Hello, my most favorite people on Earth! Having fun? Is everyone here already on summer break? I am, and I'm loving every minute of it.

I'm really hoping that with this chapter, the reviews for this story will finally hit 300. Wish me luck, and please help with that, yes? :)

Enjoy! Please read and review!

There was a reason students weren't allowed into the Forbidden Forest. It was full of horrible creatures that could easily kill a Hogwarts student — some that could even kill a professor — without breaking a sweat. Monsters like werewolves and pissed-off centaurs, and beasts even more frightening than a dragon — not to mention all the Dementors roaming the grounds. All in all, it was a very dangerous place for the wizards and witches.

Let's reemphasize, shall we?

It was a very dangerous place for the wizards and witches.

For three S-Ranked missing-nin? No sweat.

All of the terrible creatures of the Forbidden Forest were nowhere to be seen, having already fled deep into the woods to escape the three psychopaths currently blowing shit up and basically destroying the forest. Deidara, who had spent a little time earlier pushing his chakra into a soft patch of dirt to force it to generate more clay for him whenever he needed it, was throwing bombs down at Sakura and Kisame. The kunoichi was using her monstrous strength to try and punch a hole through Kisame's chest, while he swung his Samehada in a dangerous arc to dispatch her. All three of them were going at it, not taking sides and not pulling their punches. In the shinobi world, it was considered extremely disrespectful if you went easy on your opponent.

Ah. The joys of everyday training.

The students of Hogwarts were engrossed in their lessons, blissfully unaware of the destruction taking place in the Forbidden Forest. The three Akatsuki members had decided upon the forest as their place to train for a simple reason: no students were allowed in it, and it would offer a bit of challenge. All the perks of training in a strange environment with any of the downfalls. Splendid.

o o o O O O o o o

"Yo, boss! Where ya goin'?"

Sasuke didn't even turn to look at Suigetsu as he stalked by him in the hallway, fist clenched around a familiar chakra-infused headband and a blood-written message. The silver-haired man mumbled something and followed him, having nothing better to do. Juugo, who had been standing with him, walked after Sasuke as well. Karin was nowhere to be found, but Suigetsu didn't mind; he hated the girl, anyway.

Sasuke's jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed, the Sharingan flickered to life dangerously. He shoved the two items he carried into the pouch on the back of his hip. Suigetsu and Juugo, sensing the dark aura surrounding their team leader, exchanged wide-eyed looks. The message repeated itself blaringly loudly in Sasuke's mind.

Madara helped kill the Clan.

He hadn't thought it was possible. He had killed Itachi; he was sure of it! But there was no mistaking the headband and the chakra swirling within it. Itachi was still alive, and he had been there no more than two hours earlier. And to top it all off, Madara had had a hand in destroying the Clan, as well.

After his battle with Itachi, Madara had taken him away and told him the real story behind it all. He explained that Itachi had actually loved his brother and killed them all for the sake of Konoha — and, in turn, the world. The Uchiha Clan had been evil and Itachi had seen that. He'd been ordered by the Konoha elders, the Sandaime Hokage, and a man named Danzo to kill every last member of the Clan. In return, he would be able to stay in the village and never have the blame placed on him. But in the end, he'd been unable to kill Sasuke; he had loved his little brother, and he knew nothing about the Clan's evil plans. So in exchange, he promised to leave Konoha as long as his brother was never harmed or told the truth about that night.

He had sacrificed everything for his village, and then sacrificed his village for his brother. All along, Itachi had been giving everything he had, not taking, as Sasuke had thought. His brother was good. He was still sore that Itachi had killed them all, but he understood now and he had come to peace with it.

However, Madara had neglected to mention his role in the massacre. And judging by that, Sasuke could assume he hadn't done it for the good of the village; he was just a sick bastard that made a living off the suffering of others.

And what's more, he hadn't told Sasuke that Itachi was alive. He'd known that his brother was still out there somewhere, and he'd kept that from him. He would pay. Dearly.

He threw open the door to the cold room he had met with Madara and Pein (and Konan, though she did no talking) in. The three aforementioned shinobi were talking quietly, but their conversation abruptly halted when the door was practically torn off its hinges. Madara's eyes narrowed behind his mask suspiciously as Sasuke glared at him, Sharingan spinning.

"You," he hissed in a deadly voice, taking a menacing step forward as his hand grabbed the hilt of his kusanagi.

Suigetsu and Juugo exchanged alarmed looks, while Pein and Konan glanced at Madara distastefully, wondering what he could have possibly done this time to piss someone off.

"Itachi's still alive, isn't he?" Sasuke demanded furiously. He received no reply. "Isn't he?"

Madara clenched his fists tightly, eyes flashing. "And what gives you that impression?" he asked coldly.

Sasuke flat-out glared, a look so deadly, any lesser man would have trembled and begged for his life. But Madara was no lesser man.

"I can feel him," he ground out, having the distinct feeling that Madara would kill Itachi if he knew that he had contacted him. "I can sense him with every move I make. I've always had a feel for his life force, and I can feel it now. He's alive somewhere, and you knew."

Madara glared at the youngest Uchiha, watching as he unsheathed his blade that could conduct his Chidori.

"That, dear boy," he bit out, "is not true in the slightest. You killed him yourself, or have you forgotten?"

If Sasuke hadn't have seen the evidence for himself, he would have believed Madara's lie.

"No," he growled, electric blue lightning-like sparks dancing across his kusanagi. "Your words are the only things here not true in the slightest." His body coiled, preparing for battle. Startled, Suigetsu whipped out his massive cleaver sword and Juugo tensed, brow creasing with worry. Sasuke practically resembled a demon with the murderous expression on his face. "You'll die for lying to me, Madara!"

Sasuke shot forward in a flash, slashing out with his blade at a breakneck pace. He plunged his kusanagi straight through the man's chest, but he followed it — straight through the man's chest.

Time-Space ninjutsu. Sasuke thought absently to himself as he phrased right through him, turning on his heel deliver a crushing kick. He can teleport individual pieces of his body to give the impression of going right through him.

Madara caught Sasuke's foot and yanked him around, a kunai appearing in his hand. He brought it down to slice a deep cut into Sasuke's collarbone, but a sudden barrage of weapons caught his eye. He dodged the attack smoothly, not having enough time for his teleportation jutsu, only to have a hand latch onto his wrist and halt him in his tracks.

Madara glared into another pair of Sharingan eyes and cursed the day Uchiha Itachi was born.

o o o O O O o o o

The three Akatsuki members had decided upon the forest as their place to train for a simple reason: no students were allowed in it, and it would offer a bit of challenge. The challenges were certainly not disappointing, and they got in a great deal of training.

The only problem was, some dumbass student decided to cut class and — like a goddamn idiot — went into the Forbidden Forest so that he could prove to his buddies back in class that he was brave.

And he saw them. Training. Using ninja techniques. And chakra. Wearing ninja clothing. He saw the whole damn enchilada.

Deidara, who was perched on one of his giant clay birds in mid-air, sensed the boy first. He swore under his breath and called out to Sakura and Kisame, quickly lowering his bird so he could jump off and dispel the jutsu, but it was too late. The three of them exchanged an uneasy look as the student stared at them with eyes wider than dinner plates, his jaw gone slack. And then, he did the sensible thing.

He turned and fled like a cheetah, screaming about Death Eaters hiding in the Forbidden Forest.

Son of a bitch.

The three shinobi quickly gathered their robes — which they had shed upon arrival to their training spot — and scattered weapons, darting after the boy. By the time they had gotten their crap together and exited the forest, however, the stupid kid was already inside the castle, alerting everyone about fake Death Eaters with mystical powers.

The trio skidded to a halt in the entrance hall, grimacing as nearly a hundred wands were pointed at them. None of the teachers, obviously, but all of the students. Harry, Ron, and Hermione — no surprise there — were in the front, wearing angry glares.

"Explain yourselves," the bushy-haired witch ordered. "Now!"

Kisame grunted and Deidara sighed heavily, running a hand through his long blond hair. Sakura settled for swearing up a storm worthy of Hidan in their native language, eyeing the kid who had caused it all with a look that said "you're dead, brat". Before any of the students could attack, Professors Lupin and McGonagall rushed forward to stand protectively in front of the shinobi.

"Professor," Harry exclaimed in disbelief, "if they're Death Eaters—"

"They are not Death Eaters," McGonagall replied in a clipped tone, eyes scanning the crowd of students. When she found the child responsible, she fixed him with a stern look. "What is the meaning of your wild accusations, Mr. Fouch?"

The boy was white and shaking.

"M-ma'am," he stammered, "they're evil! I swear it! They were out in the Forbidden Forest, using some strange kind of magic! They weren't even using wands! They scared away all of the monsters, too! And— and — and he was flying on a large fake bird!" He pointed accusingly at Deidara, who glared back, making him flinch.

Immediately, all of the students began talking at once, voicing their opinions. Many of them were yelling, trying to make themselves heard above the others. Lupin raised his voice, holding up his hands to try and calm them down. It didn't work in the slightest. McGonagall yelled for silence, but it didn't help either. The students were getting louder, a lot of them shooting angry looks at the shinobi, while more students continued to poor from classrooms all the way across the castle. It was quickly turning into a disaster. Dumbledore's tall frame appeared in the distance, but there were still a flood of students cutting him off. So, of course, Sakura didn't the sensible thing.

"Everybody shut the hell up!"

The students went silent, staring at the fuming pink-haired woman. The aging jutsu had been removed when the three of them were sparring, so they now appeared to be normal. Naturally, many of the students were casting Kisame creeped-out looks and shivering.

"Now," Sakura ground out in a low, dangerous tone that dared them to object, "let's all be calm about this, hm? How about we all lower our goddamn voices and act like adults. Well? Does that sound nice?"

Twenty minutes later, all of the students were seated in the Great Hall, glancing nervously at each other and looking up at the Professors and shinobi, who were standing at the front. They spoke quietly to one another, not wanting to anger any of the three Akatsuki members any more than they already were.

Sakura sat at the professors' table between Professor Sprout and Professor Lupin, her elbows resting heavily on the table and her fingers messaging her temples. Deidara stood in front of the table a little to Sakura's right, his left arm crossed over his chest and propping up his right arm, his hand covering his face. Kisame was on Deidara's right, leaning heavily on the table with his left hand and absently toying with the hilt of his Samehada with his other hand.

Dumbledore, who stood in front of them all with McGonagall at his side, called for silence. Immediately, his command was obeyed. Hundreds of pairs of curious eyes bored into the man, but he didn't appear to be nervous in the slightest.

"First of all," he began, his voice ringing clearly in the large room, "I would like to apologize to you all. These fine young people you see behind me" — he swept his hand back to indicate the shinobi — "are not students, as I told you. They are not wizards, either." A few murmurs started up, but he raised a hand for them to quiet down. "They are here to protect you all. I recently contacted one of my dear friends and expressed my deep concern for the safety of our school, so he sent these three to Hogwarts to act as guardians."

Sakura grimaced.

No. she corrected quietly in her mind. He sent four of us. Her eyes fell downcast and she dropped her hands from her temples, crossing her arms on the table and resting her chin on them.

"Guardians?" Hermione spoke up from the Gryffindor table. "And they're not even wizards? Sir, what are they, then? Where do they come from?"

Dumbledore turned and looked at the three Akatsuki members, taking a step back. Deidara glanced down at Sakura, their usual spokesperson. When she gave no indication of going up to speak, he sighed and stepped up to the front.

"We come from a world separate from yours," he said simply, his lone visible eye daring them all to call him a liar. "An evil psycho from our world named Orochimaru came here and started plotting with" — he paused and frowned, turning back to Sakura. "Er, what was his name again, yeah?"

Sakura shrugged lazily, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. "Beats the hell out of me," she replied. "Vander-dorf, or something."

"Ah, that would be Voldemort, dear," Dumbledore supplied helpfully.

Yells broke out all over the Great Hall, but Kisame silenced them all rather quickly with a glare and a low dangerous growl. Sakura made a vaguely apologetic gesture, waving her hand at Deidara for him to continue.

"Right," the blond grunted. "Voldemort. Orochimaru came here from our world and began plotting with him to take over your world. And then, once they succeeded, he was going to bring Voldemort and his Death Eatings—"

"Death Eaters," Kisame corrected, to which the arsonist shot him an irritated look.

"Fine — to bring Voldemort and his Death Eaters back to our world and take it over, as well."

The students didn't know what to think. It was all a bit much to take in at once.

"But you still didn't answer my first question," Hermione objected. "What are you?"

"We're ninja, kid," Kisame stated bluntly.

Cue shocked silence. Then, wait for it…

"What?"

Deidara grimaced as all of the students began yelling at once. Needless to say, it was all going to hell in a hand basket.