to be the one, for whatever reason that was.
"The leader died that day, sacrificing himself for his village, but saving it in the process. Many lives were lost in that battle and everyone blamed the boy for it, because he had the demon locked inside him."
"So what happened to the boy after he found out about that?" Harry asked, feeling a connection to the boy in the tale.
"He continued on," Naruto smiled, glad that Harry was feeling something for his story. "The other teacher befriended him and took him under his wing, looking out for him like a father would, not caring that the boy housed the thing that had taken his parents away from him. As time passed, the boy made more friends, and even after they found out he had the demon they stuck by him and supported him. He became a great asset to the village, never backing down from a challenge and even breaking the cold exteriors of some of the most dangerous people imaginable."
"Did he ever become leader of his village, like he wanted?" Harry asked, now hoping the story had a happier ending than it already did.
"I don't remember," the blonde scratched his head sheepishly, he didn't want to get into the future and have it turn out false, he knew how the village, especially the elders, still felt about him. "But the point, Harry, is that his friends stuck by him; it didn't matter to them that he had a demon inside him, they still cared about him as a person. So, even if Voldemort is possessing you, your true friends will stick with you no matter what."
"I wish I could believe that, Naruto," Harry sighed. "But you saw the way they looked at me when they heard. I'm a danger to everyone around me, he could be using me to spy on everyone."
He went back over to the others, leaving Naruto to shake his head sadly.
"Harry, dear, are you sure you're all right?" said Mrs. Weasley in a worried voice, as they walked around the unkempt patch of grass in the middle of Grimmauld Place. "You look ever so pale…. Are you sure you slept this morning? You go upstairs to bed right now, and you can have a couple of hours' sleep before dinner, all right?"
He nodded; here was a ready-made excuse not to talk to any of the others, which was precisely what he wanted, so when she opened the front door he proceeded straight past the troll's leg umbrella stand and up the stairs and hurried into his and Ron's bedroom.
"I'm going to follow him," Naruto told the others. "I just want to make sure he doesn't do something stupid, okay?"
"You don't have to explain to us, Naruto," Shikamaru sighed. "You are the captain here. Now go look after your charge, we'll be fine."
The others nodded in agreement. He smiled at their understanding and took off up the stairs. Sakura and Ino followed a moment later, both of them happily babbling about babies in their native tongue. Choji headed down to the kitchen with Mrs. Weasley, both of them discussing food. Kiba and the twins headed off to discuss some pranks the twins were coming up with. Shikamaru went into the drawing room to enjoy the view it provided and probably catch up on some sleep. Shino went off to do whatever it was he did with his free time. TenTen, realizing it was only her and the two Hyuugas left of their group, decided to join Sakura and Ino to give the cousins a chance to talk. Neji, noticing his former teammate's sudden disappearance, silently thanked her and led his cousin into the library.
"Have a seat, Hinata, we need to talk," he said as soon as the door was closed.
She nodded as she took a seat on the long sofa, folding her hands in her lap so as not to fidget. He sat down next to her and turned to face her.
"I know you have questions," he began. "And I know what I said earlier confused you. But I will let you know now that I know what I'm doing and I'm not trying to hurt anyone."
"But what about father's plans?" Hinata asked, tears pooling in her eyes. She had become close to her cousin in the past few years, but not in the way Hiashi wanted. She could never see Neji as anything other than a cousin, more like a big brother.
"According to Naruto and Iruka, he can't fight us," Neji said quietly, reaching out and squeezing her small hands reassuringly, though whether it was solely for her he wasn't sure. "Apparently there is a law that forbids anyone to force two shinobi to wed. If either one of us wants out of the contract, we're free."
"Oh Neji," tears pooled in her eyes as she threw her arms around him in a fierce hug, "that's the best news I've had in so long. I'll stand up with you, you know that right?"
"You don't have to, Hinata," he shook his head. "I can take the brunt of this and you will still be in your father's good graces."
"I don't care about that," she waved dismissively. "What's the worst he could do; disown me and make Hanabi the heir? Fine by me."
"When did you become like this, cousin?" he asked incredulously. "You've never been able to stand up to anyone before, much less your father."
"I won't let him stand in the way of your happiness, Neji," she graced him with her beautiful smile. "Besides, I've been spending more time with TenTen in your absence and I have to say she's been a good influence on me."
"In that case, I'll have to leave more often," he chuckled slightly.
"Don't you dare," she swatted him playfully. "Now tell me about how you finally came to your senses and staked a claim on Naruto."
8888888
The next evening Hermione and the Sand shinobi arrived. Hermione retreated upstairs to find Harry. Temari went in search of Sakura, saying she was tired of hanging around her brothers and needed some female companionship. Kankuro was assaulted as soon as he entered the door by one very excited brunette kunoichi, who threw herself into his arms and began kissing him passionately. Upon seeing this, Gaara went off in search of Naruto to get a report on the happenings of Grimmauld Place since he arrived.
Upstairs, after Harry realized he wasn't being possessed by Voldemort, the four wizarding students sat together in companionable silence for a few minutes, until Hermione pulled something out of her bag which made the two boys groan.
"Why, Hermione?" Ron pleaded. "Why do you insist on carting that damn scroll around with you everywhere?"
"Because I want to find out everything I can," she rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Honestly, don't you think it would be advantageous to our side if we had outside support of some very strong ninja, especially if Voldemort gets a hold of the Akatsuki?"
"Huh?" Ginny looked at the three older teens in confusion.
Hermione quickly filled her in, "And anyway," she checked her watch, "Draco should be arriving any minute."
"What?!" the two boys almost yelled, but managed to keep it down so as not to alert the whole house.
"I talked with him yesterday, quite a lot actually, and I made a Portkey for him to be able to get here from Malfoy Manor and back again without raising an alarm or suspicion. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy either. We both looked into it and finally worked it out. And he's not that bad, really, once you learn to see past his sarcasm and demeaning attitude. Anyway, he said he had something he needed to share with the three of us together."
As if on cue, Draco Malfoy appeared before them, clutching a necklace in his hands. As soon as he landed, he straightened himself out and looked around imperiously, giving the room an elegant sneer before sinking down on Harry's bed with the others.
"Hello Draco," Hermione smiled slightly.
"Hermione," he returned with a nod. "Ron, Harry, and why is the Weaselette here?"
"Her name is Ginny," Hermione gave him a hard look. "And she doesn't have anyone else to talk to, so she's staying."
"Fine, whatever," the blonde waved dismissively. "Is she caught up to speed? I don't have all day to sit here and explain to her what the rest of us already know, I need to be back home before I'm missed."
"Alright," Hermione sighed. "And yes, she is caught up, I just finished before you arrived. Now what was this news you had for us?"
"Well," he shifted slightly, suddenly uncomfortable in their presence. "Now don't be mad at me for what I'm about to say, but I think that the foreigners in Gryffindor are ninja. The fact that some of them left at the same time as Harry and the Weasleys just confirms my suspicion."
"They're here," Harry gave him a curious look. "And why would that make you think they are ninja?"
"A while back I had Naruto cornered and Gaara interrupted us," he looked down sheepishly, causing Hermione to giggle softly earning her a glare. "Before they left, Gaara trapped me to the wall with sand, without drawing his wand. I don't know why they are here, but I think it has something to do with Harry."
"Fair enough," Hermione nodded. "Let's see if we can confirm your suspicions. Who should we look up first? I think I've finally figured out how to use this damn scroll."
"Let's look up Naruto first," Draco supplied.
She nodded and took the scroll in both hands, ready to pull it open. "Naruto Uzumaki," she said clearly and opened it, only to find it blank.
"Damn!" the blonde muttered. "I was sure they were ninja."
"Don't give up that easily," Ron shook his head. "Try the others."
Harry took the scroll from Hermione's hand and looked it over curiously.
"Maybe we're doing it wrong," he bit his lip and mimicked Hermione's hold on it. "Maybe we're being too specific, let's try a family."
"Alright," Hermione nodded. "Who should we start with?"
"Not now," Malfoy quickly stood and the others followed suit. "I should be getting back home. Mother will be looking for me soon, seeing as it is the first day back."
"Alright," Harry shrugged. "We'll just wait till later then. And Malfoy, maybe we could start over. I mean, you've been really helpful this year with this research, so you can't be the arrogant prat I always took you for."
He stepped forward and extended his hand to the blonde Slytherin. Draco smirked and took the proffered hand. Suddenly, Ginny burst into a fit of giggles. The four older teens looked at her in confusion, Harry and Draco's hands still clasped.
"What?" Malfoy finally sneered, not liking being laughed at.
She pointed to the ceiling and all of them looked up. There, hanging innocently above the two boys' heads, was a sprig of mistletoe. Harry groaned and quickly released Malfoy's hand, just realizing he was still holding it.
"Come on, Harry," Hermione chuckled, quickly glancing at Draco. "It's tradition, give poor Draco a kiss."
"I think Sirius just put it up as a joke," Ron eyed the innocent plant warily and took a step back. "I'm sure he didn't mean for Harry to kiss anyone. Or me for that matter," he muttered under his breath.
"Sirius? As in Sirius Black?" Draco raised an elegant brow in question and then smirked. "Ha, I knew I was right about that dog at the train station. Let's just get this over with, Harry."
"That's what you said last time," the brunette muttered almost indistinctly as the blonde pulled him close.
"Oh, did I?" Malfoy pulled the slightly smaller boy closer so their bodies were flush and whispered so only Harry could hear, "Were you disappointed, Potter? Maybe I'll just have to make it up to you."
"Wha—?"
But his words were cut off as Draco covered his mouth with his own in a languid kiss. As Harry started to relax in his arms, the blonde began nibbling on his lower lip. His lips parted, almost of their own volition, and Malfoy slipped his tongue past them into the moist cavern and began to explore, almost seeming to memorize it.
They finally pulled apart as they heard a throat being cleared. Malfoy smirked down at the slightly dazed look on the Gryffindor's face before releasing him.
"Well, I should be going. Later," and he grabbed the necklace and was gone.
"What was that about, mate?" Ron was glowing a bright red and looking at Harry as if he'd lost his mind.
"Oh come off it, Ronald," Hermione smacked his arm playfully. "You have to admit that was hot!"
"I agree," Ginny piped up, almost the same color as her brother. "So Harry, would you go out with Draco if he asked you?"
"What?" Harry shook his head, trying to clear it.
"Well," Hermione began, "it's apparent you enjoyed that kiss much more than the one with Cho the other day, so I agree, would you go out with him if he asked? You two do make a lovely couple."
"What are you two on about?" Ron asked incredulously. "Harry's not even gay. Right, mate?"
"I—I don't know," Harry shrugged helplessly, recalling Naruto's words from the other day.
"Besides, even if Harry was," Ron brushed off his friend's uncertainty. "Malfoy's not."
"You just saw the snog he gave Harry, Ron," Ginny shook her head in annoyance.
"I can say with certainty that he most definitely is gay," Hermione smiled smugly. "He told me so himself. What did you honestly think that thing with Naruto and Gaara was about?"
"A duel?" Ron tried, his eyes begging the brunette witch to by lying.
She shook her head, "Naruto and Neji were the reason Draco realized he was gay, he saw them kissing. And he had a crush on Naruto ever since, though I think he doesn't anymore."
8888888
Christmas morning arrived without much mishap at Grimmauld Place. Draco, apparently, wasn't able to get away from his family but it didn't bother the others of their small conspiracy. They had decided to wait to check the scroll, as they said they would, but they kept an eye on the foreigners for any sign that they might be ninja. However, the only thing they found out, that they didn't already know, was that Ino and Choji were a couple, as were Kankuro and TenTen, and, amazingly enough, Sakura and Temari. The last of which Ginny had found snogging in the bedroom they shared with all the other girls.
Naruto woke on Christmas morning to Harry, Hermione, and all the Weasley kids banging the door open. He sat up, instantly alert with a kunai in his hands. The other shinobi were quick to follow, with the exception of Shikamaru, who was still sleeping.
"Lazy ass," Naruto muttered before turning to the wizards. "Don't do that again, we could've killed you!"
"Not likely, mate," Fred grinned, missing the look Ron shot Harry, and tossed a wrapped package at the blonde's head.
On reflex, Naruto caught it right before it connected with his skull. He then set it down at the foot of the bed and eyed the wizards curiously, as they all had wrapped packages in their arms.
"Nice catch!" the twins said in unison.
"These are for you," Hermione explained at his blank look. "It's Christmas."
"What's Christmas?" Gaara asked in his usual monotone.
"It's a holiday they celebrate here," Neji supplied. "Sirius explained it to me yesterday, after he fooled me into helping him with the decorating."
"Aww, poor Neji," Naruto gave him a mock sympathetic look. "So those are for us?"
"Yep," George grinned, now passing out the parcels in his arms. "These are from Mum, Fred's handing out the ones from us. And of course, the others each got you their own, the only one who didn't get anything is Shika there, cause well, we don't know him and didn't have time to shop for him."
"That's okay," the blonde grinned. "He can share with me, besides he'll probably be taking it all home with him when he goes. Oi, Shika, wake up," he elbowed the shadow ninja in the ribs.
"Ugh, Naruto," Shikamaru groaned, rolling over. "It's too early, wake me up at around noon, I'm on vacation."
"Get up you lazy ass," Naruto shook his head and began poking the sleeping brunette. "Besides, I'm going to pester you until you do."
"I hate you, you know that," Shikamaru sat up with a yawn, before pulling Naruto into a choke hold.
"Let him go, Shikamaru," Neji glared at the other brunette, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Lighten up, Neji, sheesh," Shikamaru sighed. "Now what was so important that I get up at this ungodly hour?"
"I've got presents to unwrap," the blonde said happily. "And since you didn't get any, I've decided you can help me with mine."
"Troublesome," the lazy ninja muttered, taking the box George offered.
He unwrapped it while Naruto worked on the one Fred had tossed to him. The other shinobi were busily unwrapping Mrs. Weasley's presents to them as well. Finally, Shikamaru got the paper off and opened the box.
"Oh shit," he said, lobbing the box away from him and pinning Naruto to the bed. "Get it out of here!"
"What?" the Weasleys looked at the two shinobi on the bed curiously.
"Mum didn't poison it or anything," Ron said in mild irritation.
Gaara leaned over and picked up the box off the floor and peered inside.
"Kankuro, gather Mrs. Weasley's presents and take them out of here," he said calmly, but his eyes were wide and watching Naruto like a hawk. "You'll know what to do."
The puppeteer went to his brother's side and took a peek into the box as well. "Ah," was all he said before taking the box and quickly checking the others. He only grabbed Kiba's though before heading out of the room.
"Hey!" Kiba protested violently. "That's mine! Bring me back my present! Akamaru fetch!"
"Hyuuga, stop him," Gaara commanded, still not looking away from Naruto, who was just starting to struggle against Shikamaru. "If you want it, Inuzuka, go out into the hall and you can eat it there."
But Neji wasn't fast enough to catch the little pup before he slipped out of the room, it didn't help matters that Fred and George had blocked his path, demanding answers.
"Bring me back my present, I want to see what I got," Naruto began kicking futilely at Shikamaru, his arms being pinned down.
"No, Naruto, I will not allow that back in here at the present time," Shikamaru shook his head.
At that moment, they heard a growl coming from the hall and Kankuro screaming at Akamaru. Not a minute later, the pup was dragging Kiba's present back into the room, with the contents clearly visible to everyone. Naruto stopped struggling at once when his eyes fell on the open package. Everyone followed his gaze to the white frosted cake lying innocently inside.
"Gaara!" Shikamaru yelled as Naruto began struggling harder in an attempt to get at the package, almost succeeding in throwing the shadow ninja off.
The redhead vaulted from his bed and grabbed the blonde's flailing legs, pinning them down.
"Naruto, get control!" he commanded sternly, but the blonde didn't seem to hear him.
"Damn it, Kyuubi, let Naruto back in control and you can have some cake once the wizards are gone, understood?"
Naruto once again fell still, but the eyes he turned to the Kazekage were bright red, "Give me some cake, Sabaku, or there'll be hell to pay."
"Damn it," Gaara muttered under his breath and then raised his voice loud enough to carry into the hall, "KANKURO! Everyone else, out!"
The puppet master poked his head back into the room and took in the state of the three on the bed. Kiba, Shino, and Neji ushered the wizards out of the room to give their captain some privacy while he dealt with his demon.
"What was that about?" Harry asked once the door was shut behind them.
"I'm not sure," Neji shook his head, curious as to Kyuubi's actions, he'd never seen him like that before.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Kiba butted in. "Naruto can't handle being around cake without going nuts. I just wish they'd clued us in before allowing me to do something that stupid."
"Oh yes," Shino rolled his eyes, his sunglasses still back in the room, "that would've been the best possible solution. 'If there is someone who received a cake for Christmas would they kindly take it out into the hall, so Naruto won't go crazy.' I could imagine that going over just as well. I just want to know how Kankuro and Gaara knew."
"Birthday party," Kiba said suddenly, snapping his fingers.
"Excuse me?" Fred asked incredulously. "There wasn't a cake at Naruto's party."
"Didn't you think that was suspicious in and of itself?" Neji shook his head, knowing what Kiba was talking about. "It's obvious, Gaara planned the party this year, he must have found out last year, when he threw Naruto his last party, that he would react that way to a cake."
"And Shikamaru?" George asked in confusion. "How the hell did he know about it? I mean, aren't you his boyfriend, Neji?"
"Naruto lives with Shikamaru," Harry supplied. "He told me so at the beginning of the year. That's how he knew."
"But why hasn't he done something like this before now?" Hermione shook her head. "I mean, there are always cakes in the Great Hall for dessert."
"Gaara must've been keeping them out of sight," Neji sighed, it was the only logical explanation.
At that moment, Kankuro slipped out into the hallway, shaking his head. Everyone turned to him expectantly.
"What happened?" Harry asked. "Did you get him calmed down? Is he going to be alright?"
"He's fine," Kankuro chuckled slightly. "Though I'm sorry, Inuzuka, you no longer have a cake to enjoy."
"What?" the dog shinobi's jaw opened in shock.
"Sorry," the puppeteer shrugged. "Apparently, the small cake he got in his own present wasn't enough to satisfy him, so he devoured yours as well. Consider yourself lucky though, you should've seen how he treated Temari when she threatened to eat all the cake at his last birthday party."
Shikamaru came out into the hallway then, his hands shoved in his pockets, "This is such a drag. Naruto's back in control now, but he wants to be left alone, he's rather embarrassed, he doesn't usually lose control like that. And we should talk to Mrs. Weasley about not making any more cakes at the present time."
"Yeah, probably a good idea," Kankuro chuckled nervously. "We probably should've mentioned it earlier."
"Might have saved us all some problems," George rolled his eyes at the two shinobi.
"Enough," Neji gave the shinobi a look. "I'm sure Naruto is fine now, we'll just have to be more careful next time. Now why don't you all go down for breakfast, I'm going to check on him."
"Alright," Shikamaru sighed and started down the stairs, but before he got too far he paused. "Oh, and Neji, if you hurt him, I'll kill you."
"Get in line," the Hyuuga shook his head before disappearing back into the bedroom.
8888888
Once they had their Christmas lunch, the Weasleys and Harry and Hermione and some of the shinobi; Naruto, Shino, Kankuro, and Temari, were planning to pay Mr. Weasley another visit, escorted by Mad-Eye and Lupin.
The journey to St. Mungo's was quite quick, as there was very little traffic on the roads. A small trickle of witches and wizards were creeping furtively up the otherwise deserted street to visit the hospital. Harry and the others got out of the car, and Mundungus drove off around the corner to wait for them; they strolled casually toward the window where the dummy in green nylon stood, then, one by one, stepped through the glass.
The four shinobi once again remained in the hall, even though Mrs. Weasley insisted that they would be welcome to come inside.
"So Kankuro, fill me in," Naruto turned to the puppet master. "What happened the last day of term? Gaara gave me a sketchy outline but he didn't say much, one would think he spent that time staring into space."
"He did," the brunette rolled his eyes. "He was almost at his wits end with boredom. Not that I blame him, I wasn't much better. Temari, however, got a bit of action, as her charge was still there."
"Temari?" Naruto cocked a brow in question.
"Hermione met with Malfoy again," the kunoichi shook her head. "They spent the better part of the last day in the library discussing Portkeys. I think we might have to keep an eye out for him at Grimmauld Place over the break."
"Anything else they talked about?" the ANBU captain asked curiously. "I mean last time you came back with news, Sakura and I had to step in and sidetrack the Akatsuki."
"They didn't talk about anything new on that account," she sighed. "Apparently, either Voldemort gave up his quest for shinobi aide or Malfoy's father isn't telling him anymore. He did say, however, that he has something to share with the three Gryffindors next time they meet."
"I see," Naruto nodded.
At that moment, the door opened and Bill, Fred, and George came out into the hallway. The three brothers didn't seem to notice the shinobi as they took off down the hall. Shino gave a brief nod to Naruto and followed them.
It didn't take more than a couple minutes for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to exit the room as well. As the door swung closed behind them, they heard Mrs. Weasley shriek, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA?"
"Typical Dad," said Ginny, shaking her head as they set off up the corridor, with the remaining shinobi falling in behind them. "Stitches… I ask you…"
"Well, you know, they do work well on non-magical wounds," said Hermione fairly. "I suppose something in that snake's venom dissolves them or something…. I wonder where the tea room is?"
"Are you saying that Mr. Weasley gave himself stitches?" Kankuro asked incredulously. "Is he insane? I wouldn't even trust Sakura with that job."
"He had the Healer in training do it, but yeah," said Harry. "And it's on the fifth floor, Hermione."
They walked along the corridor through a set of double doors and found a rickety staircase lined with more portraits of brutal-looking Healers. As they climbed it, the various Healers called out to them, diagnosing odd complaints and suggesting horrible remedies. Ron was seriously affronted when a medieval wizard called out that he clearly had a bad case of spattergroit.
"And what's that supposed to be?" he asked angrily, as the Healer pursued him through six more portraits, shoving the occupants out of the way.
"'Tis a most grievous affliction of the skin, young master, that will leave you pockmarked and more gruesome even than you are now—"
"Watch who you're calling gruesome!" said Ron, his ears turning red.
"The only remedy is to take the liver of a toad, bind it tight against your throat, stand naked by the full moon in a barrel of eels' eyes—"
"I have not got spattergroit!"
"But the unsightly blemishes upon your visage, young master—"
"They're freckles!" said Ron furiously. "Now get back in your own picture and leave me alone!"
"Well then, fine!" the Healer huffed and then spotted Naruto. "And as for you, young master, those scars are easily removed—"
"What the hell?" the blonde turned to him incredulously. "I happen to like my scars, thank you. It gives me character. How many people do you know who have whisker like scars on their face?"
"Uh, no one, but all it would take is a bit of hot silver, dipped in frog spleen and they'd be gone."
"I think I'll keep the hot silver away from my face, thanks," the ANBU rolled his eyes. "I have enough problems with things coming into contact with it without being stupid enough to injure myself."
He quickly caught up to the others as Ron rounded on the others, who were all keeping determinedly straight faces.
They spent the rest of the day sequestered in the closed ward for long term patients. And then returned to number 12, Grimmauld Place. (1)
That evening after dinner, the trio plus Ginny, were once again locked up inside Ron and Harry's room, waiting to see if their final conspirator would join them. Harry kept trying to forget about his kiss the other day, but it wasn't an easy task considering, as they waited, both Ginny and Hermione kept shooting him furtive glances and snickering.
It was almost midnight and they were about to call it a night when Malfoy finally appeared. He looked exhausted and sank down on the bed gratefully.
"So, you guys figure anything out without me?" he asked by way of greeting.
"No," Hermione shook her head. "We said we'd wait for you to return before checking the scroll, and they haven't been doing anything strange."
"If you say so," Ron scoffed.
"What? What happened?" the Slytherin looked at Ron in confusion.
"Naruto had some sort of fit this morning when he found out there was a cake in one of the presents," Harry sighed. "Shikamaru and Gaara seemed to know it would happen and restrained him."
"Shikamaru?" Draco looked confused. "Who the hell is that?"
"Oh, right," Hermione smacked her forehead. "We forgot to tell you, five more of them arrived the day Ron and Harry got here. There's Ino and Choji, who are a couple, Hinata, Neji's cousin, TenTen, who is Kankuro's girlfriend, and Shikamaru, Naruto's housemate."
"And that didn't seem strange at all?" the blonde shook his head. "Honestly, you guys are too trusting."
"Dumbledore obviously knew they were coming," the brunette witch rolled her eyes. "It's not like we can question him about who he allows into the house. I mean, besides you, no one can enter the house without him letting them."
"Anyway, it's been a long day and I need to get some sleep for tomorrow," Malfoy sighed. "So are we going to try the scroll again?"
"We wouldn't want you to miss out on your beauty sleep," Ginny giggled.
"Are we going to take Harry's suggestion and look up a family first?" Hermione pulled out the scroll, hoping to hedge off an argument before it started.
The other three nodded in agreement.
"Wait, what if we're wrong about how this scroll works?" Malfoy shook his head. "I mean, we've never seen a name before, right?"
"I have," she sighed. "But it was a dead person's name."
"Going off that," Harry spoke up, "why don't we check out Uchiha?"
"Why?" the blonde looked at him in confusion.
"Naruto's friend, whatever his name is, is an Uchiha," the raven haired teen shrugged. "And according to Naruto his family was killed. So, logically, if we look up the Uchihas then we'd be looking up dead people and it should give us a name. And it would test your theory on how to work the scroll, Hermione."
"Right," she nodded, impressed by his logic. "So we're looking up the Uchihas."
She opened the scroll and found a small paragraph written there.
"It worked!" she looked up excitedly. "Well, it's not much but it still worked. 'The Uchiha clan, famed users of the Kekkei Genkai Sharingan. Only two members remain of this once prestigious clan after the massacre by one of their own.'"
"Wow, that wasn't much," Ron shook his head. "Which was the Sharingan again?"
"The one that allows them to copy other jutsus," Hermione answered automatically. "Let's try another. Didn't Kankuro tell you that his parents are dead? So let's look up Sabaku."
"No, Gaara told us," Ron rolled his eyes, almost interrupting her.
Hermione rolled her eyes back and opened the scroll. She looked down and gasped, before dragging her eyes away from the parchment and looking at the others in amazement.
"I've found him!"
"What?" Draco and Harry sat up immediately.
"What do you mean, you found him?" Harry clarified. "We were looking up the family, not a specific person."
"It must be the fact that Ron butted in before I opened the scroll," Hermione waved him off before beginning to read, "Sabaku no Gaara. Current rank: Kazekage of Suna."
"Wait a minute," Harry's eyes narrowed. "I knew it! I knew I'd heard that title before. Gaara said it in our first Divination class of the year. Remember, Ron?"
"Uh, no mate," the redhead looked at him curiously.
"Trelawney asked him his name and he said Sabaku no Gaara, Kazekage of Suna. I can't believe I forgot about it."
"Well considering she predicted his early death immediately afterward, which caused the others to laugh, it's not all that surprising," Ron shook his head, suddenly remembering the event.
"She what?" Hermione looked up from the scroll. "She predicted his death?"
"Yeah, said he'd die a violent death at the hands of his enemies, he said something in Japanese and the others laughed." Ron gave her a curious look. "Why?"
"Because he died," she explained, pointing to a passage on the scroll. "It says here 'Sabaku no Gaara was the jinchuriki of Shukaku, the one-tailed raccoon dog. He was captured by Deidara and Sasori of the organization Akatsuki. The Akatsuki took the bijuu from him in a complex ritual which left the vessel dead. Chiyo, with the help of Uzumaki Naruto, sacrificed herself and brought Gaara back to life.'"
"Look up Uzumaki Naruto," Malfoy commanded excitedly. "It could be that we said the name wrong."
"Fine," she shook her head and did as he said. "It's all here. One Uzumaki Naruto. 'Current rank: ANBU captain. Important facts: Jinchuriki of Kyuubi no Kitsune, the nine-tailed fox.'"
"Oh my god!" Harry looked between Ron and Hermione. "Oh… my… god! This morning, that was Kyuubi!"
"What are you on about?" Ron shook his head in confusion.
"Gaara, while talking to Naruto this morning during the cake incident, called him Kyuubi, I didn't understand much else, but I did catch that."
"Look up the Hyuugas," Ron's brow narrowed in thought. "I want to check something out, specifically Neji. I overheard a conversation between him and Naruto that I just remembered."
"Well, well," a voice said from the doorway, "it appears Temari had you all pegged right, after all."
"Who are you?" Draco shot up, his wand in his hand instantly.
"You must be Malfoy," the shinobi shook his head. "This is such a drag. I have orders to escort you from the property."
"Look, Shikamaru," Harry stepped forward, between the shinobi and the blonde. "I don't know what your orders are, but no one can know he's here. He could be killed."
"I didn't know you cared, Potter," Malfoy smirked.
"Get over yourself, Malfoy," Harry spat back. "I don't care about you personally, I would just hate to see you die for a stupid reason."
"Sorry, Harry, orders are orders," Shikamaru shrugged, taking a step toward the blonde. "And I personally don't want to get on Gaara's bad side."
"I've got a deal for you," Harry said boldly. "We won't say anything to Gaara or Naruto about all this, and you let him go in peace."
"That wouldn't matter, she's bugged," he nodded toward Ginny. "So either way Naruto will get a report on what's going on, and if I don't follow orders and Gaara finds out, I'm dead where I stand. However, I think I might have a solution for all this."
"And that is?" the Slytherin asked curiously, it was his neck involved too.
"You hire me to protect you," Shikamaru shrugged. "That way I don't have to kill you, and Gaara can't kill me for doing my job. Naruto might be a bit disappointed, but I can live with that."
"How much?" Harry said quietly, knowing he would pay if no one else could.
"Standard rate," Shikamaru said evenly. "I believe the others are receiving then Galleons a month, take it or leave it."
"I'll take it," Draco answered, fishing in his pockets. "I'll hire you till the end of the year. That's six months, so sixty Galleons."
"Fine," Shikamaru smirked. "I'll have the contract by the time school starts again, I'll take the money then. Now I suggest you get out of here before someone else finds you. Oh, and by the way, the others will know, I do have to report to my superiors, and I wasn't lying about her, however, they can't do anything about it if I'm working for you. And before you go, if you use that information against Naruto, I'll kill you, contract or no."
(1. I didn't want to put in the whole closed ward scene cause as I was writting it nothing really changed so it's not there)
Ammie: Okay so first off, the cake incident, I couldn't pass it up. I wrote the little side story, Happy Birthday, Naruto, after I wrote the welcome feast and several other dinners, so I had to explain why Naruto wasn't being controlled by Kyu to get the cake at every turn, as he was in that oneshot, I realized that after I wrote it. So anyway, now the wizards know of Kyuubi's obsessive behavior about cake, oh and that the 'transfer students' are really ninja.
I hope you enjoyed, please tell me what you think. Reviews make me smile and work harder.
I almost forgot, I'm going to do some shameless promoting here, ;P I've got a new HP story going where Harry went back in time and killed Voldemort and then returned to his sixteen-year-old body and found that everything changed.