Chapter 2 : Imprisoned for safety reasons

Twenty-eight days. It had been exactly twenty-eight days since the beginning of the school year at Hogwarts that Akira had missed on purpose as she didn't want to join this school as if nothing happened during the summer holidays. Completely devastated by the brutal death of Matsuo and Tatsuno who had been her long-time accomplices, she lost track of time if it hadn't been for Arcturus' letters to remind her which day it was.

Indeed, the latter had taken to heart to send her daily news about the events taking place in school before writing a last sentence in which he would ask her when she planned to come back. The letters were of various lengths, from ten centimeters of parchment when he had nothing to say up to seventy centimeters when he would describe his day in details, until the weather which was gloomy at Hogwarts as autumn began.

However, no matter how long the letter was, Akira would only read it partially as she wasn't in the mood to get news from the school that she tried to forget. On the other hand, she couldn't bring herself to throw away the slightest message that Arcturus had taken time to write, so they began to accumulate on her desk to the point of serving as a calendar as she only had to count them to find out how many days had passed since the start of school. It was both depressing and comforting to see these letters piled up there as they gave Akira a sight that life was continuing at Hogwarts even though hers had come to an abrupt end in Konoha during this summer.

Akira lost hope in the future but she couldn't resolve herself to spend her days locked in her room while waiting that time passed until her sadness healed. The twins wouldn't have wished that, especially when wounded ninjas coming from the Second Great Ninja War battlefield needed her medical ninja skills to be healed from their serious injuries.

Akira decided to just be a doctor and for once, it matched what her father had always dreamed for her, namely that she carried on the family legacy in the medical field and abandoned all ideas of becoming a ninja or a witch. This career didn't really make her happy as she had always believed that she was capable of doing more to protect people around her than simply healing them once they were injured but the death of her two comrades had changed the situation.

However for its part, her father wasn't so sure anymore if being a full-time doctor was what suited his daughter best as he finally opened his eyes to realize that she was sad with the path that she was taking. To cheer her up, he would tell her that whenever she wanted, she could go back to Hogwarts to pursue her studies even if the year had already started. Actually, he was wishing to send her far away from Konoha to let her take her mind off things.

But the insistence of her father regarding the wizarding school only managed to irritate Akira who would reply "I'll never go back there ! It's clear ?". And since he would insist even more as he didn't seem to understand why his daughter refused to get back to her old life there, Akira began to avoid him by spending most of her time at the cemetery to visit the twins' graves so that she would no longer have to come across her father at the hospital or at their home.

When she was at this location, her father knew that he had to leave her alone for a bit but on this 28th of September, he was obliged to go see her there as he had been informed during the day about a horrible news that would force his daughter to return to Hogwarts for her own safety, whether she liked it or not.

As the afternoon was coming to an end, he found her sitting on the ground in front of the twins' tombstones as she was lost in her thoughts while occasionally wiping away a tear that was running down her cheek. Seeing her in this state broke his heart and he was afraid that what he had to tell her would only make things worse but he had no other choice since this news was directly concerning her.

"Can I sit ?" He asked Akira after slowly approaching her while she was holding her knees tightly against her without even bothering to look at him.

"No." She replied dryly as she didn't want him to make another speech about Hogwarts.

Her answer was harsh but it would take more than that to make him leave the cemetery. Instead, he looked around as this place was familiar to him as it was there that his wife was buried.

"Ten years ago, I happened to visit your mother's grave daily to talk to her about you and what you were doing since she was no longer there to see it. But with the overwhelming work that I had at the hospital since her death, I had less and less time until being unable to come at all. I regret it today but I like to think that she's with us all the time to see everything we do by herself." He said with melancholy while directing his gaze towards his wife's grave which was at the other end of the cemetery.

"If you came here to feel sorry about yourself because the hospital is taking all of your time, you can leave immediately. It was you who decided on your own that you would no longer have time for anything else, not even for me." She pointed out angrily.

"I didn't want to discuss about the hospital but rather about Hogwarts..."

"Not again ! You can also leave right away if it's to say anything about my ancient school." Akira interrupted him while staring at him with a look full of hatred. "I gave up on it a month ago, it's time for you to do the same."

"Except that things have changed since the beginning of the month." Her father advised her before looking rather unease. "I don't know how to say this but the ambush in which you and your teammates fell wasn't a tragic accident. I learnt today that you were tricked to reach this part of the forest to be killed, as it was the intent of the person who gave you the instructions for this mission to eliminate you."

"What ?" Akira exclaimed in horror as she hadn't expected her father to make such a revelation. "Who told you that ?"

"That's not what is important right now. All I can tell you is that it's assumed that someone from Konoha planned your death and since you're still alive, there's a high chance that he would try to kill you again to complete his work."

"Who is it ? Tell me !" Akira half-shouted at her father while jumping up as she began to shake with rage. "I'll make him regret what he did until he begs me to kill him right away."

"Me alive, that won't happen." Her father intervened in a serious tone that had nothing to do with the compassionate one he was displaying until then. "It's inhuman to get revenge that way. I'll handle this case myself with the help of the Hokage so that measures can be taken against the culprit. But until this is put in place, you must move away from Konoha for a while."

"You can't ask me that ! It was my teammates who were killed and I thought until then that I was responsible for their death ! But it makes a difference if there's someone else to blame and I'll get rid of him even if it's the last thing that I do in my life." Akira threatened as getting revenge was now her obsession.

"I knew that you might react that way so I took it upon myself to force you to return to Hogwarts with the help of the Headmaster." Her father suddenly revealed to her.

"Do as you want but I'll always go back to Konoha to avenge the death of Tatsuno and Matsuo." Akira warned him.

"This is a challenge that I'm ready to take on. You want revenge and that's understandable but your safety is what I care most about."

"You better not get in my way or you'll regret it. Anyone who'll stand in my way will regret it." Akira added with hatred as she meant every word of it.

Having nothing else to say and not wanting to hear any more about her father worrying about her well-being, she ran away from the cemetery as she was determined to kill the culprit responsible for the death of Tatsuno and Matsuo, whoever he was. This was her new and perhaps last mission as she would only find peace once this person disappeared from the surface of the earth. But to get rid of him with higher chance of success, she had to collect her ninja equipment that she had left in her room – more precisely under her bed - as everything that reminded her of her past ninja life had to be hidden from her sight as it was bad memories.

"I'll kill him." She thought bitterly while wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand as she was heading towards her house. "I'll kill him so that he won't be able to harm any other of my friends."

This prospect gave her a burst of energy as she entered her house. She climbed the stairs four at a time before rushing towards the door of her room which she threw open. But as she crossed the doorway to enter it, she suddenly found herself in another room which she recognized after a few blinks as being the office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts. The latter was sitting behind his desk and looked up from the documents he was reading when he saw her showing up out of nowhere. However, he wasn't surprised by her presence contrary to Akira who was shocked to find herself there instead of in her room.

"I was expecting you. I hope that your father had warned you in advance about your imminent return to Hogwarts. He asked for my help to bring you here safely so I put in place a portal located on the door of your room that would lead you directly to my office. It was more effective than using a Portkey that you could have missed." He said to her in a calm tone which greatly denoted with the panic in which Akira was.

"Let me go home !" She exclaimed as her surprise had given way to anger as she turned around to use the same portal that brought her in the office.

But in front of her was just a stone wall that she couldn't pass through as it had become solid again. She tried to find a passage by placing her hands on it but there was nothing much to her horror.

"Obviously, your father didn't tell you everything. I'm sorry but this subterfuge that I used to take you directly from your home to Hogwarts was necessary."

"To do what ? Stop me from killing the person who ruined my life, took away my friends and mutilated me ?" Akira replied furiously as she turned towards the Headmaster while pointing at her eye crossed by a deep cut that was still hidden under a thick bandage as the wound was healing really slowly since she wasn't taking care of it at all.

"It was for…"

"It wasn't a question ! Now stop fooling around and send me back home right away !" Akira threatened Dumbledore as she came towards his desk.

"No." The latter simply replied. "I think we should discuss a bit together so I'll ask you to sit down."

"Discuss about what ? My future at Hogwarts ? That I have to accept the death of the twins which was just a sad accident like it happens all the time ? That I must tolerate that a madman who wanted to get rid of me and my teammates is walking freely in my village just like the apprentice Death Eaters who were at Hogwarts last year ? Well, I refuse it ! And if nobody wants to help me kill such criminal, then I'll do it myself. Where did you put the Floo Powder so I could get out of here ?" She added while scanning the room for the small bag of powder.

"It's right there." Dumbledore answered while pointing at the product she was looking for and that was simply lying on a shelf. "But it can't be used at Hogwarts right now. Over the summer, I strengthened the school security measures to prevent Voldemort and his followers from entering the school grounds but these also apply to the students who can no longer leave so easily for their own safety."

"Are you challenging me ? Well, I'll prove you that all your advanced spells won't be able to hold me back."

"These spells aren't unfailing and you're very talented so I've no doubt that you may find a way to go through them. However, I shall ask you to not try it." Dumbledore said as he wasn't affected at all by Akira's threats and anger.

"You won't be able to stop me from taking revenge. Neither you nor my father !"

With that, Akira rushed towards the door as Dumbledore had made it clear that he wouldn't help her going back to Konoha. She had to fend for herself as usual but that suited her as she no longer wanted to put anyone in trouble. She left the office like a fury and began to pace the hallways at lightning speed while pushing past students that were taking their break between the morning courses. The latter were minding their own business but some of them wondered what was wrong with her or what she was doing with this bandage over her eye.

What Akira had in mind was to reach the Forbidden Forest and escape through there even though she had a high chance of getting lost or encountering a dangerous beast that would tear her to pieces. However, she didn't care about that. She just wanted to put as much distance between her and Hogwarts as possible.

She was able to pass through the door of the Entrance Hall and ran like crazy in the Grounds that were deserted thanks to the rainy weather which had made the grass soggy.

"Finally, I'm out of here." Akira thought as she reached the edge of the forest that she entered without hesitation. "The criminal who caused the death of Tatsuno and Matsuo doesn't know what awaits him if I ever find..."

But she didn't have time to finish her sentence as she had arrived in a particularly dark and overgrown area of the forest. In fact, she suddenly crashed in an invisible wall that was separating the school from the outside world. She was then violently thrown backwards into a bush which somewhat cushioned her fall.

"What was that ?" She wondered as any thought of leaving Hogwarts just flew away from her mind.

She approached the spot from where she had been thrown backwards and held out a hand in front of her before it collided with something she couldn't see. However, she could feel it as her hand was stopped and then pushed backwards with force. And punching, kicking or even sending a fireball on this wall didn't seem to alter it as she tried all these options.

"It's surely one of the protective spells that Dumbledore was talking about." Akira thought bitterly while putting her hands in her pockets to find her magic wand before realizing that she didn't have it with her since she had hidden it under her bed in Konoha with her ninja items.

Unable to use magic to get rid of this annoying obstacle, she tried to find an area where the spell didn't apply but it was a waste of time as the invisible wall was apparently forming a complete circle around the castle.

Akira became more and more furious about this inconvenience to the point of losing her patience, making her take a few steps back before rushing towards the wall with her shoulder forward as if she wanted to break down a door. But despite the force that she had put into this assault - which was multiplied by the use of chakra in her feet to go faster and in her shoulder to hit the wall harder - the protective spell didn't break and threw her backwards just as sharply as the first time, making her crash against the trunk of a tree before sliding on the ground with her head a little stunned.

"Okay, so the forest isn't a good solution to get away from here. But I haven't said my last word yet. I'll run away and kill the person who ruined my life even if it's the last thing that I do." She threatened while punching the ground with her fists.

Hello dear readers,

So Akira finally got back to Hogwarts. Not the way that she would have thought - her father could have been more explicit when he said that he "would force her to return to Hogwarts with the help of the Headmaster" - but the portal spell that I imagined and that had the same regulations as the Portkeys to not be misused was quite effective. And apparently she'll be stuck for the days to come at Hogwarts since it's now a well-protected area against dark wizards that might want to pay a visit to the school.

However with some imagination and perseverance, it's possible to find a way out. Akira will just need to make her brain work to find something. But in the meantime, she'll have to live among the other students whose main concern - at least for most of them - is to survive the year with all the homeworks and exams they have to do. It will be a challenge for Akira as she had changed a lot during the summer after the tragic loss of Tatsuno and Matsuo. I see a lot of issues in prospect for the end of the month when the next chapter will be published.