Sand Wizards
Chapter 7: Green Flames
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto

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Asuma didn't intend for it to happen. But it did. He just went to get some dinner last night, when he ran into Kurenai, literally. He thought that he forgot to lock the door to his house, so he ran around a corner, and he suddenly found himself on top of his fellow jonin. He remembered it all like it was yester… oh, right, it was yesterday.

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Asuma lifted himself off the ground. He wiped the dirt from his chunin chest, and checked his cigarettes. His smokes weren't damaged, to Asuma's delight. Asuma looked at Kurenai, who was still on the ground. "Sorry 'bout that," he apologized, lifting his right hand. "Need help getting up?" Kurenai took his hand. She smiled at the Hokage's son. "Thank you. And don't apologize; I didn't watch where I was going. So what's the rush? Gone to get some smokes?"

Asuma shook his head. "Team eleven has been given a new mission," he replied, taking out the scroll with the mission's details on it. Kurenai took it and gasped when she saw the rank. "A-ranked? Are you sure Hokage-sama didn't forget the order of the alphabet?" Asuma laughed. He got out one of his cigarettes and lit, then raised it to his mouth. "I'm sure that dad didn't miss-read it. This is the real deal. A genin team has been given an A-ranked mission."

Kurenai continued reading. "'This mission is very simple," she read out aloud, "There is a school for young witches and wizards in Britain called Hogwarts. There is a student that is coming to this school called Harry Potter- nice name, who came up with that one? - And we believe that the darkest wizard to ever live is after his head.'" Kurenai read it in her head. She looked up after she read it. Asuma expected her to say, "Is this really a suitable mission for two genin teams?" but instead got another question.

"You were going to leave without saying goodbye?" Kurenai whispered. Asuma pulled the kunouchi into a soft hug. "Yeah, I'm saying goodbye right now. I would of said goodbye earlier, but I needed to pack my bags, so…sorry." Kurenai looked into Asuma's eyes. Both shinobi started to blush. They didn't talk for a minute, just stared.

After a minute Asuma started to talk. "Um…ah… well, I should probably be going now," he stuttered, letting go of Kurenai. Kurenai looked at the floor. "Yes," she said. Asuma scratched the back of his head. "See you," he replied. He turned around and walked off. Kurenai waved goodbye, but she felt empty inside, like she was waving goodbye to a part of her. She couldn't keep it in any longer.

"ASUMA!" she yelled. Asuma turned around and looked at her. Kurenai quickly thought of a lame excuse for shouting. "W-will you write to me? Please?" she asked. Kurenai felt like slapping herself on the forehead. Asuma smirked. "I'll write every week and maybe every day. Don't worry, I'll be back. For someone special in this village, Kurenai, I promise" Asuma replied. Kurenai gasped slightly. Is he talking about me? The kunouchi wondered.

Asuma walked silently home. He smacked his head, embarrassed about how badly he handled the previous situation. "Great, now she'll definitely want to write. Well done, Asuma," he mumbled sarcastically. As soon as he got home he fell down to his couch. "I've got a long year ahead of me."

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Ino grabbed a handful of the powder, and let it slip through her fingers. She sniffed the magical powder. "It smells like smoke," she commented. Ino looked at the four other people in the room. "I guess I should go first, then."

Choji gave her a small pat on the back. "Good luck," he said. Ino returned a small smile. Her blue eyes shifted over to the fireplace, then back to her team mates. "What if it goes wrong? What happens then? What if-" she asked. Senji held up a hand to stop Ino talking. "Don't worry, Ino. It will be alright. Trust me, but more importantly, trust yourself. You may not be the best kunouchi around-"

"Gee, thanks," the blonde whispered sarcastically.

"-but you can only be the best if you believe that you're the best," Senji finished. Ino breathed in and out. She took a handful of the floo powder and hopped into the fireplace, giving a small wave to Konoha Eleven and Senji. The kunouchi coughed a few times, and then cried out loudly, "Gringotts!" (A/N: I'm not sure if Gringotts even have a floo powder connection, but in this fic they do, okay?)

Shikamaru and the others watched as Ino disappeared into bright green flames. Choji and Shikamaru glanced at each other. They weren't sure that that was supposed to happen. Asuma gestured Choji to go next. The chubby boy nervously walked into the fireplace. "H-hey, before we start, what happened to Ino…is that supposed to happen?" Choji asked, gulping.

Senji said nothing and held out the cup of powder. Choji took a large handful. He did the same thing Ino did, and just as he was engulfed in flames, he heard Senji say, "I dunno." Shikamaru scratched the back of his head when he heard the ANBU say that. "Why does he have to be so troublesome?" he moaned. "Why can't I be a cloud? So carefree…" Shikamaru went on, lost in his thoughts of clouds.

Asuma coughed. "Shikamaru," he started, "are you planning on spending the whole day thinking or are you going to go to Diagon Alley?"

The Nara boy took some powder from Senji. "You nag just like my mum," he sighed. Asuma gave a stern look towards Shikamaru. "Young man, don't insult me."

Senji raised an eyebrow. Asuma noticed it. "…or your mother," he added quickly. Shikamaru yawned and stretched his arms. "See ya," he said, stepping into the ash that covered the ground. "Gringotts," the Nara boy said.

All of a sudden, the room disappeared from his view. Flashes of different rooms flashed before him. Shikamaru's stomach turned over and he had an urge to vomit. An instant later, he Shikamaru found himself lying on a floor covered in ash. He coughed and looked around.

Choji and Ino were to his right. They both looked green and were clutching their stomachs while they groaned.

"I'm never going to use floo powder again," Ino moaned.

"I'll say."

"Never ever," Choji said, taking out a packet of chips from his pocket. Ino frowned. "Really Choji, chips? Now?"

Choji shoved a handful into his mouth. "Feeling sick makes me hungry," he answered back, spitting as he said it. Ino scowled. "Why couldn't there be another girl in the team? My life would be so much easier then."

Shikamaru shifted his gaze to the bank. He gasped in shock. Instead of people working in Gringotts, there were these dwarves with long fingers and hooked noses. Each of them had a scowling face, like they were destined to be angry for eternity. (A/N: Seriously, have you seen them in the movies? THEY NEVER EVER SMILE! BE HAPPY FOR ONCE, YOU **! ...Sorry 'bout that)

"What the heck are they?" he asked himself.

"I don't know… maybe they're midget ninjas?" Choji guessed. He turned around when he heard a roar of flame. "And here comes Asuma-sensei and Senji-sensei. They'll know what those people are."

The two adults gave a wave to the genin. Asuma was the first to speak up.

"This is Gringotts, run by goblins," he started. Ino laughed. "Something funny, Ino?"

Ino stop laughing and stood straight with a very serious look on her face. "No sir!" she said, giving Asuma a salute. Asuma ignored her and carried on.

"So I've got the key here," he said, holding up a silver key, "and now all we do is talk to one of the goblins to take us to our vault."

While Asuma was saying that, Senji had spoken to a goblin. The goblin walked over with Senji to the team, with four keys in his hand.

"Everyone, this is Fiendhook," Senji introduced the shinobi to Fiendhook. Ino couldn't help but get bored. Her eyes were acting of their own accord, looking somewhere other than the most boring goblin alive. Her eyes landed on a group of three. The three stood out from all the rest, with their different clothes and huge… stuff on their back. What surprised Ino the most, though, was their head band. They each had a Suna head band on.

"Sunakagure ninjas," she muttered under her breath, while one of the kids- a red head- muttered something as well. "This is going to be interesting.