Steve: Well, the caffine rush is slowly leaving me so... time for the next chapter.
Hinata: (Shivers) A hyper you is scary... By the way what's this that I heard about cold medicine?
Steve: Um... heheheheh... you see I, er... Look! Naruto's walking by in his boxer shorts!
Hinata: (Excited) Really! Where?! Out of my way! (Rushes off)
Yui: That was mean.
Pen-pen: Wark, waar arkk. (Yeah, very mean.)
Steve: Look, I REALLY don't want to talk about it. (Notices Hinata coming back) Ah! Hinata! If you would please do the disclaimer?
Hinata: Ok...Pen-Pen: (Wark Wa WAAK arrk waark)
Hinata: Translation is "The author doesn't own Harry Potter or Naruto". He just owns this story, the plot and his insane plot-bunnies.
Why me? Shinigami/Demon/Inner-Sakura
'Who?' Thoughts
-YO!- Animal speech
'What the...!' Reading
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Harry's currently sitting at the table with a mass of notebooks, papers and parchments in front of him while he's chewing on the pen he's holding. 'Damn it! I still can't fix the problem with the energy efficiency. I got it down to the point that it's half what my mother thought was needed, but it's still to much needed. Besides cutting down on the amount would mean sacrificing power and protection… Any ideas Kuro?' Kuro thinks it over for a bit before answering.
'The only way that I can think of is to store a large amount of magic so it can be used when needed… Though how you would do that, I couldn't begin to say.' Harry sighs in disappointment.
'That's what I was afraid of.' Harry leans forward and begins to massage his temples. 'There lies the problem that neither me or my mom could solve. While you can store chakra easily enough, magic is an entirely different matter. There is only so many ways to store magic, none of which can help us.' Kuro nods his head before stating an idea.
'What about runes? They can be used to store magic after all.' Harry shakes his head in the negative.
'Unfortunately not. The amount of runes needed would actually cover a larger space then there is.' Harry's and Kuro's conversation is interrupted by the sound of a door opening and the hallway leading to the washroom filling with steam. A few moments later Row walks into view furiously drying her hair. Seeing how dishevelled she looks, Harry begins to laugh causing her to send a small glare at him.
"What are you laughing at?! I just got out of the shower!" Anything else is cut off by Hedwig shoving her aside and into the wall while rushing into that washroom with a bunch of clothes under her arms. Row begins to grumble about stupid owls as she pulls herself out of the indent in the wall. Her glare returns as Harry bursts out laughing and Sal begins to snicker behind a magazine. After a bit she huffs. Calming down, Harry wipes the tears from his eyes.
"Sorry Row, but you got to admit it WAS funny. By the way, why do you and Hedwig love showers so much?' Row sighs before giving a small smile.
"I suppose it was a little humorous." She begins to walk over while shrugging. "As to why me and Hedwig like showers? For some reason birds like us enjoy the feeling of water running down our bodies except for one thing." Row examines her body before continuing. "It takes us hours to dry off. Thankfully I don't have that problem since I have a human form." Finally she reaches Harry and wraps her arms over his shoulder before noticing the stuff in front of him. Raising an eyebrow she looks at him. "And what is all this?" Harry begins to chuckle.
"It's something that both me and my mother have worked on…" Row gives him a surprised look.
"Your mother worked on this?" Harry gives her a nod.
"Hai, it was originally her pet project. I found her notes on it in one of her journals we stole… er, liberated, from the Dursley's." He smiles at the deadpan look she gives him before shrugging. "Anyways, I decided to finish her work to… Oh, I don't know, feel closer to her I guess." Row gives him a soft smile in reply.
"So have you nearly completed it?" Harry shrugs again.
"Almost it's just one thing that's annoying me." Seeing her inquisitive look he continues. "I need a way to store a massive amount of magic somehow." Row taps her chin in thought several times before snapping her fingers.
"I know just the thing!" Straightening herself, she walks over to a bookcase and grabs a book before walking back. "This will solve your little problem." Setting it down, she waits as Harry reads the title. She rolls her eyes at the look he gives her. "Don't give me that look, it really does contain the answer." Harry continues to give her a icluderous look.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this a book on that new age mysticism?" He looks back at it. "Why do we even have this?" Row smirks at his question.
"We have it because Naruto went and bought a whole bunch of books on the subject when he found out he could use magic." Harry smacks his face as he remembers. "Even though most of the stuff is useless to us, some are actually very informative." Thinking this over, Harry nods in agreement.
"True. After all, muggles seem to know more about ley-lines for example then wizards do." Now interested, Harry turns his full attention on Row. "Okay, so what's in there that can help me?" Row's smile fully returns as she begins to relish solving something that stumped her boyfriend.
"Simple, if you would give me a second I can show you." Opening the book, she rapidly flips through pages before stopping. "Ok, start from here and read to…" she flips several pages "…here." Harry does so, then re-reads it several more times before hitting his head on the table (Kuro does the same thing in the mindscape).
"I'm such an idiot." He brings his head up and gives Row an exasperated look. "How the hell could I forget that crystals can hold magic?" Kuro snorts in the mindscape.
'I wouldn't feel so bad, I forgot too remember?' Harry gives him a mental shrug.
'True… Then again that's to be expected due to your age.' Smirking as the sound of Kuro growling reaches him, he gives Row an happy smile. "Row, I could kiss you right now." Seeing her blush he gets an idea that brings his smirk back. "In fact…" Row gives him a slightly confused look at the predatory gleam that's entered his eyes.
"What are you tal-" She's interrupted by Harry giving her a deep, passionate kiss. Her eyes flutter close as a thought comes to the forefront of her mind while her arms slowly wrap around Harry's neck once more. 'This… is SO nice…' Finally breaking apart, she lays her head on his shoulder with a happy sigh. "I can't believe it… Hedwig and Sal were right." Harry gives her an amused look.
"Oh? And what were they right about this time?" Row gives him a sultry look.
"About the fact that kissing is one of the best perks of having an human form." Harry laughs a bit at that.
"Well, that's interesting to know." With that he reaches up and begins to stroke along her wing causing her eyelids to flutter once more as well as coo in pleasure. "Just like knowing that you and Hedwig find having your wings stroked pleasurable." She doesn't say anything as she brings their lips together once more for another long kiss that soon transforms into a make out session. Pulling away, Row finds herself breathless.
"Whoa." Reaching up with one of her taloned hands, she runs it through Harry's hair while giggling. "I'm definitely going to enjoy having you as my boyfriend." Harry nods in agreement.
"Oh yeah, I'm definitely going to enjoy having you guys as my girlfriends." Row gains a happy look on her face not noticing the hard look in Harry's eyes. 'And now that I have people that love me… I WILL do everything in my power to protect them…'
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We find Naruto lounging on the couch while watching TV when he looks at the clock. 'Hmm, six-thirty… still have an half-hour left.' Suddenly Naruto hears a timid knock on the door causing him to frown. 'Now who could that be?' Walking towards it, he checks though the view hole to see who it is before opening it. "Sakura-chan? What are you doing here?" Sakura fidgets a little before answering
"Um, could I come in? There's something I would like to talk to you about…" Nodding, Naruto opens the door fully and watches as she walks in. Closing it, he turns to her.
"Well? Is there anything you would like to drink?" Sakura gives him a nod.
"I wouldn't say no to some of that pumpkin juice that you guys have." Naruto leaves only to reappear a few seconds later with a pitcher and two glasses. Setting them down, he fills both of them. He hands one of them to her while taking the other. "Thanks." Watching her he takes several sips before setting it down.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" She sighs before setting the glass down.
"Naruto… You've been my friend for several years now, right." Confused as to where this is going, he nods. "I need to know… truthfully, am I weak?" Naruto glances at the ceiling in thought before answering.
"Sakura, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses-" Before he can get any farther he's cut off by an annoyed Sakura.
"You know what I meant! Give me the truth Naruto…" She adds in a quiet voice. "I have to know from someone who won't lie to me…" Naruto sighs while taking a drink.
"To put it bluntly… your physically weak." Sakura hangs her head down only to bring it up at his next words. "However, mentally you're one of the strongest people I know." Sakura gives Naruto a small smile.
"Thank you." Sakura's face becomes serious once more as she comes to the real point of this. "Naruto I was wondering if you would… train me." Unfortunately, she choose to ask this as Naruto was drinking causing it to go down the wrong way.
"Wha… (Cough) What was (cough, cough) was that?" Looking down she explains.
"Naruto, everyone knows you and Harry knows that when it comes to training, you two are the ones to go to. Even if some of your ideas are… eccentric." At that point Harry walks in snorting.
"Eccentric, call it as it is: completely and utterly insane." Sakura glares at him and growls.
"I was TRYING to be nice you know." Harry just waves her off as he sits down.
"I know that nee-chan. Doesn't change a thing though. Even I will admit some of our ideas are just plain insane." Naruto gives him an amused smile before his face becomes serious as he sets down his glass and gives Sakura a penetrating look.
"What I want to know is why you want to do this? Is it to impress Sasuke?" He doesn't state what else is on his mind. 'I'll still help her if it is, however I won't tell her that.' Taking a deep breath, Sakura looks Naruto straight in the eye.
"I would be lying if I said that wasn't part of it… However, I recently had a talk with someone who showed me that I should become strong for myself as well after setting me straight about a few… things." At the end of her little speech, she straightens her back only to blush at the proud looks the two boys are giving her.
"And that Sakura-chan, is a VERY good reason. And one that me and Nii-san wouldn't mind helping you for."
"It's good to see that you're finally taking the ninja life seriously." Harry's smile grows as he continues. "In fact, it makes me proud to call you my team mate." Sakura looks at him with shining eyes.
"Thank you… thank you both." Harry waves his hand in dismissal.
"No need to thank us nee-chan… You definitely won't once we're finished." Sakura sweat drops thinking it might not have been such a good idea to ask them to train her before Harry pulls a notebook and a pen from inside his cloak. "Now, we need to know where to start, so if you could tell us what you think your strengths are that would help." Sakura thinks it over before sighing.
"That's the thing: after thinking it over I really don't have any." Harry and Naruto give her a look. "Fine… I guess I'm proficient with Academy taijutsu as well as the three main ninjutsu we were taught and the Nawanuke no Jutsu (Rope escape technique). I'm also have good accuracy with kunai and shuriken as well as good trap making skills, not to mention my book smarts… Other then that, nothing." Naruto shakes his head before pointing something out to her.
"You forgot something." Seeing her cock her head to the side in confusion he smiles. "The advantages that Kunoichi have over shinobi." Hearing this, Sakura shakes her head in confusion.
"Naruto, you and Harry have got to be two of the few guys who'll admit that girls have any advantages over guys." Harry gives her a look of bemusement in response.
"Don't know why. After all, both sexes have their strengths and weaknesses." Seeing Sakura's questioning look, he shrugs. "While men have more physical strength and endurance, women are faster with their better reflexes and are also far more flexible then most men." Sakura nods thoughtfully.
"So what are we going to work on?" Naruto chews his lip in thought before answering.
"Well, nii-san has several genjutsu he can teach you and we can give you instructions on how to improve your taijutsu… And I guess we can teach you Kage Henge no jutsu." At that last one Sakura blinks her eyes in confusion.
"Kage Henge no Jutsu? Never heard of that one." Harry chuckles embarrassedly.
"You would probably know it under another name." Sakura's eyes narrow as she realizes what they mean causing her to growl.
"Don't tell me that your talking about…" Naruto gulps before nodding.
"Hai. The Orioke no jutsu." Naruto holds up a hand in order to stop her from interrupting. "Just wait a second so I can explain. The name 'Orioke no jutsu' is just a distraction from the real purpose, we gave it that name so people wouldn't think that it's anything but a prank. Ergo, people don't realize the true potential of it." With that, Naruto disappears in a cloud of smoke. A few seconds later he reappears in his female form (with his clothes still on). Seeing Sakura blink s/he smirks. "Go ahead, check the difference between this and the normal Henge." Giving him a suspicious look, she goes to tap Naruto in the forehead expecting it to go through it only to be surprised at the feel of flesh.
"What the?!" As soon as her surprise wears off, she begins to touch, feel and prod in ways that if she were a boy would get her hit and declared a pervert… Which explains why Naruto's looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"Er, Sakura-chan?" Getting a grunt in reply a red faced Naruto takes a deep breath. "Um, do you mind? That just doesn't… feel right!" Noticing that the last two words came out as a squeak at the end, Sakura looks up at the blushing Naruto before noticing where her hand is… Causing her to go red herself.
"EEP!" And with that she yanks her hand away as if burned. "So… sorry." Naruto looks away (not realizing that Sakura's doing the same thing) before clearing his/her throat.
"Th… that's okay, Sakura-chan…" Hearing something, Naruto glares at Harry who's currently rolling on the ground laughing so hard that tears are leaking from his eyes and clutching his sides. "Oh, sure! Laugh it up teme!" Seeing that only caused him to laugh harder, Naruto began to kick him. Sakura however, is both sweat dropping and blushing due to Inner-Sakura's comments.
'Damn! I have to admit, Naruto looks hot as a girl! You have got to find out what he's been eating so we have some that size, after all they must be at least C-cup!' Sakura's blush deepens as Inner-Sakura continues.
'Hentai! Stop talking about perverted things like that!' Finally noticing that both Uzumaki-Potters are staring at her, she gives them an embarrassed look. "Sorry, I didn't realize what I was doing there…" She notices then that Naruto's forgotten something. "Um, shouldn't you release the jutsu now Naruto?" Looking down, Naruto's blush returns and in a puff of smoke is back in his male form. He begins to scratch his neck in embarrassment. His next comment causes her to face fault.
"Sorry about that, I… kinda forgot." Sakura's face screws up in confusion.
'He forgot? How could you forget something like that?' Shaking her head to clear it of the rapidly forming headache. She turns her attention back on the two boys. "So unlike Henge, which is just a illusion, Kage Henge actually transforms you into your target?" Naruto shakes his head no.
"Not quite. You see Sakura-chan, Kage Henge only creates a… shell of Chakra, if you would. Nothing more nothing less." Harry takes up the explanation.
"It's also been classified as a Space/Time jutsu due to because of it's effects on weight and mass." Seeing her confusion he explains with an example. "Let's say I transform into a kunai, with Kage Henge my weight and mass would be no more then your average kunai. Due to this I could be thrown. So even though I keep all my intelligence, my original mass and weight don't factor in for some reason." Eyes wide, Sakura begins to think of the possibilities.
"Sugoi! I would love to learn it!" Naruto begins to chuckle causing her to look at him and catch sight of the clock… Causing her to freak as they now have three minutes to reach the training grounds which are on the other side of the village. "GAH! WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" She's about to rush out when Naruto grabs her with a smile on his face. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING! WE HAVE TO GET GOING!" Naruto's chuckles cause her to stop her struggles as Harry gives her an amused look.
"Sakura-nee-chan, I don't think there's such a thing as being late to a meeting with Kakashi-sensei… Besides there's no need to rush as we have an alternative way there." Seeing her disbelieving look, he simply holds out an arm which Row lands on while Naruto puts his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry looks at her while grabbing her arm with his free hand. A twinkle comes into his eyes as he says one last thing. "Oh, and by the way… Don't freak." And before she ask why, flames begin to swirl around her, Harry Naruto and Row.
"Sugoi… It's amazing!" Less then a few seconds later, the flames die to reveal Training ground Seven and a opened-mouthed and shocked Sasuke. Ignoring him (For the moment) she turns to Harry and Naruto in stunned amazement. "WHOA! Was that some kind of Shunshin? And if so, how did you learn it?" Harry smiles at her before answering and jerking his thumb at Row.
"In a sense it was Shunshin, but it wasn't us. It was Row." He laughs a bit at her unbelieving look. "I'm not kidding, it's actually one of her abilities as a Phoenix." At that, Sakura turns to Row and sees her in a whole new light.
'And here I thought that Harry used Row because she could lift heavy weights and transform… Huh, you learn something new everyday.' Shaking her head, she turns back to Naruto. "So what are we going to do?" Naruto rubs his chin in thought before snapping his fingers.
"We'll show you some stretches to improve your flexibility before we have you do some exercises to increase you stamina and endurance. After that, we'll show you how to perform some taijutsu techniques from a style named Judo, which is defensive in nature and uses the opponents strength against them. Later in the afternoon, we'll start on teaching you some weapon skills. How does that sound?" Looking nervous at what they're going to be doing for a few seconds, her face gains a serious expression as she nods. "Good." Having noticed Sasuke observing them, Naruto calls over to see if he wants to join them only for him to scoff.
"Tch! Like I need help from a dobe like you." Rolling his eyes, Naruto and Harry begin to instruct her knowing that Sasuke's paying attention and most likely perform them by himself. They continue like this for the next week while waiting for Kakashi, until a mission occurs that brings two new faces to Konoha…
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Steve: Well, there we go! The next filler chapter!
Hinata: Ano... how many are there going to be?
Steve: Just one more after this, then we move on to the Wave Arc.
Yui: Oh good. Since we're getting questions about it, when IS Hermione going to show up?
Steve: Well... that's a surprise, but I have a treat for you Hermione lovers... An Omake!
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Omake: Like two ships passing in the night.
Sighing to herself, Hermione enters the book store mumbling about drunken sensei's. Looking around, she decides to head to the Shinobi section. "Sigh" 'As much as I hate to say it... I miss those two idiots.' A male voice breaks into her thoughts.
"Um, hello... Er, do you work here by chance?" Hermione (though still a bit annoyed) just gives the person a wave before answering (not looking at them).
"Nah, though this is one of my favourite shops to visit... why? Looking for something?" There's the sound of shuffling before he answers.
"Yeah, you see I'm looking for a book on Fuinjutsu... you wouldn't happen to know where I could find it?" She taps her chin before pointing to her left.
"There's some over there, about three ailes down." She can almost feel the thankfull nod.
"Thanks." As the footsteps fade she begins to leaf through the newest medi-nin publications, part of her mind is trying to figure out why the voice sounded so familiar to her. A few minutes later, she gets her answer as she hears a almost musical female voice having a conversation with the person from before.
"So got everything you need, Harry?" Stiffening at the name, she quickly rushes to the door.
"Yeah, let's go home." She reaches the door just in time to see our hero and an unfamiliar red-headed woman vanish in a swirl of flame. She's frozen for a few moments as she feels her rage begining to boil.
"HARRY JAMES EVENS POTTER! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOUR *%#ING $$ I SWEAR I'M GOING TO..." And we'll leave her to her usual ranting, shall we?
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(Screen fades out)