Chapter 27
'Shit!' was Harry's thought when he couldn't think of anything. He grabbed onto all four of his boys and prepared to take as many hits as possible for them. Luckily, Shukaku had other ideas.
"Idiot boy! Use your sand," he said. Gaara concentrated and was able to make a sphere of sand encase him, and all the others that were falling. The sand absorbed the impact as the hit the ground and reflected any rocks that fell on them.
"What the hell?" the blonde man asked. "Sand?" he looked at Gaara with narrowed eyes.
"Shukaku." It was a statement, not a question.
"Is only sealed inside," Harry said.
"What?"
"Shukaku is only sealed inside. Gaara is his own person. Trust me, I know. I've met the demon – even call him Shu for short. Now, seeing as we'll be stuck here together for a little while, why don't we make introductions?" It was more of an order than a question.
And Yashamaru was not about to say no to a man that not only called Shukaku 'Shu', but actually lived after doing so.
"My name is Yashamaru," he said. "These are my sister's children, Temari and Kankuro."
"My name is Harry. This is my son Gaara, my nephew Naruto, my not-quite-adopted-yet son Sasuke, and my godbrother Will. Now, let's see if we can find a way out of here."
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In the Mother Dimension
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Hermione was walking down Knocturn Alley, in disguise of course. If anyone had the book she was looking for, it would be someone rather rich. The rich, in the Wizarding World, were more often than not the purebloods that could be commonly seen walking down this alley (not that anyone ever turned them in).
Her first stop in her hunt for information was Borgin and Burkes. With any luck she wouldn't have to steal one after all.
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If it weren't for her superb Occlumency skills, Rhonda was sure she'd be gaping. The Yates family had two…'gifts' so to speak. The first was a lesser version Aura Sight that allowed them to see every persons Aura. Each person had a unique Aura. The second was the less talked about one, known only as Prediction. It would start first as a sense of foreboding, then a name and a feeling of possibly not surviving, and finally the date on the very day it would happen. It was the reason every Yates knew they were going to die. It was also the reason every Yates knew who they were going to spend the rest of their lives with.
And Rhonda was already at the second part. That scared her the most, but she didn't think the day would come anytime soon, even seeing the person who would apparently do her in.
Hermione Granger-Weasley was walking out of Borgin and Burkes. Rhonda waited a few moments, and then entered the store.
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The clerk at the counter was rather young. The previous elderly clerk (Rhonda could never remember if it was Mr. Borgin or Mr. Burkes) had passed away several years ago. The young nephew of Mr. Burkes had taken over since then.
"Ah, Madam Yates, what can I do for you?" Rhonda smiled at him. She was firmly entrenched in the Light Side, but being a Slytherin had its advantages.
"Young Burkes wasn't it?" Rhonda asked, continuing before he could reply. "I'm not usually one for threats, but considering it may have something to do with my imminent demise, whenever that me be…what was she looking for and did she get it?"
"I don't quite underst-"
"Don't give me that. Hermione Granger was just in here, and unless you want the Aurors here soon, I suggest you tell me." Rhonda felt a slight satisfaction in causing the clerk to let out a squeaky "Eeep!" before he told her.
"S-she wanted a special b-book – one that taught L-Legilimency. I t-told her I didn't have a-any, and had n-no clue how t-to get one. She l-left after t-that, I swear!"
"Good, and Mr. Burkes – I wasn't here. And if she comes back, you'll tell her you don't have the book or any clue how to get it even if you do, understand?" The clerk nodded quickly. Rhonda thought his head might fall off. "Good. I won't tell the Aurors anything then." The clerk sighed in relief as Rhonda left the store.
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Hermione did her best to calm herself, really she did, but it didn't help at all. Sirius and Remus both gave a start as she let off a frustrated yell, and ripped the paper into two. The two men watched her stomp out of the room, before looking at each other, and then repairing the paper and reading it.
Hermione Granger-Weasley's Search
Owners of Book Beware!
Article By: Rhonda Yates
I have grave news to bring to you today, news that I just found out myself. Hermione Granger-Weasley is rumored to have been spotted in Knocturn Alley two days ago. Having heard the rumors and looked into them, I found that she is searching – searching for a special book.
Not surprising, considering that as a student in Hogwarts she could normally be seen with a nose in her book, but the subject of this particular book sends shivers down my spine.
Hermione Granger-Weasley is looking for a book to learn Legilimency from. It is a very rare book, one of which there were only ten copies made. Who knows what she could do with such a book – perhaps use it to look in the heads of our children and plant false memories there of her 'greatness', or to look into the heads of our greatest minds and learn magic that we cannot hope to protect ourselves against?
Either way, I implore you, if you own such a book, keep it to yourself – tell no one of its existence. Upgrade any protections you have on it, but do so quietly, so Granger-Weasley doesn't find out.
"Damn," Sirius said. Remus wasn't sure if he was upset or happy though.
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Back In the Hidden Countries
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For the past two days, the rocks on the outside had been too unstable to try to get out, even with the sand protecting them, so the group of eight had to sit it out, sharing rations of food and drink.
Temari and Kankuro had been surprised to find that Gaara was their brother, and a glare from Harry kept Yashamaru from saying anything about it.
Naruto had made a comment about all the girls trying to be ninja that he had met so far being weak. Temari's reaction to that had been to challenge Naruto
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"What did you say?" Temari growled. Naruto frowned in confusion.
"All the girls at the ninja academy are really weak. I thought all girls were like that?" Naruto never actually meant it as an insult, just an observation.
"You're telling me there are no strong kunoichi-to-be in your class?" Temari asked incredulously.
"Well, Hinata-chan's okay I guess, but she's not really all that strong. She did make Mizuki-sensei hit his knees, but that was because she hit him in his happy place." Kankuro winced. So did Yashamaru. Harry chuckled, and the others laughed outright.
"Well then, why don't I show you the strength of a real kunoichi?" Temari asked.
"Okay," Naruto agreed, perfectly happy to have a spar.
Ten minutes later, Naruto sat on the ground nursing his many bruises.
"You hit really hard…are you sure you're a girl?" As before, Naruto didn't mean it as the insult Temari took it as.
"What?" She shrieked. Gaara and Sasuke winced, noting that Temari had to have been a girl because she could shriek just as well as Sakura. They wisely kept their mouths shut, however.
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Harry had gotten a good laugh out of that too. It was a good thing Naruto healed fast, because Temari had pummeled him several times. Hell, surprisingly enough, wasn't screaming at Harry to protect his drakeling, as that was what the three boys were to him. Hell had it explained it by saying that even he wasn't stupid enough to insult girls that could kick his ass, and the sooner Naruto got rid of that particular stupidity, the better.
Hearing Temari shriek again, no doubt at another one of Naruto's not-meant-as-an-insult-but-insulting-anyways comments, and wincing as Temari pummeled the blonde boy again, Harry couldn't help but agree with Hell.
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No worries, Harry'll stop the pummeling's soon enough, or maybe Naruto will wise up and he won't have too. So, chapter 27, and I haven't even gotten to the drakelings as shinobi yet – I'm starting to wonder just how long this story is going to be. I have the big stuff planned out, but with only about thirty percent, if that, of this story complete, I'm kinda scared of how many chapters there will be. Anyway, read and review! Smiles!
Rune