Yui: Er... Hi to the next chapter and um...
Pen-pen: Wark war ark waar ar wark, war ark? (Your not too good at this, are you?)
Yui: Shut up Pen-pen. If you hadn't knocked out Steve I wouldn't have to do this.
Hinata: (Walks into view) I just got off the phone with the hospital and they said that he's okay, it's just a concussion.
Yui: (Wipes brow) Whew! That's good news. Now if you guys would?
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
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Taking a break from their searching, Team Seven is relaxing by some trees. Naruto looks towards the rest before letting them know that he's going to walk off since Nature calls. A few minutes later, "Naruto" walks back into sight. "Hey guys I- Whoa!" A kunai nearly hits him as Sasuke punches him into the tree creating a puff of smoke revealing one of the masked rain Genin who's taking the test. He slowly gets up as he grunts. "How'd you know?" Sasuke smirks at him.
"You forgot his knives baka." The Rain Genin is about to attack when Naruto appears behind him with a red glowing fist.
"Uzumaki-Potter Taijutsu: Stunning Punch!" The Rain nin manages to turn just in time to see the fist bury itself in his face before his vision goes black. Shaking his head, several Naruto bushin walk out carrying the other two members of the Rain nin's team. Sasuke nods before looking Naruto in the eye.
"Well dobe? They got the scroll we need?" Naruto shakes his head with a sigh.
"Nah, it's another Heaven. But at least this way we can trade it if we need to, to get the scroll we need I guess." Sasuke nods before turning to the others and telling them they need a password. After telling them the password, Naruto looks at him with a deadpan expression. "Does it need to be that freaking complicated Teme?" Anything Sasuke says is drowned out as a massive burst of wind hits them sending them all flying. After it passes, Sasuke and Sakura meet up.
"Sakura, what's the password?" She recites it and Sasuke nods before Naruto walks out of the woods and is asked the same thing. He recites it and Sasuke nods only for Sakura to throw a kunai at "Naruto" Sasuke looks at her in shock. "Sakura, what are you doing?" Sakura looks at him before snorting.
"That's not Naruto… It's the little things that I'm noticing. You're not friends as long as I've been with him and not notice when things are wrong." The Henge dispels revealing the female grass nin before them.
"Not bad… Prey should always know when their being stalked by a predator. Now, how about we fight for our scrolls? Hmm?" Opening her mouth wide, the Grass nin shoves the WHOLE scroll in her hands down it. Chucking at their shocked and disgusted looks, she reaches up and pulls down one eyelid as a burst of KI freeze the two members of Team Seven…
0000000000000000000 With Naruto 00000000000000
Groaning, Naruto gets up from where he landed before popping several joints back into place with a grunt. 'Kuso… I hate it when someone gets the drop on me… It's supposed to be the other way around.' Hearing a sound, Naruto leaps just in time as a massive snake strikes at the spot he was in just a moment before. Looking at it, he whistles. "Kuso, you're a large one aren't you?" The snake just hisses before striking at him again making him smirk as he points a finger at it. "Reducto!" The Spell hits dean on, destroying one of it's eyes and making it thrash about in pain. Unfortunately for Naruto, while it's thrashing it's tail whips out and strikes him knocking him to the ground. Laying there dazed, Naruto doesn't have the time to react before the snake wraps him in it's coils and swallows him whole. Inside him, Kyubi shivers in disgust.
'Ugh! This is disgusting Naruto-kun… Do something, I'm too foxy to be snake food!' Naruto screws up his face as he's shoved down the snake's throat.
'Your not the only one Kyubi-chan who doesn't want to be snake food. Now let me think for a second… That's it!' Focusing on his chakra, Naruto tries to do a jutsu without handsigns. "Kage Bushin no jutsu!" The results speak for themselves as the snake swell before exploding. Looking at his bodily-fluid covered body, Naruto screws up his face in disgust before using a spell to clean himself. 'Brrr, that was gross. Last time I do that.' Kyubi giggles a little, though she looks off-put by the whole thing too.
'Yeah… I'm going to hold you to that Naruto-kun. Especially since being swallowed by a snake is not my idea of fun.' Naruto just chuckles at this while shaking his head.
'Tell me about it Kyubi-chan.' Closing his eyes, Naruto concentrates until they snap open and he looks away from him. "Shit! They're in trouble!" And with a crack he disappears as he heads to where he senses a fight.
0000000000000000 With Harry 0000000000000
Shaking his head, Harry looks around him while picking pieces of debris from his hair. "Just what I need, for my hair to be even more messed up… What's this?" Looking up, Harry notices the two Grass nin who're team mates to that girl with the long tongue. "Ya know, I can't help but wonder if you guys are at fault for what happened. So what's your names?" One of them chuckles darkly before glaring down at Harry.
"You have no need to know our names foolish child… After all, your going to die here." Harry snorts at this making the person raise their eyebrow. "Problem?" Harry just smirks at them.
"Yeah… Mind telling me why a GIRL is pretending to be a boy?" The person in question starts before giggling a little.
"Not bad… I guess that master was right about you." The person throws off their cloak revealing a glasses wearing girl about Harry's age with red hair that spiky on one side and straight on the other. "I guess you do deserve to know the name of the person who's going to kill you. The names Karin." She looks at the other man beside her as he pulls out a scroll and swipes blood along it before turning back to Harry. "It's a shame though considering how cute you are." Harry just shrugs with a wry grin.
"Eh, your not the first girl to say that I'm cute and then try to kill me… At least your not a succubus… right?" Karin looks at him weirdly before slowly shaking her head. The man beside her does several handsigns before slamming the scroll down creating a massive burst of smoke which blows away revealing a massive snake. Harry just gives them a bored look. "Getting attacked by huge snakes that want to eat me is getting really old you know." Karin looks at him in shock before shaking her head.
"Eh, I would ask, but I don't like dealing with people I'm going to kill." Before she says anything else, she jerks and looks behind her a few seconds before Sal in her true form, and size, appears making her eyes widen as she and her partner dodge out of the way only to be shocked as the new arrival places itself between the summoned snake and Harry. 'Thank Kami for my sensing abilities… If I didn't have them I'd be snake food…' Her eyes narrow as Harry hisses something to the snake before it nods and attacks the summon with a ferocity she's never seen. Harry then turns and looks at her before disappearing with a crack. Her eyes widen as she ducks under a kick from Harry. 'What the hell! I barely sensed him in time! No one is that fast!' Harry strikes out with a kick, which she dodges only to realize that it's instead a feint as Harry lands a glowing palm strike to her abdomen, sending her flying several feet into a tree. Harry disappears again only to reappear in front of about to hit her with his fist when he gets smashed in the side of the face by a Karin's partner. Landing on his feet, Harry wipes a bit of blood from his lip as he observes Karin get shakily to her feet.
'Hmm. Interesting, doesn't seem like she's a combat type… And with how she reacted I'm guessing that she can somehow sense people… Heh, might be fun.' Harry leaps straight up as Sal slams the summon into the branch he was just occupying. Landing on Sal's head, he leaps back at his two opponents as the still masked male goes through several hand signs and pulls his hand back.
"Fuuton! Kaze no yaiba no jutsu!" Throwing his hand forward, he launches the blade of wind directly at Harry, only for him to disappear just before it hits and reappear with a punishing kick. He then turns to the girl only to see her melt into the ground and vanish. Behind him, the guy gets up and scowls at where Karin just was. "Fucking bitch!" Before he can say anything Sal appears behind him with her eyes a glow as he turns. He looks her in the eyes and then falls off the branch. Dead. Looking at his body, Harry sighs as he turns to Sal, not even phased by her glowing eyes.
"Did you have to kill him? I could have interrogated him and found out what's going on." Sal blinks before looking sheepish as only a snake can. "Oh well, let's blow this Popsicle stand." He hops on Sal's head as she takes off. As soon as she's gone, Karin reappears from the ground having felt them leave. Walking over to the body, she looks down at it intrigued.
"Interesting… No wounds what's so ever… What's this?" Noticing something, she walks over to the tree that Sal slammed the summon into and pulls out a scale from it's shattered bark. Examining it, she smiles. "It's full of that serpent's chakra… At least I'm getting something out of this, Orochimaru-sama will be pleased…" She then seals both the scale and the body into a scroll before leaving…
0000000000000000000 Back with Sakura and Sasuke 000000000000000
Having seen her death several times, Sakura glares at the person in front of her though slightly. 'That… that BITCH is smirking at me!' The Grass Genin is indeed looking at her in amusement at her pissed off expression.
'Kukukuku. That look sure takes me back, I remember Tsunade giving that baka Jeraiya the exact same look just before she gave him a beating… good times, good times.' His eyes widen however in surprise at what Sakura does next. Now, it would normally be impossible to break of Orochimaru's Kanashibari no jutsu through sheer force of will except for very slight movements. However, Sakura has TWO sources for will power and this plus the fact that the situation is reminding herself of what happened in Wave is enough for her to break through it enough to take a step and then another. 'Incredible… Simply incredible… Perhaps with talent like that she could be a possible body? Hmm.' Shrugging, he takes two kunai and throws them only to raise an eyebrow as Sasuke stabs himself and grabs Sakura just before they hit and vanishes. 'Kukuku. He may not have the girl's will power, but stabbing yourself to release yourself? You just became even more interesting Sasuke-kun.' A short distance away, Sasuke and Sakura are leaning against a tree breathing heavily. Shaking his head, Sasuke looks at Sakura.
"Come on, we should get out of here before anything happens." In front of him, Sakura's eyes widen as a large snake appears behind him. Seeing her reaction, he turns and the two as one throw several kunai and shuriken into it, killing it. They sigh in relief only to blanch as the Grass nin they were just fighting bursts her way out of the snakes head.
"Kukukukuku! Very good Sasuke-kun! As prey, you often have to hurt yourself in order to get away." In a panic, Sasuke throws another volley of kunai, only for them to miss as the Orochimaru slithers up and around the trunk of the tree while still speaking. "Prey often panics in the presence of a predator…" As he walks towards them, he stops and raises an eyebrow at Sasuke pulling out their Heaven scroll.
"Here… Take it, just let us go." The Grass nin is smirking at him on the outside, on the inside however he's frowning.
'So disappointing… and here I was thinking that he might be better then this… oh well.' Mentally shrugging, Orochimaru looks towards the scroll with a smirk. "Very good. Smart prey will often give a predator something that will distract them." He reaches towards it, only to jump back as several kunai and Shuriken land in the spot he was in. He leaps again as a shimmering ball hit's the area he was in causing it to explode into splinters. Looking in the direction that they came from, Orochimaru sees Harry and Naruto just before Naruto vanishes and reappears slugging Sasuke.
"You baka! What the hell do you think that you're doing!" Sasuke glares at him and tells him that he was going to exchange the scroll for their lives making him snort. "Like hell you scaredy cat. What makes you think that he would even let you go once he receives the scroll? He'll probably take it and then kill you just the same." Sakura looks at him and blinks before looking back at Orochimaru with an odd look.
"What are you talking about Naruto? She's a girl… right?" Naruto glances back at the amused man with a snort and tells her to take a whiff. Still puzzled, she does so only for her eyes to widen. 'What the hell?! He… she… it, has the scent of both a male and a female! How's that possible?!' She looks back at Naruto only for him to nod. Chuckling, Orochimaru smiles.
"There right Sasuke-kun… who said that I was going to let you go?" Biting his thumb, he makes several handsigns before slamming it down with a cry of "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" creating a puff of smoke. Once it blows away revealing another large snake, both Naruto's and Harry's eyes narrow as they realize exactly who they're fighting.
"Hello… Orochimaru." The Sannin in question looks at Harry in shock before laughing and asking how he knew. Harry just shrugs before answering. "Because as far as it's known, only Anko and Orochimaru have the contract for snakes. And since your not Anko, you must be her sensei, Orochimaru no Sannin." Orochimaru grins even wider.
"Very good boy! You guessed right." Sasuke takes a step backwards as does Sakura as he peels away the face he has like a mask revealing an adult man under it. "Very good indeed. However, I have no farther need of holding back. So do try to live won't you?" With that, the snake launches itself at Naruto, who dodges before it goes after Sasuke. Just before it hits, Naruto jumps between them with Kyubi's chakra pouring off him while holding back the snake. Snarling, he looks at Sasuke.
"Are you just going to stand there scared cat? Or are you going to show your pride as a Konoha Shinobi and fight?" Before he can say anything else, Orochimaru wraps his tongue around him and brings him to head height.
"Kukuku. So you're the Yondaime's legacy eh? And you're still alive… I'm truly sorry, but I have to get rid of you, no hard feelings… right?" He opens his hand to reveal that each finger is covered in ghostly blue flames and is about to shove it forwards when he has to pull his tongue back as Sakura nearly cleaves it in half with her sword. Scowling, Orochimaru glares at her as Naruto thanks her. "How dare you interfere?! I was thinking of letting you live, but now I've decided not to." He opens his mouth as a snake comes out with a sword coming out of the snake's. "Say hello to my sword child, the legendary Kusanagi." He rushes at her only for Harry to block his sword with his own making the Sannin's eyes widen. "Impossible, no blade can withstand the Kusanagi! None!" Harry just snorts at him.
"Oh, but mine can. After all, Hakumei Kaze (Twilight Breeze) is a very special blade all it's own." Weakening the pressure slightly, Harry twirls around and manages to cut Orochimaru in half, only for him to turn into mud. "Shit! Tsuchi Bushin!" Orochimaru appears behind him once again on top of his snake summons, but before he can do anything Sal appears and bites the snake on the neck sending it into convulsions as it dies from her venom. Scowling even more, Orochimaru leaps from the dying serpent only to see Sasuke with his awakened Sharingan throwing shuriken at him. As they pass, the wires attached to them wrap around the Sannin and binds him to a tree. Orochimaru struggles and is about to break free when Sakura rapidly uses several handsigns.
"Take this! Narakumi no jutsu!" Orochimaru dispels the Genjutsu in seconds but that's all that's needed as Sasuke sends a Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu down the wires making him scream in agony as the flames hit. Upon seeing the burned corpse, Sasuke sighs in relief only to stiffen as it too turns to mud. Behind him Orochimaru appears and sinks his fangs into Sasuke's neck making him scream and fall unconscious as he pulls away revealing a three tomo design there.
'Ah! So he got the Heaven seal… Interesting.' Smirking, he disappears before landing a knee into Naruto's gut as well as scratching his arm with the Kusanagi. "It's been fun Kyubi-gaki… But I'm finished playing around." His fingers ignite again before he completes the technique from before. As Naruto screams he chuckles vanishing. Harry's looking around when he materializes behind him and bites him… which is the wrong thing to do as both scream in agony as Harry's protection burns his mouth. Unlike Sasuke however, Harry doesn't immediately fall unconscious as he hits Orochimaru with several senbon in his left arm making him screech as it's filled with what feels like liquid fire. As he's clutching his arm, a violet eyed Sakura punches him sending him into a tree making him drop the Kusanagi before Sal rams him through said tree. Kuso… I've got to get away… all this fighting will attract unwanted attention…' He's about to escape when a flaming spear nearly takes off his head. Rolling, he doesn't have time to react before Hedwig's fist hits him in the face sending him flying to the ground below.
"Take that you asshole!" Before he hits, Row appears under him and kicks him in the back sending him upwards again where Sal's tail lashes out and sends him flying into another tree. Getting out of the hole in the trunk, he glares at them while wiping the away the blood leaking from his mouth before speaking to them I slurred speech.
"Your too late. Both Sasuke-kun and Harry-kun will seek me out for power and there's nothing you can do about it." He once again vanishes, bit not before summoning back his sword which lightly scratches Sakura's leg leaving behind a paper cut-like wound. Looking at the spot he occupied, the three familiars (with Sal transforming into her human form) each grab a Genin before they go looking for a spot to rest. Sakura finds a hollow tree to camp out in. Once they got everything sorted out, Row starts looking over the various Genin. Noticing Sakura's feverish appearance, she rushes over and examines her only to scowl as she finds that the small cut is now inflamed and puffy.
"Goddamn it Sakura! What the hell were you thinking by not telling me that that blade hit you?! It must have been coated in poison!" Sakura shakily grins at her through her fever.
"Sorry about that… I guess I was more concerned over the others to notice." Row just scowls for a moment until she sighs with a shake of her head.
"Sakura, I swear that sometimes you can be as stupid as Naruto or Harry can be… A medic's job is to help take care of others. You can't do that if you don't take care of yourself first." Sakura looks down ashamed, only for Row to lift her chin and give her a smile. "It speaks well of your character that you place others before you. Now, give me a sec and I'll cry on your wound, ok?" Sakura looks over at Naruto who's also been poisoned. Following her gaze, Row looks back at her. "I'm not too worried for Naruto right now, despite obviously taking a bigger dose of the poison, the truth is that it's harder for him to suffer since he and Harry have been exposing themselves to various poisons for years and their bodies have actually become poison resistant. I'll take care of it in a minute though." Sakura nods as Row cries on her cut before going over and doing the same for Naruto who starts to breath easier. Noticing the seal on his belly, Sakura traces over it with a finger before realizing that there's another one over it.
'This must have been what Orochimaru did. He somehow messed with the seal, but what did he do?' Inner-Sakura shrugs before answering.
'Nothing good I'm guessing if what he did to Sasuke and Harry are any clue.' Sakura looks over and nods seeing the two red glowing seals before her attention is drawn by Sal.
"Sakura, look at me." She does so, only to be struck by how serious she looks. "Me and the others have to meditate and enter Harry's mind. Row says that the seal is attacking his mental defences and we got to go in and lend him a hand. The problem is that it's going to drain us and we can't leave until the influence is gone." She notices Sakura watching as Row smears some her blood over Sasuke's causing him to groan as smoke wafts from it. "There's nothing that we can do for Sasuke except to try to weaken it. And since it's evil, Row's blood should do the trick." Sakura nods before sighing.
"Just be careful, ok? I don't want to lose anyone I care about." Sal just chuckles as she hugs her.
"No worries about that. You just do what you can, ok?" Sakura nods before saluting for which Sal pats her head. "Good girl. See you in a bit." Walking over, she beside Harry's feet across from Row while Hedwig sits by his head. They all close their eyes and softly glow and before long, sweat starts beading on their foreheads. Sakura watches this before pulling out a scroll and releasing a medi-kit that she had put together using help from the Medic-nin in the hospital as well as Hinata, Harry and Naruto (who all donated something to it). Pulling out some salve and bandages, she treats her own wounds before shuffling over and starting on Sasuke's before moving on while using some of the medical Ninjutsu to help them heal. Looking outside, she sighs seeing that it's already dark out.
'It's going to be a long night…' Her night vision enhanced sight catches sight of the three sound Genin hiding in a nearby tree making her sigh again. 'Make that a VERY long night…'
0000000000000000 Within Harry's mindscape 00000000000000
The three familiars leave their "Mind-rooms" and start listening in order to try and find out where to go. Hearing the sounds of battle, they rush towards it. As they're running, Sal looks towards the other two. "So any idea as to what to do once we arrive on site?" Hedwig and Row look at each other before Row shrugs.
"Not a bloody clue. I only know that we have to do SOMETHING or else we might lose Harry. I didn't tell Sakura this since I didn't want to worry her but I asked Anko about curse seals before and one of the things that she told me was that only one in ten people receiving them will survive." The other two look at her in shock before they come upon a even more shocking sight as they find where the battle is happening. There facing a heavily breathing Harry and Kuro is Voldemort, except one of his eyes is yellow instead of it's normal red and his whole body is covered in black flame-like marks. "What in the nine hells…?" Hearing them, Voldemort turns to see them and grins.
"Ah! And here we have your little animal lovers to see you die boy and to see me reborn as I take over your body." The grin becomes a cruel smirk as he vanishes and reappears behind them before he lashes out and knocks them into the walls that they actually become embedded into them. He smirks as he examines the marks on his body while Harry and Kuro help the familiars out of the holes. "Yes, I really must thank that Orochimaru fellow. Thanks to this lovely piece of work I can now finally be reborn… in your body of course." He pointing his hand to the group, a green beam shoots from his finger and nearly hits Sal who just barely dodges. She pales as she sees the wall actually explode where it hit.
"SHIT! WHAT IN THE NAGA'S NAME IS VOLDEMORT DOING HERE!?" Kuro just looks at her before sending several silver beams at Voldemort who just laughs as he dodges them.
"I have no clue. He just appeared. I do have a theory though." He nods at Harry who focuses making several large stones appear and fall on top of Voldemort, trapping him. "That won't hold him for long unfortunately." Looking at the familiars, he sighs. "I think that he somehow created a accidental Horcrux when he attacked Harry all those years ago and it's just been laying here dormant until the curse seal awoke it. However now that it's awake, it's going to try and do what every Horcrux tries to do, create a new body for itself or in this case take one over." The three familiars look at him in horror. Seeing this, Kuro's face becomes hard. "It would explain a lot like how Harry somehow gained Voldemort's powers after he was attacked all those years ago." At that moment, Voldemort bursts from the rubble in the form of a large serpent with his face on it as he races towards Harry. Seeing this, Sal intercepts him while transforming herself.
"I DON'T FUCKING THINK SO ASSHOLE!" Voldemort is quite literally knocked for a loop and transforms back but before he can do anything Row appears and knees him in the face. He starts to get up when Hedwig gets him with a bolt from her crossbow in the shoulder freezing him in a block of ice. They sigh I relief, only to freak out as cracks form in the block just before it explodes releasing him. Grinning, he holds up both hands and a stream of shadows shoots from his hands and throws the three down the corridor.
"Good try you three, but not good enough! Crucio!" The three scream and Kuro rushes in only to be knocked away by Voldemort who snorts at him. "Oh, don't worry, you'll-UGH!" A golden glowing Harry materializes with his fist buried in Voldemort's stomach before he lands an uppercut. Not stopping for a moment, the enraged Harry grabs hold of him as their auras of darkness and light fight for dominance as he runs down the hallways of his mind dragging the Dark Lord along (and through) the floor before throwing him up and landing a punishing kick to his back, knocking him through a wall in the process before following. Watching this in amazement, the others look at each other. Sal turns to Kuro speechless while pointing at where Harry got thrown back through the hole followed by Voldemort. Knowing what she's asking, Kuro shakes his head in amazement.
"I don't know how, but somehow he's using his mother's protection to boost his powers against Voldemort's darkness." Sal starts to get up, only to wince at the pain she's in.
'Damnit… what does it take to kill this fucker. He's a freaking demon… wait! Demon! That's it!' She looks at Kuro, but ducks as Voldemort goes sailing overhead, though not without reaching up with her Kama and opening up his back with it. She starts grinning at Kuro. "I got an idea as to how to kill him." Kuro and the other's look at her as if she's crazy before she continues. "Tell me, where is the seal containing Sounga?" Kuro blinks at the question and answers without thinking.
"It would be on the lowest level of the mindscape… why?" She just continues grinning until his eyes nearly pop out of his skull and grins as well as he grabs her by the shoulders. "THAT'S BRILLIANT! I COULD KISS YOU RIGHT NOW!" She just sheepishly smiles as the other two look confused before Hedwig gives voice to their confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Kuro just shakes his head.
"No time to explain! We got to go NOW!" With that, he rushes over to Harry and whispers something to him making him nod as he creates a hole into the ground leading into a black pit ending somewhere down below. The three familiars jump down followed by Kuro. Harry then grabs a struggling Voldemort into a bear hug before leaping backwards into the pit. Of course, Harry makes sure that Voldemort hit's the ground head-first first. Looking around, Harry doesn't recognize the place as the Chamber of Secrets. Where Salazar's statue was however is a large cage containing a translucent eye and a corroded sword. Hearing a sound, Harry turns and is smashed in the face by an enraged Voldemort.
"JUST DIE!" Row starts running towards him when he faces her with a smirk as he lets two daggers fly at her from his hand. Time seems to slow down as Row realizes that she doesn't have time to dodge as well as remembering that if she's killed here in the mindscape, she'll be killed in her own body… permanently. They're just about to hit her when she's knocked out of the way by a blur. Hearing a grunt of pain, she shakes her head to clear it as Kuro joins in with Harry. Looking around, she notices Sal looking at her with a shaky grin.
"Hey… You okay?" Row nods still somewhat shocked at how close she came to dying. She starts to laugh a little.
"Yeah… that was a close one Sal, thanks." Sal just nods a little before coughing making Row frown as she hasn't moved.
"Your…(Cough) welcome… Row…" Sal coughs again except this time there's blood coming out making Row's eyes widen in horror as she rushes over.
"SAL!" Reaching her, she gently rolls her over and gasps at the sight of the two daggers buried hilt deep in Sal's back right around where her heart is. "Oh shit! Sal, can you hear me? Don't go, DON"T GO!" Sal just chuckles a little while reaching up to Row's cheek with a bloody hand.
"It's okay Row (Cough), I already died once… It's not that bad really… I… I just didn't want one of the people I looked at as a sister to (Cough! Hack!) die. You're… too special to me… (Wheeze). Please, don't cry… sister." Row of course just starts crying as she gently holds Sal close to her.
"Listen to me Sal, you are not going to die here, do you hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME?! I won't let you die, I WILL NOT LET YOU DIE! You are my sister, understood?" Sal nods at her as she feels herself weakening, happy that Row's there to comfort her. As Row continues to do so, Harry looks over and pales as he sees what's happening. He looks over at a smirking Voldemort who's shooting a killing curse at him, when feelings of righteous anger and rage, as well as sadness and grief overcome him. Suddenly the sound of breaking glass fills the room as everything just stops. Looking around in shock, he nearly jumps at the voice behind him.
"Huh. Looks like the seal broke early. Go figure." Twisting around, he's confronted with the sight of an older, scwaner version of him with glasses. "I'm willing to bet that your wondering who I am, right?" Harry nods. "Well… I'm you." Harry just blinks before glaring at him.
"How can you be me? I'm me!" The older version of him just chuckles.
"Well, I am and I'm not." Seeing the confusion on his younger self's face, he decides to screw with his mind a little bit. "There are many you's. There's you, then there's the you in your mind, the you in Hedwig's mind, the you in Naruto's mind, and the you in Voldemort's mind. They're all you, but none are the true you." Harry just blinks as he holds his head.
"That… Makes no bloody sense!" His older self shrugs his shoulder.
"I know, why do you think I said that. But really, I'm just a representative of who you were before you got de-aged. Now that the seal on your original memories has broken, you can now regain them." He follows his younger self's line of sight to where Sal is, frozen in time. "Don't worry, with a little help, We'll defeat Voldemort and save Sal." Harry just looks at his older Avatar in suspicion.
"How do I know that you are who you say you are? You could just be the cursed seal trying to take me over." The older version nods at this, totally understanding where he's coming from.
"You don't. But then again when those that we care about are in danger we've been known to do leaps of faith… granted, they don't always turn out well, but still." Harry just sighs in defeat.
"I got no choice, do I?" His older version shakes his head. "So how are we going to do this? Will I still be me? And… and will doing so save Sal?" The avatar looks at him before smiling.
"To answer your questions: To do this, all you got to do is to accept it, nothing else. You will still be you since you have the stronger of the two mental states… I had trouble in that department. And as to the last… Possibly." Seeing the questioning look, Harry's older self just shrugs. "Unknown to the people who sealed away our memories, they also sealed away our magical core at that time as well as the little chakra I had. Thus, as soon as we reunite, the cores should merge making us that much more powerful… of course, it'll screw a little with your control, but not much at that. And with that boost, you might be able to save her. Remember, most of magic is intent. Nothing more." With a nod, the two shake hands and explode into a bright golden light. Around them, time resumes and everyone's shocked at what's happened. Harry observes Hedwig rushing over to Sal and Row with tears in her eyes as he remembers what Kuro told him that Sal had realized. He then turns to a frightened Voldemort and says a single sentence.
"You're dead." He disappears and reappears with his fist through Voldemort's chest. As he pulls out of the hole, black, inky and greasy smoke pours from it before he slams his foot into his stomach sending him flying. What follows can only be described as playing pinball with Voldemort as he gets knocked all over the place. Finally, Harry punches him towards the roof and reappears above him before knocking him towards the ground. Harry then vanishes and materializes below his plummeting body. Grabbing hold of his falling body, Harry brings his knee up and Voldemort down as a loud snap is heard as Harry breaks his spine. Holding him up, Harry glares at him before throwing him into the cage. Almost immediately, Harry rushes over to where the other's are gathered as both Row and Hedwig look up at him with tears running down their cheeks as Row sobs.
"We're… we're losing her Harry… Please… We… we can't lose our sister. As Harry looks down at the barely breathing Sal, he remembers what his older Avatar said about magic.
'Intent.' He smiles as he looks at the two crying girls. "Don't worry, we won't lose her. But I need your help you two." They look at him in equal parts hope and confusion and ask what they need to do. "I need you two to focus your magic into her as I do the same, but you also have to every once of your will to focus it on healing her, understood?" The two's faces harden before they reach deep within themselves and focus everything they got on healing the serpent they've come to see as their sister. As they do so, they each see the times they've shared with her.
'Sal…' Row sees all the times that her and Sal have gotten into mischief. The various times that they've spent together. As well as the times that they've comforted each other. Unnoticed by her, she starts glowing with a soft golden light as a red aura springs from her with Sal's body absorbing some of it. Beside her, Hedwig gains a smile as she remembers times shared with Sal as well.
'Sal…' She sees all the various conversations, all the times that Sal came to her because she was either confused or wondering about something. All the hugs and times she just gave Sal an ear to hear her problems. Her smile grows as she realizes that Sal's become much like a little sister to her… one that she'd do anything for. Unseen by her, she, too, starts to glow golden while a white aura bursts into being around her before portions of it get absorbed by Sal's body which starts to breath easier. Harry places his hands down and focuses on healing her.
'My Hebi-hime…' Harry remembers all the times that they've shared, the times they just held each other. He remembers how lively and fun loving she is. He softly smiles as he remembers all the kisses and how Sal told him that she dreamed of raising a family with him. His already large golden aura becomes truly massive as it starts flowing into Sal's body as the same thought runs both Hedwig's and Row's minds.
'Sister… not of the blood, but of the heart, of the soul.' heir auras suddenly burst into truly massive flames until they settle around Sal and get drawn into her as the daggers in her back get pushed out. Finally, the aura's fade as they all fall back, exhausted. Row just bites her lip as she looks over at the motionless Sal.
"Did… did it work? Please have let it work, please." She gasps as Sal slowly opens her eyes with a smile. "Sal? Are you… are you okay?" Sal looks at her and slowly nods as she gets up into a sitting position.
"Ye… yeah, I guess I am." A few tears leak from her eyes as she looks at both Hedwig and Row. "Thanks guys… you saved me." They both look at her before they glomp her. As the two do so, they feel something that shouldn't be there. Blinking they pull away before Hedwig looks over her shoulder and gasps making Sal nervous. "What's going on, what's wrong you two?" They both look at her before they grin and reach behind her and grab something that makes Harry and Kuro's eyes pop out. Row just chuckles at her as they pull what ever it is to the side.
"Seems that you're now more like me and Hedwig now then you were before." They then fully pull the items into view revealing them to be grayish, feathered wings with emerald highlights. Sal just gasps at the sight before gently touching them with tears flowing down her face. Row and Hedwig share a look before Row looks back and gently holds her shuddering shoulders. "Are you ok Sal?' Sal just looks up at the two through a tearful smile before grabbing the two in a tight hug.
"I'm crying because I'm happy you dufus. Now, I'm like you two and I'm so happy." This is obvious as her still snaky tail actually wags from side to side. After a few minutes of this, she pulls back to look at Kuro, who's snickering.
"Yes, Sal, you're going to get them in real life, but not for a bit though as they have to grow first." Sal nods at this before Harry makes her blush with his next words.
"Congratulations Sal, your now a winged serpent… or it that a feathered serpent?" Sal just looks at him with a shrug.
"I… I really don't know Harry…" She then looks towards the two avians with a slightly shy and embarrassed smile which makes their eyebrows raise as Sal's never shy only have to be shocked by her next words. "Guys… Once my wings… you know, grow in and all would you mind… maybe teaching me to use them?" Both Hedwig and Row look at each other before giving her another hug.
"It's no problem Sal… It would be our honour." Sal just nods before a scream of pure rage makes them look over at the cage where Voldemort's currently throwing himself against the bars while trying to get out, only to get thrown back each time. Hedwig blinks before giving Sal a smile. "Great idea Sal, now I'd love to see him get out." Sal just snickers. "What is it?" She points at something and it takes a moment for them to realize that thin black smoke is coming off him as he seems to be fading.
"I knew that the seal here was designed to absorb Sounga eventually, and that's a demon lord. What do you think will happen to a piece of a human soul?" She starts laughing as their jaws drop. "Yup! The seal will absorb all his power and give it to Harry before finally destroying the fragment through purification." Thinking it over, they all laugh as they get up and walk away, ignoring Voldemort's pleading…
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Yui: Wow! That's one way to destroy a Horcrux I guess.
Hinata: Hai! I actually liked it... though I nearly cried when Sal almost died.
Pen-pen: Wark ark war waar rrk waarrkk. (Your not the only one Hinata.)
Yui: Yeah... I almost did too. Anyways, Steve should be back for the next author notes so see you next time!
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