“You’ll be gone for two years?” Gaara asked, somewhat incredulously.
The blonde grinned widely as he squatted on the hospital bed, almost cat-like. “Yep! Ero Sennin will teach me how to defend myself against the Akatsuki! I’ll probably learn all sorts of new jutsus, and I’ll come back so powerful I’ll be able to rescue Sasuke and become Hokage!”
Gaara almost smirked as he stood with his arms folded. Naruto was always so full of energy, so dedicated to his dreams; so dedicated to his friends. Of that, he was grateful for. Maybe he could share the same dream as Naruto. He had been thinking about becoming Kazekage for a while now . . .
They just recently returned from saving Matsuri from the Shitenshounin, and both boys were now fully recovered from their injuries. Naruto’s hospital attire was haphazardly strewn about the unkempt bed, while Gaara’s bed was nicely made; his gourd resting against the side.
Right now they were biding their time to be released from the hospital.
Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and the familiar copy ninja appeared, holding his left hand up in a greeting.
“Kakashi-sensei! Why don’t you use the door like a normal person!” Naruto scolded.
The jounin smiled, or at least Gaara thought he smiled. He was still working on reading the emotions of the man who practically covered his whole face.
“It’s more fun this way,” was his choice of a reply. He then turned to Naruto, both hands in his pockets lazily.
“So, Naruto. Are you ready to be gone for the next two years with Jiraiya?”
He sniggered, “Hai! Once I get out of here, I’m gonna pack everything and meet him at the entrance to the village.”
Without warning the three shinobi sensed something very foreboding in the room. Gaara gasped as he began to slowly disappear, as if he were dissolving in the air, with some type of purple electricity around him.
“GAARA!” Naruto leapt from the bed and grabbed his friend’s shoulder, only to find himself disappearing in the same manner the instant they made contact.
“Shuushi, Naruto! (Stop)” Kakashi tried to stop his student, but only found himself being dragged along, disappearing in the same manner.
At this moment Sakura burst in, having heard Naruto’s yells and thought Naruto had done something stupid again. She was also the one who would dismiss the two boys. She froze at the sight of the three fading before her eyes, yet as she ran towards them, they vanished, the purple electricity fading not long after.
“TSUNADE—SAMMA!”
-------------------
After feeling like they had been sucked through a small pipe, the three ninja found themselves collapsing on a cold, hard floor that was also, annoyingly, damp.
Naruto groaned then gasped when he discovered himself in a room of people all wearing black cloaks, sticks in their hands, and large pots on tables in front of them. He would have guessed they were all participating in a joint soup preparation, were it not for the bubbling purple, green, orange, and pink bottles on the tables as well. They also appeared extremely shocked and afraid.
“Geez, you should see the looks on your faces!” Naruto pointed at them, the other hand clutching his stomach as he shook with laughter. However his laughter shortly ended when he heard the people speaking to one another in some weird language and accent.
“Where are we?” he demanded. When they didn’t answer he growled and drew his kunai.
“I said” Naruto made sure to speak slowly, as if it would help them all understand him better. “Where. Are. We?!” Everyone started to back up inch by inch, eyeing the weapon warily. Naruto sighed in frustration.
“Why did you bring us here if you’re not going to answer us!” He started to walk forward but was stalled by Kakashi’s hand firmly grasping his shoulder.
“Baka! If you haven’t noticed, Naruto, they don’t speak the same language we do.” At this he glanced back at the strange people and put his arm down sheepishly. Turning his attention to Gaara, the blonde helped him to his feet, because, apparently, they had both fallen on the poor redhead.
Cautiously, a girl with brown busy hair stepped forward, much to the protest of the tall red haired boy next to her, and asked, “Who are you?”
Her accent was one they had never heard before, but it seemed she was able to speak their language. Naruto sighed in relief; at least someone understood them!
He pointed to himself, puffing out his chest proudly. “I am Uzumaki Naruto! A shinobi from the village Hidden in the Leaves!” She cocked her eyebrow, not seeming to understand what he meant.
Shinobi? A village called Hidden in the Leaves? What is he talking about? Hermione wondered to herself.
“Hermione? What are you doing?”
“Oh, be quiet, Ronald! I’m trying to find out who they are!” She peered at the peculiar people before her. This . . . Uzumaki Naruto was dressed in the brightest shade of orange she had ever seen, he had drawn an odd knife from behind him so fast it was almost like magic, and . . . were those whiskers on his face? Was he a type of magical creature she had never read about? Impossible.
Then there was that tall one, with silver hair that seemed to defy all laws of science, and only his right eye was visible. She guessed he was only in his 20’s. Finally there was another boy to his left. She had thought the Weasley family had bright red hair, but they had nothing on him! Plus, he didn’t appear to have eyebrows, and he had such thick black circles around his eyes she concluded it was either that he wore a heck of a lot of eye liner or that he was the world’s biggest insomniac.
There was also an interesting symbol of the first two strangers’ bandanas they wore around their forehead. It was a spiral with a triangle on the side.
“Get Professor Dumbledore!” she hissed. The newcomers didn’t appear to be a threat, but the fact that they got inside a castle you shouldn’t be able to Apparate into, and the two youngest seemed to give off some foreboding aura, she couldn’t be sure.
Snape suddenly appeared beside her, staring so intensely at the three strangers that Naruto gripped his kunai tighter and put himself in a defensive stance.
“Are you able to communicate with them, Ms. Granger?”
She nodded. “I took the time to learn a little Japanese before I came to Hogwarts, yet they are referencing words that I have no idea what they mean.”
At this the Potions teacher frowned. “Well, we can only wait for the headmaster to come,” and stepped forward.
In response the oldest put his right arm in front of the blonde and stepped forward, clearly giving the impression that he would not allow any harm to come upon them. Hermione hardly saw a need; even though the two boys seemed no older than them, she got the feeling that they were extremely capable of taking care of themselves.
The man spoke. “Where are we?” It wasn’t a question.
“H—Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” They were all immediately confused. What was a Witchcraft and what was a Wizardry? Naruto wondered. And why do they care about pig blemishes?
The dungeon door burst open, and Naruto fought the urge to laugh as an old man with a beard as long as Ero Sennin’s hair came rushing through. He wore glasses that appeared to be cut in half, and he wore a strange type of long, glittery, and turquoise dress. His eyes, however, had the same kindness and power as the Third Hokage’s, he noted nostalgically.
He talked in the different language to the brown-haired girl, before turning to them with a kind smile.
“Welcome.” At least his accent was decent! “I see Ms. Granger has already informed you, but you are in a dungeon of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, and these are some of the students.” He gestured to the terrified kids against the wall, whom the three shinobi glanced at out of the corner of their eyes.
Hmm. They’re a bunch of scaredy-cats! Naruto concluded.
“My name is Hatake Kakashi,” Naruto’s sensei began, taking control of the situation. “This is Uzumaki Naruto, and Gaara of the Desert. How did we get here?”
Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled, and he replied, “That shall be what we will attempt to find out.” He surveyed the room one last time before ordering, “Come along with me, there is no need to fear, so you may put your weapon away young man.” Naruto scowled. “I assure you, if anyone wishes to harm you, I have all means of protecting you.” He waited as the group silently decided what to do, before Kakashi nodded and gestured for Gaara and Naruto to go ahead of him, taking up the rear for extra protection.
Everyone held their breath until they completely exited the dungeon.
“Blimey! Who were they?” Ron demanded.
“Kakashi was the oldest, Naruto was the one in orange, and Gaara was the other one,” Hermione calmly informed the class.
“What language were you speaking?” Harry inquired.
“Japanese. I’m not very good, but I did learn the basics on my own in my spare time. They said they were shinobi from a Hidden Leaf Village.”
“Do you think they could be some sort of elf?” Seamus piped up. Everyone shrugged.
“I would appreciate it if you’d follow me, Mr. Longbottom,” Snape interrupted icily. “And bring your cauldron with you.”
Poor Neville hastily obeyed, clearly humiliated and not wanting to go anywhere with Snape. He had little reason not to.
They had been working on concocting a very complicated potion that even Hermione was having trouble with, and as soon as Neville added the last ingredient his purple potion fizzed and most of it flew up into the air like a form of liquid cloud, swirling around in a spiral shape while a type of visible electricity emanated from it. After a few minutes it rested on the ground and slowly faded away, revealing the three strangers.
What did Neville do?
-----------------------------
By nightfall, the whole school was discussing the newcomers, and many had their own theories about how they got there, with some first years having the most outrageous suggestions.
Harry was simply amazed. This school year had started out with so many surprises! First he traveled to the Burrow via the Floo Network, with Mr. Weasley and the twins tormenting his family (he would never get over the sight of Dudley once he ate the Ton-Tongue Toffee), the mayhem with the Quidditch World Cup, the Dark Mark, his dream, and the Triwizard Tournament. Not to mention the arrival of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students at the end of the month.
He fell into a blissful sleep in the comfort of the four poster bed.
There was a door ajar at the end of a passage. The only source of light came from the flickering of a fire that was large enough to provide just enough warmth for the inhabitants.
In sight of the open door was a large chair, and there seemed to be something in it, but there was no way to get a better look. There was a short, stump of a man with a long black cloak and bald patch on his head pacing between the fire and the chair.
“My . . . m—my Lord,” the short man began, “Preparations are already underway! If we abandon the plan—”
“We will not abandon the plan, Wormtail!” a raspy and cold voice rebuked. “That plan will continue. I am merely suggesting a small diversion, one that will work alongside it, so that I may become more powerful.”
Wormtail fell to his knees in front of the chair, and held his hands up in a pleading way, “M—Master, are you sure they have the powers you speak of? You never mentioned them until—”
“That’s because they were never here before you idiot!” the Dark Lord snapped. “I only felt their presence today, and they hold more power than you could ever imagine,” he said almost dreamily, “And that, is why we must take it for ourselves, or else the old fool will find a way to use them against me, and I fear I might not be able to resist ones with such power.”
Wormtail gasped, afraid to speak. People more powerful than the Dark Lord? In his mind he feared what would happen if his master gained even more power than he already had, yet he quickly dismissed it, because his master was able to see into his thoughts.
Apparently he didn’t notice, he noted with relief. “So, what would you have me do, Master?”
The Dark Lord gave a small chuckle. “Inform my faithful servant in Hogwarts of the extra preparations he must make, and make it clear that this is very important.”
Wormtail nodded fervently before suddenly disappearing.
The room was silent for a little while, and then the Dark Lord began to laugh. Slowly at first, but then it grew in intensity until the whole house shook with his laughter and happiness. If this new plan succeeded, there’d be no one who could stand in his way, not even the infamous Harry Potter.
The dark haired boy woke up with a jolt and rubbed his scar. Strange, he thought groggily, I don’t . . . don’t remember Voldemort being this happy before. Then he drifted off to sleep, only to completely forget about his dream in the morning.
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: Don’t own Naruto or Harry Potter. Wished I lived in their worlds though. (sigh)
IMPORTANT!! For anyone who cares, this takes place right after chapter 13 in the 4th book, before their first lesson with “Mad-Eye Moody.”