Shammy's HP/Naruto CHAPTER TWO, YEAH.

[blackpotkettle]

AGAIN, NO TITLE. And I guess no one wanted to read a crossover fic. *pouts* This one's just a little shorter than chapter one, with about 6,700 words or so-- I was gunna make it a bit longer, but it seemed like the plausible place to end.

Where Naruto stays awake for over three days, Harry is still an emo kid, and Hermione is tempted to smack some sense into him, but she gets smacked into a tree instead.



Seventy-two hours and eighteen minutes.

The Hokage's office was silent save for the occasional sigh and the rustling of clothing when someone looked up at the clock again, looking back down quickly to try and hide the tense lines around the mouth that belied the seriousness of the situation. Seventy-two hours and even those who had been severely injured in the skirmish with Akatsuki and Hidden Sound had been seen to be the medic-nins and had hobbled their way down to the Hokage's office to hear the news.

News on the fate of one Uchiha Sasuke that had yet to come.

Naruto balled his gloved fists experimentally, and then stretched out his fingers, wondering if that would help in relaxing his muscles. Maybe it would help the time go faster. Anything was better than this... waiting. Not knowing what was happening in the council meeting several doors down.

Anything was better than waiting here with his friends... friends who were only there because they didn't want to see him hurt, and not because they truly cared about Sasuke's fate at all.

It was almost funny how Naruto had missed that fact the past several years. He had always assumed that the last Uchiha would continue to be beloved to Hidden Leaf, and that the former rookie nine helped him in his search because they also wanted to see Sasuke back home. Back in Leaf- where he belonged.

And yet seventy-two hours and nineteen minutes ago when Naruto had shoved his way into the Hokage tower, pushing his way through the stream of people and tearing off his ANBU mask when he came in sight of the Godaime Hokage, pleading, begging that Sasuke be granted leniency and that the teenaged boy deserved at least a trial before his execution; deserved a chance to explain himself and justify his actions in front of the council of elders... Naruto had been alone in his pleas.

Tsunade-sama had pursed her lips and hardened her gaze as Naruto tried his best to reason why Sasuke should be given a second chance- that 'he was once a proud Leaf shinobi' all the way up to 'he saved my life, granny, I can't let the council just decide to execute him because of some stupid mistake!'

And even Tsunade could not hide the pity in the way she looked at him, because they both knew that what Naruto said wasn't completely true. It hadn't been a simple mistake. It was planned, deliberate, and Naruto had nearly lost his life trying to make Sasuke see the older boy had left behind friends and family when he deflected to Orochimaru.

Whatever great magnificence the Uchiha name once held over Hidden Leaf was now completely gone. Even Sakura had not been able to look Naruto in the eye when he had looked for support in the group of shinobi that had clustered to the Hokage's office. Whatever great deeds Sasuke had done were not enough for the fact that he had tried to kill Naruto- that he had left them all to mourn and joined with the enemy by the lure of power.

Seventy-two hours and twenty-two minutes.

Other people had come and gone from the office, waiting with Naruto for several hours before leaving or just dropping off food and brief words of support. The only person who had stayed with him the entire time had been Sakura, who had fallen asleep just a few hours ago in her chair, arms wrapped around legs which had drawn up to her chest and her head lying on Naruto’s shoulder. He had stopped fidgeting after she had fallen asleep, not wanting to wake her by accident because he knew how exhausted she was. As a medic-nin, Sakura had been both on the frontlines in the battle and then healing the wounded after the dead were counted.

Still, Naruto could not help twitching when his mind wandered back to when they had been children; first told to work together as team seven. After the next few hours… after the next few hours, would he and Sakura be the only ones left of the former genin team seven? Would Sasuke be executed for his crimes against Hidden Leaf?

Beside Sakura, it was Shikamaru and Neji that had stayed with him the longest in his anxious waiting. Neji had only left briefly to assist a wounded Hinata home after she had been seen to by the medic-nins, and Shikamaru had been the one to write up their mission report and turn it into the ANBU office, taking all of five hours to do before he joined Naruto, Sakura, and Neji in the wait.

The three of them were team-mates, Neji had said when Naruto told him to go home and sleep. They might not have been the original team seven and would never be able to replace the original team seven-they were still a team nevertheless. And a team supported each other in times of need.

Neji had settled by the door of the office to meditate, although Naruto knew that he was also keeping guard in case anyone they didn’t know tried to get past them. Shikamaru was leaning against the window frame of the room, having claimed that as his spot nearly forty-six hours ago. He had been the one to drape the Hokage robes over Sakura when she had first fallen asleep, and was now absently twirling a kunai in his hand, his brows scrunched in thought.

The three of them were still in uniform, dirt and blood still splattered across their clothing and skin in a grotesque parody of art. Naruto gave a brief thought to how Sakura would despair to wake up to her hair caked in bloody stains when she woke up due to the fact that she had slept against him and he had not taken the time to clean up before settling in the Hokage office.

In fact, Kakashi had stayed with them for a great length of time, having watched Naruto intently for several hours before Naruto had snapped at his former teacher, daring the jounin to say something offensive. He left not long after that, since really, there had been nothing for him to say.

Seventy-two hours and twenty-three minutes.

There was the click of a door opening down the hall, and Naruto snapped his head up, seeing his team-mates do the same.

Two women stepped into the room, muttering softly to each other. Naruto gave Sakura a brief shake before standing up to meet the Hokage, his previous tiredness gone in a sudden rush of adrenaline.

“The verdict, Hokage-sama?” He breathed out, not noticing as Neji’s eyes snapped open and Shikamaru tensed up. Sakura hand gripped tightly onto his arm, but Naruto barely even noticed, his attention had been so focused on the blonde woman who finally raised her eyes to meet him.

“There will be no execution order given today.” She said, giving Naruto a brief smile. “Should Uchiha Sasuke attempt treason against his village again, then the decision will not be left to me. But at the moment, he is merely on restriction with limited rights.”

Naruto sat down heavily back into his chair, feeling his muscles turn to mush now that his sleep deprivation was catching up to him. Sakura gave a shuddering sigh beside him, her grip on his arm loosened. Shikamaru and Neji both gave no indication that the news either pleased or displeased them, although they both relaxed slightly to know that the wait was finally over.

“The Elders are quite adamant about Uchiha being guarded at all times by ANBU personnel.” Tsunade continued to say, handing some papers over to the dark-haired assistant by her side. “Until such times, should they ever come, that Uchiha Sasuke has proven himself loyal to Hidden Leaf village to be acknowledged by the majority vote of both the ruling council and the Hokage.”

“That’s not a problem.” Naruto spoke up quickly. “I’m ANBU, I can guard him! I’ll make sure that nothing happens! Sakura-chan and I will both guard him, right?” He looked over to the pink-haired girl, who was nodding tiredly.

“We’re his former team-mates, Hokage-sama.” Sakura said respectfully. “We’re the ones who know the most about him. Out of anyone, we’d be able to predict him the best.”

Tsunade nodded. “I’ve thought of that, which is why I have already arranged it with the Elders for the two of you to his official guards.” She gave a nod to Shizune, who passed out the papers to both Naruto and Sakura. “I know you’re not ANBU, Sakura, and as a medic-nin have duties outside of shinobi work, but I’ve reassigned you to this mission as secondary work. Same with you, Naruto. You will both still have your missions, but missions from now on will have all three of you, and you both are expected to keep an eye on Uchiha at all times.”

“And us, Hokage-sama?” Shikamaru spoke up from his window-seat. “Our team missions will be disturbed without Naruto. ANBU missions are too sensitive to be babysitting on the side.”

Shizune spoke up with a smile, answering for Tsunade. “Nara Shikamaru and Hyuuga Neji have been reassigned as well to a more semi-permanent mission basis. Should you accept, you both will be guarding not the Uchiha, but the upcoming Rokudaime Hokage.”

“Rokudaime…?” Naruto breathed, giving a sharp look at Tsunade. “You’re choosing a successor?!”

“Not for many years yet, brat.” Tsunade scoffed, her demeanour softening as she looked at the blond man. “There is years of training involved in becoming a proper Hokage-diplomacy, proper understanding of laws, and knowing what to do in certain or unexpected situations. It’s not just about being the strongest shinobi in the village. It is about leadership and having the skills necessary to prevent trouble for the village.”

“But still…” Naruto insisted, his voice pitched and sounding more like his twelve year old self than the nineteen year old teen he was.

“It was another argument with the Elders all in itself, I assure you.” Tsunade crossed her arms. “And you’re going to have to work hard for this position, Naruto. But the council has finally accepted my decision to appoint you my successor.”

Sakura’s face lit up in a wide grin at Naruto’s shocked expression. Even Neji had a small smile on his face, knowing just how hard Naruto had worked all his life for the village’s acceptance.

The day seemed to be filled with good news at the moment; a sharp contrast to the grim war that they had just left behind.

“You’re serious?” Naruto didn’t dare believe it. “No shit? I’m going to be Hokage?”

Sakura laughed in relief, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she attempted to wake up more to congratulate Naruto properly. “Haven’t you been boasting about being Hokage for ages, Naruto? Why are you so shocked now that it’s finally coming true?”

He couldn’t seem to answer her.

“I, for one, have no problem with the new mission parameters.” Neji spoke up, amusement tinting his voice. “Considering that’s what we’ve been trying to do for years.”

“Haven’t had much success, though.” Shikamaru added, rubbing the back of his head absently, ignoring the glare that Naruto shot him. “He seems to drag us in more troublesome situations than we can drag him out of.”

“So it’s decided.” Tsunade nodded. “I suggest all of you go home and get some rest. The Uchiha will not be released until tomorrow into your care, and there’s still a lot to be done in the rebuilding of Hidden Leaf. We don’t want to appear weak in front of our clients, after all. Even worse to look weak in front of our enemies. We may have taken down Hidden Sound, but Akatsuki is still a threat and I’m busy enough worrying about negotiations with Hidden Waterfall than to have to worry about you kids.”

“We can’t see him now?” Sakura asked.

Tsunade and Shizune looked at each other for a moment, and then Tsunade shook her head. “You’ve talked to him before the trial, and waited so long already. I’m sure you can wait another day. He won’t be able to escape at the moment.”

Both Naruto and Sakura started to protest but Tsunade put up a hand, silencing them. “This is not up for debate. You will come back tomorrow for your new duties. For now, you are all dismissed.”

Knowing better to argue with the Godaime Hokage, the four of them teleported out of the office.

**

Three days after the finale with the battle against Hidden Sound, and Hidden Leaf was once again operating at full strength, brushing aside its own weaknesses by covering with even more shinobi. That was the advantage that Hidden Leaf had against all the other Hidden Villages-the amount of shinobi more than doubled the second largest village. Fire Country was large and abundant in resources, allowing for its hidden village plenty of land and potential for growth.

And while Hidden Leaf suffered casualties in the war against Hidden Sound, it was not as had as it had been years ago when Hidden Sound had allied with Hidden Sand and attempted to invade Hidden Leaf. There were no structural damage as there had been last time, but the hospitals were filled to the brim with shinobi trying to get away from the medic-nins attempting to tie their patients to their beds to make them rest and recover.

Hyuuga Hinata has a fond amusement of those shinobi-she is not one who would attempt to leave a hospital before she was released, but she has a former team-mate who had great fun trying to escape from nurses who were used to shinobi escaping.

But still, three days after the fall of Hidden Sound and shinobi who had been released from the hospital were given missions to fulfill. Hinata herself was patrolling the outer borders of the forests surrounding Leaf, having been informed by Hokage-sama herself to be wary of Akatsuki attacking while Hidden Leaf was at its weakest. She had been paired with her former team-mate Inuzuka Kiba and his dog Akamaru, and despite her minor injuries, it had seemed nostalgic to be in the forest with Kiba.

“It’s too bad Shino’s a jounin,” Kiba was saying as he walked beside her, “Bastard thinks he’s so much better than us by taking those missions outside of Fire Country.” He lifted a fist, shaking it in the air, his posture still care-free.

“I’m sure Shino-kun has his responsibilities as well,” Hinata said quietly. She smiled at her team-mate, though, her attention more on him and their walk than on their perimeter. It felt nice, not to be hurried or bothered too much by the violence that permeated the life of a shinobi. Despite that her arm still pained her and was wrapped fully in bandages, there was something extremely relaxing about perimeter patrol, especially with someone she knew and loved well.

“Still,” Kiba was saying, hands behind his head as he watched Akamaru chase small forest animals in front of them. He shot a wide grin at Hinata, though, “He missed out on his kicking Sound’s ass. Ha! We’ll be able to lord that over him forever-stuck in some lame-ass mission to Rock Country while we took on Orochimaru!”

Hinata personally thought that she would have rather been somewhere else than in the battle with Sound-she had been unconscious the first time Sound invaded Leaf, and had not seen the devastation and bloodshed that had occurred. Now, though, she could not say the same.

She could not consider how her line of work required that the very soil of the earth be seeped in enemy blood to the point that it had turned red as soup when stepped in.

She shivered.

Hidden Sound had been completely decimated by the end of the battle, destroyed by the combined forces of Leaf and Sand. It was just overkill when Akatsuki had turned up, intent on destroying that one member who had gotten away from them, gotten away with his secrets and knowledge on how the organization worked. Thankfully they, including the Akatsuki, had all been battle weary and spent by the end of the battle-too spent to take on each other.

But it had not stopped Uchiha Itachi from battle with his younger brother, a battle he still managed to win, much to the consternation of the younger Uchiha (and much to the malicious glee of many Leaf shinobi, many who were still bitter about Uchiha Sasuke’s deflection to the enemy for power). And it had been apparent with Akatsuki’s many attempt so sneak up behind Naruto that they were still after the jinchuuriki as well, which meant that the blond man was still in danger.

It was a good thing that Neji and Naruto had become such good friends, Hinata thought. As a sudden switch after the chuunin exams, Neji had turned extremely overprotective of her, and while Hinata more than appreciated the fact that her cousin cared for her, it was a bit smothering since she was not used to it.

Naruto’s presence after his return from his training alleviated some of that, since then Neji was running back and forth pulling the overprotective brother act for both her and Naruto. Hinata wasn’t sure how it was that the two young men had gotten to be such good friends and how and why exactly Neji had changed, but she would credit Naruto’s presence for that change for the better.

A sudden bark from Akamaru’s direction had Kiba grumbling but scrambling after his canine partner, “Ah, Akamaru, don’t go terrorizing travelling merchants! As long as they aren’t enemies, Leaf still needs its trade, you know!”

Another series of barks responded to Kiba’s admonishing, and the young man frowned.

“What is it?” Hinata asked him, seeing his expression. She startled a bit, having not expected there to be anything off during the patrol, turning her gaze forward to where Akamaru’s barks were coming from, and activated her bloodline limit.

“Byakugan,” she muttered under her breath as her hands formed the seals that allowed her vision to expand. Past the trees and through a series of high bushes, to where a number of human signatures were located. “Bandits surrounding three people.”

“Eh, you mean there are still bandits stupid enough to mess with our potential clients?” Kiba asked, and then grinned toothily. “Well, we ought to teach a lesson, eh, Hinata? Looks like there’s some fun to be had here, after all!”

“Be careful, Kiba-kun,” Hinata said evenly, her eyes still strained to catch the movements of the people about twenty meters ahead of her through the trees, “Those three… they have…” How could she explain it? They didn’t have the normal chakra pathways that people had, the light blue colour that indicated a healthy person. “Their pathways are… blocked from my eyes.”

Kiba’s grin didn’t falter. “We’ll just have to find out what kind of people managed to block the byakugan, then.” Then he took off, jumping onto a low branch before racing forward, disappearing into the leaves.

Hinata only took half a moment’s contemplation as to what kind of people that would be before following him, leaving no hint of a trail behind her.

**

Hermione could not get over her shock when she had watched Harry disappear from before her eyes. She had never before seen him do something that stupid in her entire life, and considering the seven years that they spent together at Hogwarts, that was saying a lot.

She and Ron had gaped at the bright mirror for a moment, unable to actually comprehend what Harry had just done. Yes, the dark-haired boy had been withdrawn and bitter the past few months, but…

It was with a scared look and a determined jaw that Ron stood up from where he had been crouched low with Hermione to step toward the mirror as well.

“Ron, no!”

But the warning came too late as Ron charged the mirror, taking a flying leap into it and also disappeared from Hermione’s eyes.

Hadn’t Ron had extremely concerned about decapitation just moments earlier?! Hadn’t Harry been calm and logical moments earlier about the mirror? For a moment, Hermione wondered if some subtle magic of the mirror’s had lured them into it, and it had been her fault for bringing her boys close enough to it in the first place.

Then she wondered guiltily if it was all her fault not because of some subtle magic, but because she had argued with Harry at the wrong moment. It was telling that Ron would follow Harry headfirst into danger when he had been scared witless moments earlier.

Thinking quick, Hermione conjured up the same ball of light that Harry had done previous, pushing more of her magic into the conjuration to help it hold longer without her presence.

“Find Headmistress McGonagall,” Hermione told the blinking orb firmly, “Tell her that Harry went into the mirror, and that we followed him. We should be coming back through the mirror as well. If we don’t come back, well…” she fidgeted nervously, darting a look at the mirror on the wall. “Then don’t send anyone after us because it means that the mirror is dangerous. We still have five days, right? We’ll be back in plenty of time.”

Then she dismissed the orb, watching it dissolve and shoot under the door to the Minister’s office, invisible to all those who were not looking for it.

She flicked her wand to gather her up runes magically and settle them back into her pouch, and then Hermione took a deep breath and berated herself for acting so foolishly, rushing into danger without a say so just to follow her best friends.

With that thought in her mind, she also took a running start at the mirror, and hoped that whatever passageway that had been granted to Harry and Ron would not be denied to her and trap her within that little room while her best friends were out… who knew where.

Instead of smacking hard into the cool surface of the mirror, Hermione felting a cool, tingling sensation before she ran smack into Ron’s back, the boy giving a grunt of surprise before the both of them tumbled to the floor.

Dirt. That was the first thing that registered in Hermione’s mind as she stared blankly at the ground beneath her. They weren’t in the Ministry of Magic anymore, and there was dirt all over the ground-dirt and small plants, leaves, and broken branches.

“See? It’s not dangerous.” Harry said to her from where he stood a few feet away from her, snapping Hermione’s mind to the present again.

“That doesn’t excuse the stupidity of your actions, Harry James Potter!” Hermione scrambled up to her feet, red with anger. How dare Harry pull this stunt? She thought she would have a heart attack when he disappeared! It wasn’t even something that he could explain away, like the stunts he had pulled during school-no, this time all he had to do was be patient until she could confirm that there was nothing dangerous beyond the mirror. “You could have been killed! We still don’t know what is here!” She waved a hand around her as emphasis.

Finally registering that they might be somewhere dangerous, in some sort of enemy territory, Hermione whipped out her want, eyeing the trees around her warily. Ron had already done the same, having been used to Harry and Hermione’s fights about danger and risks.

“You didn’t have to come after me!” Harry was protesting. “I would have rather you stay at the Ministry, Hermione. The both of you, actually. If you don’t know want to know what’s here, then you didn’t have to follow me!”

“Could we wait until later to yell, please?” Ron said, interrupting Harry. The redhead pointed his want at a tree behind them, murmuring a spell to mark the tree as where they had come from. Hermione and Harry looked at the tree as it was wrapped in Ron’s magic signature. “We came from here, and it’s best that we know where to go to get back.”

The taller boy sighed and rubbed his head with his wand hand, looking around him. “It’s a forest. Can we go back now?”

“I want to know where we are first, though.” Harry said, pretending to have forgotten all about his argument with Hermione for the time being. He was scanning the canopy of leaves above them, showing only the barest amount of a bright blue sky without even the slightest hint of clouds. It looked close to sunset, actually, with wisps of pink and orange flickering into his vision of the sky at times. The shadows were long and made the forest look more than a little dangerous. He wiped a hand over his forehead, frowning, before removing his outer cloak. It was hot and humid there, with a limited amount of sound around them. He would have thought that there would be more sounds from a forest-animals, probably, and the rustling of wind.

“We’re in a mirror, where else would we be?” Ron responded, his voice only partially sarcastic.

“Travel and transportation runes, though,” Harry brought up, Hermione still too incensed with her friends to think too straight. “Like a Vanishing Cabinet, remember? We’re not inside the mirror, we’re somewhere else.” He frowned. “I don’t know any spells to pinpoint my own location, though.”

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake.” Hermione flicked her wand toward the ground, letting out a long incantation. The tip of her wand glowed for a moment before letting out words of light, the lines forming together to create something… unreadable.

A second or so of staring at the incomprehensible words prompted Harry to cast a translation spell on it, just in case they were in some country where the language was not compatible with English.

“Fire Country?” Ron asked as he picked out the words that had finally reformed into English. “In the Hidden Nations? I don’t know about you, mate, but I’ve never heard of a place like this before.”

Harry was frowning as well. “Didn’t the language look somewhat… Asian?”

“I’ve never heard of a Fire Country in Asia, though.” Hermione said. “But it did say that Fire Country was in the Hidden Nations, so that could be saying something…” She flicked her wand again, this time in a circle before her swish, trying to get more information from her spell. But nothing changed, and Hermione’s brows rose in surprise. “It won’t even say where we are in proximity to England. Not which hemisphere we’re in, or anything or the sort…”

“Maybe it’s some different world.” Ron suggested, and then shrugged, dismissing the idea as soon as it came into his mind. “Or maybe we’re really in the mirror and it tricked us.” Remembering the mirror, he fidgeted. “Can we go now? We can figure this out later, right? Once we’re out of this mirror, maybe? Away from whatever it is that can take our heads away?”

“Yes, that is a good idea.” Hermione supported, also remembering why she had been so vehement that Harry not try anything dangerous until she was sure what was in the mirror. She glared at the green-eyed boy. “And we are having a talk once we’re on the other side, Harry.”

This didn’t seem to bother Harry at all, and Ron took advantage of the fact that they weren’t going to start about yelling session. “So we walk straight into the tree, right? Just like we did with the mirror?”

He reached for the tree trunk which he had wrapped his magic around and let out a yelp when several sharp, knife-like objects nearly took his fingers off and imbedded itself deep into the tree.

He drew his hand back sharply, cradling it against his chest as lines of red blood ran down his hand, indicating just how close he had come to losing his limb. “What the bloody hell was that?!”

Harry was already in the defensive, though, swirling around with his wand to let out a stream of pure magic that would either stop or at least slow any magical attacks in their direction. Hermione also had her wand out and point in the direction the weapons had come from, her body tense and offensive spells waiting to spill off her lips.

Ron, however, knowing that his friends had this covered at the moment, was staring at the knives stuck in the tree trunk. If that had been the doorway through the mirror… wouldn’t those knives have disappeared into the tree to the other side?

“Show yourselves!” Harry demanded, eyes darting about sharply on the forest floor, feeling the heat fully now that his heartbeat was preparing for battle.

There was a dark chuckle that reverberated throughout their surroundings before a male voice spoke to them, words gibberish to their ears. Hermione had jerked in the direction she thought the voice came from, yelling out a fire spell that only managed to hit a nearby bush, barely burning the leaves before the fire was out.

Bad, bad, bad. Hermione’s mind was running frantically. That had been a medium powerful fire spell she had cast, and it had burned out quick enough that she would have thought the bush was made of dragon-hide. Was this the incompatible element that the runes had been warning them about? That their magic would barely work here? But a quick glance at the mild protective shield that Harry had cast said otherwise.

A few more words were said toward them, confusing Hermione for a moment before she cast the same translation spell that Harry had cast earlier, this time on the three of them.

“-children doing out in the forest? This place could be dangerous, you know.”

By now, Ron also had his wand out, clutched in his injured hand, whispering a spell to heal his shallow cuts. He shook off the remaining blood, and ended up back to back with Hermione, covering the area that Harry had his back to. Hermione could tell that the idea of decapitation was still running through Ron’s mind, but his movements were sure and confident.

There was laughter from beyond the trees, and the voice said, “You think that you can fend us off with sticks? You must be some brave children.”

Two more of the knife-look-alikes flew towards them, and Harry shouted out a protego spell in time to deflect the sharp weapons, watching as it landed in the dirt several feet away from them.

“Come out!” Harry demanded. “If you’re confident enough to think that we’re nothing but brave children.”

Hermione wanted to smack Harry for that comment, but bit back the urge as the shadows around them moved, swirling to surround them. What kind of spell what that? She took a step back, bringing her feet closer to Ron’s as she watched the ground warily, following the shadows’ movements. She had never read of any type of magic that would affect shadows like that.

Yet the shadows hit the edge of Harry’s shield and stayed there, not able to move any closer.

“Cocky, aren’t you?” But the voice didn’t come out of hiding. “If you can’t figure out where we are already, then why should we come out? How about you three surrender whatever goods you’re carrying peacefully and we’ll let you go? I can assure you that we outnumber you drastically.”

Goods? Hermione mouthed to Harry. We’re not carrying any goods, are we?

Harry didn’t answer that, but instead started backing toward the tree which they had come from. If the enemy won’t reveal themselves but overwhelmed them in number, then it was time to think of a retreat. “Hermione, I want you to go back first. Ron and I will follow you and find a way to close the doorway for the time being afterward.”

Hermione gave a nod, lowering her wand a fraction of an inch before jumping toward the tree before Ron could say anything.

She let out a pained cry as she collided with the tree trunk painfully, luckily on her right arm first rather than face first, but nearly dropped her wand as her wrist twisted painfully.

“Hermione!”

The brunette shook off the pain, quickly transferring her wand to the other hand, holding her right arm closer to her body. “I’m okay. But…” She shook her head, not caring that the two young men were not looking her direction, but waiting to hear her. “The tree’s solid.”

“That’s what I was going to tell you,” Ron said. His eyes were focused on their surroundings, though. “I knew this was a bad idea…”

But the runes! Laguz meant flow, and inverted was a circle… sure, the rune had been placed horizontally rather than inverted, but all the other runes had suggested connections-connections that were open from both ways. How did those corpses end back in the Ministry, anyway?

A dark thought entered Hermione’s head; that they would not be able to get back until they died.

“We could burn them out,” Ron suggested. His eyes were narrowed. “We don’t need to know exactly where they are to burn them out.”

But it was a useless idea, and they all knew it.

It was then that they heard the barking-and the sounds of shouting beyond the foliage where they were, and beyond where their attackers were probably hiding. And all of a sudden the dark shadows that had been surrounding them were broken, scattered back from they had come from.

“Hey, shitheads!” A different voice called out. “You’re wandering a little close to our village, don’t you think?”

And then the attack came from above.

**

Hinata was not the type of fighter to take on large numbers of people, and long ranged attacks, to boot. She was a close-ranged fighter, her specialty being one-on-one combat should she be forced into a fighting situation. As a Hyuuga, though, she was best suited for reconnaissance and spying. Her eyes could see further than the most trained of shinobi, and her training had improved her scope of vision to about three hundred and forty degrees. With her quick movements and amazing bloodline, it was near impossible to sneak up on her.

But Kiba was the type to take on numerous enemies, and well suited for long ranged attacks, needing the momentum to gather up his speed, which was pivotal in his attacks.

But these were merely bandits, and they didn’t require any specialized attacks to take them down. It was actually the three they had been attacking that Hinata nervous. She was not used to her vision being blocked.

Kiba let out a whoop as the bandits were in sight, and shouted out a challenge. “Hey, shitheads! You’re wandering a little close to our village, don’t you think?”

Hinata crouched low on one of the higher branches, knowing that Kiba would happily take out all the bandits and would not need her help. It was best to hide for the moment and allow the enemy to think they were only taking on one person rather than two, and that way should they manage to overpower Kiba, she was the immediate back-up.

And she was right. Kiba dropped from a high branch directly into the circle of three people that the bandits had been attacking, shocking them as he seemed to appear out of nowhere. He let loose a barrage of ninja stars, hearing the muffled cries of pain within the leaves as it hit four of the bandits in non-vital spots.

This was just to serve a warning to them, after all. Had this been a mission, the bandits would have died. As it was, Kiba was giving them a warning about coming too close to Hidden Leaf village.

A growl on the opposite side of where Kiba had attacked revealed Akamaru, the giant white dog with its teeth around the lead bandit’s throat, having tackled the man onto the ground and into clear viewing of everyone.

“Good job, Akamaru!” Kiba praised. He stood up straight, ignoring the three behind him as they pointed their sticks at him. With his arms crossed in front of his chest, Kiba gave a smug grin. “This is a warning to all of you! You’ve got a lot of nerve to come this close to shinobi territory! And threatening our clients! You want to live? Then you leave now and get far enough away that no one else would catch you before we report this incident to our administration!”

There were scrambling sounds as at least eight other bandits abandoned their positions, dragging away the four wounded.

Nodding with satisfaction of a job well done, Kiba turned to the three that he had rescued. “Hey, kids, you should really be more careful travelling around here, you know? Most people use the main roads for a reason!”

The three were staring at him, and Hinata noted the strange clothing that they were wearing. Thick black cloaks covered their bodies. The female was slightly injured (a sprained wrist, Hinata observed) and the two males looked wary and cornered, not answering Kiba.

“Hey, you could at least thank me and Akamaru for scaring those bandits away.” Kiba said, frowning at their silence. Taking that as his cue, Akamaru snapped his jaws an inch away from the lead bandit’s throat, his paws heavy on his man’s arms as indication that he was still in trouble, and not to make any sudden movements.

Seeing the three tense further as Akamaru made his threatening gesture toward the lead bandit, Hinata decided that it was time for her to intervene. Kiba was a good person, but people seem intimidated by his confidence a lot, just as they usually were with Naruto. Besides, she was the one who had been trained in reading people and knowing exactly what they wanted to hear.

She dropped out of the branches to land behind Kiba, silently and effortlessly, knowing that her former team-mate would be able to sense that it was her and would not attack.

“If you were looking for Hidden Leaf,” she said in her normally soothing voice, “You are a few miles off from the entrance. It is easy to get lost in these forests if you do not stay on the main road.”

The girl of the group gasped when she saw Hinata, but Hinata was used to that reaction by now. If it wasn’t her sudden appearance, then it was because she had noticed the traditional Hyuuga eyes. The white and pupil-less eyes usually managed to give Hinata an advantage if the enemy was not well versed in what the byakugan was, making the mistake in thinking that she was blind.

“Ah, the patrol was stupid, anyway.” Kiba said, not noticing the reaction to Hinata. He called to Akamaru. “We’ll let him go for now, since he didn’t manage to do any damage.”

The dog obeyed, stepping off the man but snapping its jaws at him once while the bandit scrambled away into the forest, giving him incentive to leave faster.

“If you want,” Kiba said to the three, “We can escort you to the village gates. You’ll have to check in with the border guards once you get there, though, and we’d have to get back on patrol.” He jerked a thumb behind him to where Hinata stood. “But I can guarantee there’s no bandits hanging around Leaf village.”

The three strangely dressed people looked at each other a moment, and Hinata got the impression that they were having a silent conversation-it was odd to see outside of shinobi teams, who worked together well enough that they understood each other’s small gestures and thoughtful looks as full conversations.

“That would be… helpful.” The dark-haired young man spoke up, lowering the stick he had been clutching on to.

“We don’t mean any harm,” Hinata caught on. She pointed to the forehead protector she had tied around her neck. “We’re shinobi from Hidden Leaf. Most bandits know better than to venture so close to our village.”

“We don’t have any way of getting back at the moment,” The girl was saying softly to her friends. Had they not been trained in picking up the smallest of sounds, Kiba and Hinata would not have been able to make out her words. “It may be best to stay the night somewhere safe until we can figure out how to get back.”

Hinata and Kiba gave each other subtle looks. Shrugging, Kiba pretended he hadn’t heard that as he called Akamaru over, patting the giant white dog on the head while he said, “Well, it’s best that you come with us before the sun sets. Then we wouldn’t have to explain you to the evening patrol as well.”

End chapter two!

AN: First off, apologies galore for the Japanese incorporated into the story! *wince* It took me a while trying to figure out what to keep and what to discard, because I really don't want this to be a story where you have to look at the footnotes for Japanese translations every other second. That's just annoying. So in the end, I decided to keep the honorifics and the terms that just doesn't translate well into english. Honorifics are important, in my mind, because it tells the relationships between people. For example, how Sakura addresses her team-mates as Sasuke-kun and Naruto. The 'kun' gives more respect to Sasuke, and elevates him a bit so the reader can easily tell that she admired him and wasn't too close to him. That Sakura addresses Naruto so plainly without honorifics implies a familiarity and the somewhat lack of respect she has for him (in her case, it's fond exasperation more, I think). And how does one translate genin, chuunin, and jounin? I kept the term shinobi because 'ninja' just sounds... childish to me. It's the modern connotations I have, I guess. And how do you explain 'jinchuuriki'? It's strange to call them the 'human sacrifices', because that implies... I don't know. It just sounds so final. It's easier to call Naruto a jinchuuriki than a human sacrifice, 'cause, heck, he's alive and healthy.