Harry Potter, Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**Far From Home**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto **

**they are the property of Rowlings and Kishimoto**

**Author's Note:**

_This story is set in the timeline of The Prisoner of Azkaban, but don't expect it to be canon _

_since the students are going to be having an Akatsuki member a__s a Japanese teacher. _

_I hope I'm doing Konan correctly. If anyone thinks she's OOC please let me know._

**Chapter One**

It was over. Akatsuki was gone, Nagato was gone and for Konan, one of Akatsuki's remaining survivors, her life would soon be gone. The blue-haired kunoichi crawled through the hot, barren Snake River Canyon of Earth County. Though she wondered why she bothered. Iwa's Hunter nin would be catching up to her soon and in her weakened state, she could no longer fight. So why did she keep moving forward? Survival instincts…they were bred into her of course. Nearly all shinobi would cling to life, fight to the death, run away, even while on their last leg.

She grimaced as a loose pebble lodged itself into a particularly deep gash in her side. She was past being on her last leg, she was dying, she could feel it. Perhaps it would be better to give in, let them catch up to her, let them deal the finishing blow, it was ridiculous to keep going in the state her body was in now anyways. Bloodied fingers reached for an old boot and the kunoichi wondered vaguely what the hell an old boot was doing out in the middle of the canyon?

A strange surge of chakra flashed as the boot quivered and she felt a sharp tug behind her navel before she fell into darkness.

Hagrid was making his morning rounds in the forest when he saw a group of centaurs gathered around something on the ground. The centaurs stepped back as Hagrid burst through the ring and stopped to stare at a blue haired woman who was in a really bad way. She was bloodied and bruised and her face was unnaturally pale, indicating that she was very close to death.

"Blimey!" He said as quick, experienced fingers gently probed the wounds. The woman groaned faintly when he reached a particularly nasty wound through her side, like someone had tried to run her through with a sword. Getting out his emergency kit that he kept in case he found injured creatures, he bound her wounds as tightly as he could and put her broken leg into a makeshift splint.

He looked up towards the group of centaurs. He knew they were wary and distrustful of people, but he couldn't imagine them doing anything like this, they believed in a straightforward death, forcing someone to suffer went against their code of honor. He gently picked the woman up and placed her on his coat before swaddling her as delicately as if she were a baby and began walking off towards the school.

"Hagrid." It was the voice of the old centaur leader who went by the name of Orestes. "Do you think it's wise to carry her in that condition?" The old gray haired man asked. Orestes was uncommonly tall, even for a centaur, but his shoulders were stooped with age, he was balding and his strength was beginning to fail him more and more often.

Hagrid hesitated. Centaurs were a testy bunch and easily insulted and he had a bad habit of sticking his foot in his mouth.

"She's dyin' Orestes. I never seen no one look so bad off as her! I gotta get her some medical help quick!"

Orestes frowned. It was the exact same tone Hagrid had used when he had first met the man. He had helped his granddaughter once, injured and frightened and lost in the forest and Hagrid's only thought then had been to help her.

Orestes' wife Leto, a bay centaur with long black hair, streaked with white was dragging a stretcher behind her.

Orestes' youngest son Bane scoffed loudly. "Mother! Surely you do not mean to disgrace yourself by pulling that woman to the castle like a common cart horse!"

Leto shot a warning look at her son, angered by the blatant disrespect in his tone. "Hagrid and I will carry her to the castle my son." She said in Greek, as Hagrid picked up one end and she picked up the other. "Sometimes you must put mercy before pride. That is a lesson you still need to learn."

Stung by the acid tone in his mother's voice, Bane turned his head away as centaur and man carried the young woman through the forest.

"Professor McGonagall! Professor!" Hagrid bellowed as he caught sight of Minerva McGonagall walking into the castle.

Minerva turned around to see a rather distressing sight. Hagrid and a centaur woman were carrying a badly injured woman towards the castle.

"Get Madame Pomfrey quick! She's dyin on us! Hurry!"

Minerva ran.

"Thank ye Leto I couldn't a got her here as quick without ya!" Hagrid said hurriedly as the centaur woman gracefully walked away.

Madame Pomfrey was there in a flash and she began checking over her wounds. Shaking her head grimly she turned towards Minerva. "You have to contact St. Mungo's right away. The extent of her injuries are beyond me."

Minerva once hurried towards the council, casting a handful of Floo powder she stuck her head inside the fireplace. A healer who was in the emergency office noticed her.

"You need to come quickly to Hogwarts!" Minerva said. Her head disappeared as McGonagall performed the Emergency Lifting Spell. It would allow the medical team from St. Mungo's to Aparate on Hogwarts and Aparate back again.

The team was there in a heartbeat, following the grim-faced woman out towards the lake. They began working on stabilizing her, cleansing and disinfecting her wounds, dumping antibiotics and blood replenishing potions down her throat, mending her broken ribs so that they would not pierce her vital organs, at one point they had had to kick start her heart. The Head Witch finally nodded, indicating that the woman was now stable enough to be transported. In a flash they were gone.

Professor Dumbledore had felt a great disturbance in Hogwarts defense system, it felt as though a hole had been opened out towards the main gates and Dumbledore moved quickly. When he got out on the western grounds he found a bloodstained Madame Pomfrey, a worried looking Hagrid and a badly shaken Minerva there.

"What has happened? He asked. "I felt the Emergency Lifting Spell being performed."

"Hagrid found an injured woman near death in The Forbidden Forest Headmaster. Her injuries were beyond my abilities, she had to be transported to St. Mungo's right away." Madame Pomfrey explained.

"Ah. I see and do you have any idea who she might be?" Albus asked.

The three of them shook their heads.

"Mmm. I trust you should like to look in on her later?" He asked.

The look in their eyes confirmed it. Whatever shape the woman had been in, must have been really bad to be able to shake up Minerva and Poppy. "Very well then. I will ask Dilys to look in on her and let us know how she's doing. "

Konan slowly opened her eyes to see a white ceiling above her. Her body ached and throbbed which meant that she was still alive and being healed. But why? She wondered. Then scoffed at herself. She knew why. Interrogation. The remaining members of the organization were being hunted down like dogs. Zetsu, Kisame, Madara…which meant that some of them at least were alive. These damn Iwa nin believed that she knew her colleagues whereabouts. Well. They were certainly in for a disappointment. Her eyes closed again and she began to drift off to that sweet black oblivion.

One of the healers frowned, never had she seen anyone in such a bad way before. The good news was that by magical standards the mystery woman's wounds had been relatively simple to deal with. Broken bones, stab wounds, bruises, serious concussion, internal bleeding. The bad news was that all of her injuries combined had been fatal, they had nearly lost her before they had even gotten to St. Mungo's and none of the healers believed that she would make it through the night. But she had, though the question now was would she ever wake up? She had been asleep for three days in the ICW. Iris placed her fingers on the patient's wrist so she could check her vitals and was shocked when her wrist was caught in a punishing grip. Blue eyes stared warily into Iris' vivid green ones.

Konan paused. There was a great deal of chakra in this woman's body, though the woman in question was clearly not a shinobi. She could tell by the way the woman moved and acted, after a long moment of scrutiny, the kunoichi let go.

"Do you know what your name is? Do you know where you live? Do you know what date it is? Do you know how old you are?" Iris asked slowly, as she rubbed her bruised wrist. Merlin's Beard! That woman had a strong grip. She frowned and tucked a stray wisp of red hair out of her face, it was clear by the faintly puzzled look in her eyes that the woman didn't know a lick of English. She tried again, this time in her native Gaelic. Again there was no response. She then proceeded to try Spanish, then German and finally Chinese. Nothing.

Konan could only stare at the woman babbling at her in other languages. None of them sounded like any of the local dialects she knew and the accents were vastly different from anything she'd ever heard. One was guttural; the other sharp and rolling, one was like a rapid staccato, one lilting, almost musical. The woman stopped for a moment to think and then seemed to have an idea. The woman pointed at her, making Konan tense a little, then she pointed at what was apparently a nametag and said. "Iris O' Brien."

Now she understood. She wanted to know her name. She frowned, mind working to come up with a good cover name. She believed that she was somehow far away from the Shinobi Lands and that for now she would be safe, but she also had to remain unrecognized and wary. Names began flashing through her head until she settled on one, it was a combination of her mother's maiden name and her favorite doll.

"Nakamura Shiori." She said pointing to herself.

Iris now had to consider how she would go about asking about her age. Then she brightened again. She pointed to herself, held up ten fingers, then held up another ten then she held up two and pointed at Konan.

Konan understood, this Iris Obrien woman was saying that she was twenty-two and she was asking for her age now. She now finally recognized that she was being asked to check to see if her memory was intact. No reason not to shave a decade off. The thirty year old thought wryly.

Two sets of ten told Iris that Nakamura Shiori was twenty years old. She gently took her wrist and pressed her fingers against it, watching as the woman's calm blue eyes turned fierce and wary again. She turned around and began scribbling on a clipboard. Konan glanced around the room, surprised to see that her standard kunoichi clothes, Akatsuki cloak and ring and Amegakure headband looked as good as new. Interesting. No enemy nin would have bothered with something like that and she had long ago deduced that she was not caught in a high level genjutsu. It only served to reinforce her belief that she was far from enemy territory.

"Iris Obrien?" Konan said. She was thirsty.

"Just call me Iris." The woman said smiling, her voice had that same lilting, musical quality, it was actually quite pretty.

Konan pointed weakly to the jug of water. Iris understood. She poured a cup of water and Konan drank deeply. Her stomach growled.

Iris chuckled and pointed the wand at Konan. She was shocked, when in a blur her wand was grabbed and snapped in half.

At that point, a man had entered the room, he grimaced a little and with a flick of his wand and another strange word he mended Iris' wand as if it were as good as new.

Iris frowned, unable to make sense of the situation. The woman didn't feel like a muggle, in fact she seemed to contain a lot of magical energy, more then most people she felt, yet there had been no indication of any lasting magical attacks on her.

"Do we have any information on her Iris?" The man asked.

"Well I've got her name and her age, but she snapped my wand in half before I could cast the Translation spell Dr. Harrison"

"What is her name Iris?" Dr. Harrison asked.

"Nakamura Shiori." She replied.

Konan watched as he spoke her name into his wand as if it were a microphone and he was making a speech. She felt a surge of chakra and the man turned towards her and began speaking perfect Japanese. Konan's eyes narrowed, she had certainly never heard of a Translation Jutsu before.

"Nakamura-san, my name is Dr. Harrison. You are in a place called St. Mungo's Hospital. You were found fatally injured at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Dr. Harrison began. He knew better then to ask what happened, the patient would need more time to recover mentally from the ordeal then physically. He asked. "Is there anyone you would like us to contact for you?"

Konan took a deep breath to steel her emotions when he asked her that question. The moment he had asked, she had wanted to laugh and cry all at once. "No. There is no one you can contact."

"No family? No friends?" Dr. Harrison prodded.

Konan decided to end this painful conversation, she sank into her pillow in exhaustion, indicating that she wanted to sleep.

But he wasn't done yet. "Nakamura-san, can you please speak into my wand?"

Konan looked at him. It would be much easier to be able to fit in if she spoke the local language, she knew. The man had spoken her name into the "wand" as he called it and could speak Japanese. She leaned forward, she must act as though she were competent enough to do these sorts of jutsus if she wanted to survive. Later, she could learn the language on her own. "Dr. Harrison." She said, stumbling on the name a little. She felt chakra flowing around her face and throat and she had to restrain herself from killing the man instinctively.

Iris and Dr. Harrison backed away quickly, startled by the murderous look that had flashed in her eyes momentarily.

Dr. Harrison asked again, this time a little nervously. "Do you have any place to go Ms. Nakamura?"

Konan thought for a moment, eyes sliding over to her ninja headband. Even the gash that now marked her as a missing nin had disappeared overnight.

"No Dr. Harrison." Not anymore. Konan thought.

"That's quite alright Dr. Harrison, you may send the young lady's bills to me." Came a cheerful voice from the doorway

"Ah. Professor Dumbledore." Said Dr. Harrison.

Konan turned to observe the new people in the room. The two men and the woman wore the most outlandish outfits Konan had ever seen. One man was old. He wore his beard long and had midnight blue robes covered in silver crescent moons, his blue eyes were sharp and lively, covered by half-spectacles. The other man was simply enormous! He would have easily towered over Kakuzu and Kisame in comparison. The man had a shaggy mane of brown hair and a beard. The woman was old and stern looking, her robes were dark green, outlined in a soft tan, with a plaid sash across her breast. Why would these strangers offer to pay her medical bills? Surely they must want something in return? Konan was immediately suspicious. She had already grasped that she must make a new life here in this strange place.

She could not go back to the Shinobi Lands if she wanted to survive, though this rankled her pride as a kunoichi. She felt like a coward! No…she was a coward! She thought in disgust. Her eyes caressed the Akatsuki cloak. Could she honestly continue to wear that while she was hiding like a coward in a far away land? Did she deserve to don Akatsuki's colors and everything it had stood for? She bit her lip and thought about it. Even the most dangerous missing nin had to run and hide. What she was doing was no different and somehow, she felt now that to discard her cloak and headband would be dishonoring Nagato's memory…and Akatsuki's.

Albus watched the young woman who seemed to be thinking hard about things. The emotions in her eyes appeared and reappeared quickly. Sorrow, confusion, suspicion, realization, disgust, resignation, love and lastly pride, before she turned towards him.

"Thank you." She said, "I will repay you as soon as I can find work." She meant this earnestly. She was sure that she could find work as a bodyguard or a spy in order to repay the money she now owed, even if she had to work as a waitress and here she felt disgusted yet again. But she needed to work, so that she could have a place to live and food to eat.

Dumbledore could not help but feel a strong urge to help this woman. It was as Fudge had once put it, his inability to turn away strays.

"If you have no objections my dear, you may come and stay at Hogwarts until you are on your feet-once the healers have given you a clean bill of health of course."

Konan frowned, should she? She again looked at her cloak as though it had the answer. Akatsuki were bold, sometimes even reckless. Though it had never been in her nature to do so. No, she was analytical and logical. She seldom threw caution to the wind and always came up with a good plan and a back-up plan before she took action. She thought of Deidara and Hidan.

Look where they had ended up! One dead, one blown to pieces and buried deep in the ground in Konoha. She smashed the reckless feeling as soon as it had emerged. Now more then ever, she could not afford to be reckless, it would be better, once she was discharged to slip into the forest and simply disappear for a while, though the doctor had mentioned before that this Hogwarts was a school. She would have access to the library there and learn to read and write in the local language and she was sure she'd find a map. She also needed a place to recover and so, Konan politely accepted.

"Now, I believe that introductions are in order. I am Albus Dumbledore. This is Rubeus Hagrid, he was the one who found you in the forest and this is Minerva McGonagall."

Konan nodded politely and then a nurse came in with food. Konan painfully pushed herself to an upright sitting position, ignoring the nurse's protests to lie back down and reached for a biscuit.

"Well Ms. Nakamura we shall be going then." Said Albus as he ushered the other two out of the office.

"Albus I'm not sure if it's wise to be bringing a stranger into Hogwarts before school starts." Minerva said.

"You are of course correct Minerva, however you know I believe in giving everyone a chance."

A few days later and much to Dr. Harrison's surprise, Konan was walking (and unbeknownst to them managed to get some very light training exercises in). By the end of the week, Konan had regained enough strength to check herself out. The doctors insisted that she was not well enough, but Konan was a shinobi. She knew her body's limits better then they did and she simply could not stand to be inactive for longer then she must.

Plus the longer she was here, the better the chances of any shinobi in the surrounding area (she could never be too careful) had of finding out about her presence and finishing what Iwa's Hunter nin had started. She got dressed, making sure to slash the symbol that marked her as a kunoichi of Amegakure. She tied it around her thigh before shrugging on the heavy Akatsuki cloak and for the first time since Akatsuki's downfall, she felt like herself again.

Hagrid had chosen that moment to come see if she was ready. He backpedaled quickly when he caught sight of her…revealing…outfit.

"Sorry, sorry I didn't know you was umm…" he stammered, blushing fiercely.

She fastened the cloak, strapped her shuriken pouch and kunai holster to her hips and walked out, Hagrid offered his arm to her to help her support her weight, but was forced after a moment to withdraw his arm when he realized that she was too prideful to take it. She was a tiny little thing and a real beauty. Hagrid noted. Bloody proud and quiet. Her face was impassive and Hagrid scratched his head as he stumbled around for something to say.

"So umm…Shiori is it?"

She looked up at him.

"Err…that's a right pretty name. Prettier then mine anyways, though mens' names aren't sposed to be pretty I guess…umm…"

The woman cocked her head slightly, allowing the slightest flicker of amusement to show in her eyes. A loud bang caused Konan to start and her hand went to grab a kunai.

Fred and George Weasley had appeared, faces blackened and holding a strange smoking object in front of them. They grinned at the pretty lady Hagrid was escorting.

"Hello Hagrid." Said George.

"Didn't know you had a date?" Said Fred winking at her.

"She's not my date." Grumbled Hagrid rolling his eyes, "I'm escortin' her to Hogwarts cause Professor Dumbledore asked me too.

"Ooh. Is she going to be the new teacher?" Asked the twins in unison.

"Cause she'd be a lot prettier to look at then all our other teachers put together." Fred's eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Fred! George!" An annoyed female voice called.

"Well, that's our cue to leave!" Called George.

"See ya Hagrid!" Smirked Fred.

"Blimey! Those two are nuff to drive ya to drink!" Chuckled Hagrid good naturedly.

Konan rolled her eyes. She had had to learn to survive with some of the most insane shinobi on earth. Hidan alone was enough to drive you to drink. So to speak.

"So are you hungry? I know hospital food isn't exactly the best."

Konan shrugged mentally. She'd eaten worse. She turned to survey her surroundings. This place was as crowded and that made her paranoid.

"Dumbledore said that you could pick out some clothes, since you didn't seem to have much with ya anyways." Hagrid was saying.

"I thank you both for your kindness to me." She said finally.

Since they were in London, she found several civilian stores and bought clothes that were as close to her own as she could get. Dark, plain, loose enough to be able to fight in. Hagrid seemed a bit surprised at her choice, but Konan would not, could not force herself to wear what wizards and witches were wearing, they were impractical for the type of movement she was used too. T-shirts, tank tops, several long-sleeved shirts, loose black pants, sensible running shoes,(as the civilians called them) material for several mesh tops and she was ready to go.

They sat down to eat, Konan taking the lead and sitting in a place in the back, against the wall where she had a good view of the restaurant.

Hagrid began babbling about Hogwarts in order to fill the silence and Konan paid rapt attention to him, her keen mind absorbing every bit of information he was willingly giving her and making mental maps in her head of the school grounds.

Hagrid had never had someone listen to him so intently before and he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. At first he thought that she was shy, or maybe just tired, he now decided that she was simply a quiet person. He was also surprised at how much she ate, since women like her was always makin a fuss bout watchin their figures and such. After lunch Hagrid called the Knight Bus, momentarily forgetting about Shiori's injuries. He didn't remember till the bus had started. Panicked he looked around for Shiori and was surprised to see how easily she kept her balance after the first initial jolt.

Konan had been surprised by the violence of the bus's movements, but she applied chakra to her feet and somehow managed to keep her balance all the way to Hogwarts. She could not say the same for her escort who was stumbling back and forth and trying to keep from falling on the less then pleased passengers. She was relieved that it was a short trip and walked out, feeling a bit wobbly and silently swearing never to get on another bus as long as she lived.

"Err…sorry bout that, I kinda wasn't thinking about yer injuries." Hagrid apologized. "Yer not hurt are ya?" He asked anxiously.

Konan checked herself. Her muscles were sore and cramped after straining to keep her balance but otherwise she was fine. "I am alright." She acknowledged, eyes taking in the grand castle. This was a school? There must have been more then a thousand students here.

"Just in time to see the students arriving!" Hagrid said happily as they walked towards the carriage.

Instantly Konan went stiff when she saw the strange skeletal horse demons waiting patiently for the students to arrive.

Following the direction of her gaze, Hagrid realized that she could see the Thestrals. "Oh you can see em can ye?" He asked.

"I fail to see how anyone could not." Konan replied dryly.

"Well see-interestin thing bout Thestrals is that you can only see em is if ye've seen someone die. Otherwise they're invisible. They won't harm ye though if that's what yer worried bout."

"Ah." Konan said as she got in.

"Now Professor McGonagall will meet ya up there! I gotta get the kids across to the school. I'll be seein ya later."

Konan nodded, hefted her bags over her shoulder and got into the carriage, eyeing the strange creatures that pulled them in disgust. During her time as Akatsuki and as a ninja she had encountered plenty of terrifying and strange creatures but then she knew about the local monsters, here she knew none at all and felt inclined to be wary. She rubbed her ring fondly, a habit she had picked up in the hospital. Suddenly she frowned, the ring acted differently today…in an act of recklessness she sent a current of chakra through it, heedless of whether she was giving her whereabouts away to friend or foe. The rings had served several purposes. They let them know where the others were, they activated the statue and they were also keys to their various bases.

"Akatsuki is no more." She told herself. "It's foolish too think that any of them might still be ali-" She was surprised when Zetsu's chakra, strong and earthy trickled through in response. He was hiding in Lightning Country, no doubt a place where he'd feel right at home. She could also sense his confusion concerning her whereabouts. No matter, she doubted he could reach her and they couldn't communicate telepathically without Nagato's jutsu in place. She sent another surge, there was no sign of Kisame or Madara but she could feel Hidan's. Perhaps she should find a way to return and dig him up?

Zetsu always more sensitive to these things then the others had been, had had a fleeting vision of Hidan in Konan's head. While none of them really liked the mad priest, it had never sat well with her to leave the immortal there. As for Konan, she had been one of the first people to treat him as a person and while they had never been particularly close, Zetsu for all his independent nature was also very-attached to her in his own way.

"We should go dig Hidan up and find Konan."

"**Why? Konan is too far out of our range. We can't cross the ocean! And I hate Hidan! He's an asshole!"**

"Yes I hate Hidan too, but Konan treated us well and it might be better to stick close to one another, better chance of survival that way."

"**Tch! We made a bigger target that way!"**

"You make a good point but we're still going to find them both."

And so in a rare display of mulishness, Zetsu's lighter half got his way. He'd already found Madara's body two weeks ago, though even Zetsu had been loathe to eat it, the old man was tough and stringy and hadn't made for good eating at all but a meal was a meal and so Zetsu endured it with much disgust and complaining from his darker half. Kisame was living it up as a hired fighter in some daimyo's court so Zetsu figured that there was no point in disturbing him. The Kiri nin was always happiest in a fight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Konan had nearly finished unpacking when Minerva McGonagall came into the younger woman's room to see if she needed help, keen eyes observed that the woman was feeling discomfort but didn't like to show it. She could understand that, since she was a strong, fairly self-possessed woman herself. However on this count she was both right and wrong.

Konan, like most shinobi did not care for others to see her weakness and discomfort when injured, however she was intentionally struggling to show it to now because she knew that here, among this very strange group of people, she had to look more…human and less shinobi. Furthermore the blue-haired kunoichi was hoping to see one of the teachers here, she had another favor to ask.

"Professor McGonagall?" She said.

"Minerva's fine." The older woman said brusquely.

"I have a favor to ask." Konan said, forcing her features to show that she didn't like asking for favors. "I was wondering if I could have access to a book on how to speak this language? I cannot rely on this translation jut-spell forever."

Minerva blinked, she was not sure what the blue-haired woman had wanted but this was a reasonable request.

"Well of course." She said.

"Also, I am indebted to Dumbledore and I would like to pay that off, since I do not like to leave debts lingering. I know that you have that translation-spell but if there are any students who wish to learn Japanese I would be happy to fill that position." Konan explained in a brisk business-like tone.

"We have not had a foreign language teacher here for quite some time, but this is something that you'll have to discuss with Professor Dumbledore. Preferably before the students are sorted. Come along then."

Albus Dumbledore considered Shiori Nakamura's request thoughtfully, though he already knew that he was going to say yes. The last foreign language teacher had taught Russian but had left to help take care of an ailing relative several years back and they had certainly never had anyone teach Japanese before. Furthermore, who was he to deny someone an earnest chance to repay there debts?

"I don't think it's a bad idea my dear, but I am curious as to how you are going to teach a Japanese course when you are learning English yourself?"

Shiori looked at him slyly and what she said next sealed the deal completely. "I can always bluff and the students will help me to learn English though they will not realize it."

Albus smiled, a hint of mischief twinkling in his blue eyes. "Then the job is yours Ms. Nakamura. I'll have the employment papers waiting for you in your room."

And then Albus turned to business with his students, while Konan paid close attention to everything around her.

There was something about the woman that made many of the teachers uneasy and they instinctively scooted their chairs as far away as they could without, hopefully being too noticeable.

"We also have several new staff changes this year." Dumbledore continued, "Our Groundskeeper Hagrid is going to be teaching Care of Magical Creatures as Professor Kettleburn would like to spend more time with his remaining limbs. I would also like to introduce you to Professor Lupin who will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and Professor Nakamura who will be teaching Japanese for any who wish to learn."

At that Hermione perked up, being fairly fluent in French and Spanish already, she loved learning new languages and would most certainly be interested in mastering the difficult language of Japanese.

After the final announcements were made, food began appearing on the plates before them and Konan had to force herself not to flinch when it appeared suddenly. Her eyes narrowed, wary of the unfamiliar food, she sniffed it delicately, relieved that some of the scents such as beef, chicken and vegetables were familiar but she did not touch it yet. Paranoia insisting that she check it for poisons, placing her hands in her sleeves and she quickly performed a jutsu to check for any signs of taint. When she was satisfied that the food was perfectly alright, she began to put food on her plate that was both the most nourishing and that seemed familiar to her.

As she ate, she subtly began sizing up her fellow teachers, all were suspect and to be treated politely but warily, the tall man with the black hair and the dour face was someone she disliked in an instant. His eyes were too secretive, too shifty, too cold and conniving and she would watch him carefully.

Hagrid, McGonagall and Dumbledore seemed genuinely kind-hearted but she knew she could never trust them completely, she had even been wary of her former lover Deidara. She knew from long painful experience, that friendship could turn into betrayal at any given moment and that she must be on the lookout for signs of the people in her life turning against her.

She turned towards the shabby, wan looking man on her left and stiffened slightly, there was something…off about him. He gave off an energy pulse that seemed similar but somehow different to half demons and she made a mental note to keep a careful eye on him as well as the man with the strange cat. Konan turned to assess the students, many of whom were staring at her with open curiosity. She had a feeling that her new life as Shiori Nakamura wasn't going to be as bleak as she'd originally believed.

After supper, Professor McGonagall lead Konan back to the room, she turned to look at the young woman who's eyes were everywhere and held an intense look of concentration. She did not speak the entire time they were there.

"Shiori. I understand that you went through a very frightening ordeal, if you should ever want to talk about it-"

"Thank you for your kindness Minerva." Said Konan with a slight bow, she went into her room.

Minerva frowned, the way she said and did things, seemed almost mechanical. She was well versed enough in psychology to know that the brain would shut down to properly cope from traumatic experiences and perhaps that was all it really was, but she could not help feel her instincts prickling when she was around her. She had felt it the first time she met Shiori Nakamura in the hospital room and she had felt it all day while escorting her around Hogwarts.

Konan immediately began doing the paperwork, she had it finished quickly to avoid arousing suspicion of deception and stepped out of her room. Her eyes quickly caught the man Filch wandering around.

"Excuse me Mr. Filch, but can you please direct me to Albus Dumbledore's office?" She asked.

Argus eyed her. Her hair was an odd shade of blue, her voice was cool, blank, no emotion behind it whatsoever. He disliked the new teacher for reasons he couldn't explain, it could be she was under an imperious curse? The way she held herself was too bloody confident, despite her nasty encounter. She could be a Trojan Horse for the Death Eaters. Too many suspicions, too many uncertainties with this new teacher.

He mumbled something unintelligible and motioned for her to follow. After delivering her to the headmaster and back to her room, Konan decided to see just how compatible jutsu and magic was. Walking up walls proved no problem, body flicker was fine, teleportation was not. She could not do it and Konan felt panic beginning to well inside her. If she could not teleport she would be at a vast disadvantage to enemy ninja. For if she had found her way here, then hypothetically it was not unreasonable to assume that others had or would as well. She must never assume she was safe from harm and there were many native dangers she was not yet aware of yet.

There was a knock on the door and she found Minerva-san there again with a book in her hand. "Here's the book you requested Shiori, it translates English-to-Japanese, including correct pronunciation, though there may be many things in both languages that may not translate correctly."

Konan allowed her eyes to soften with gratitude and for reasons Minerva could not understand, she softened a bit towards Shiori Nakamura.

"Now, no need to thank me. Goodness knows you've thanked everyone enough. You've got a busy day ahead of you with the students tomorrow and you need your rest."

It was obvious to both of them that Konan saw right through her blustering act. Konan set to work and was up for more then half the night, before climbing into bed at around four am. The sun rose and Konan began preparing for the first class. A group of Third Years from all the houses. There were not many who had signed up for her class, but that suited her perfectly.

Hermione was excited at the prospect of learning a new language and she was very curious about the new teacher, she had to admit she was quite surprised to see Draco Malfoy of all people there and he didn't seem to happy either. Professor Nakamura was sitting at her desk, folding a detailed butterfly from paper when the class entered.

"Good morning students, welcome to my classroom. I am Professor Nakamura and I will let you know right now, that I will not tolerate slackers in my classroom." Professor Nakamura's eyes and voice turned cold. "If you are here because you think this will be an easy way to earn extra credits, or goof around you are sadly mistaken. Anyone not willing to take this class seriously will be weeded out quickly and failed.

One of the Slytherins whispered something to his friend and they snickered, right before a strange-looking paper star embedded itself deep into the wooden desk. The whole class stared as Professor Nakamura walked over as though nothing had happened, removed the paper star and said in an authorative tone. "I will not tolerate disrespectful behavior in my classroom, Mr. Connelly."

"Are you mad? You almost hit my hand!" He yelled.

"Nonsense, my aim was right on target. Consider this your only warning." She said and so the lesson began, her class quickly found out that she was a strict taskmaster but not unfairly so. She may have only had 43 students all in all, but both classes quickly learned to be respectful.

While Konan was busy fulfilling her new role as a Japanese teacher, Zetsu had been busy digging up Hidan, he had also brought a terrified medic with him and on pain of being eaten alive had been busy putting the bitchy priest back together.

"Ow! Fuck! Where did you learn about human anatomy? Quacks R Us?"

Zetsu was not pleased. The medic was all rattled and under pressure in the worst ways possible, she was sure to lose her tenuous grip on concentration if he continued to insult her.

"Hidan. It is not advisable to agitate the medic." Zetsu's lighter half said warningly.

"The hell you say?" Hidan snapped. "Easy for you to talk! You're not the one getting put back together."

"**One more complaint out of you Humpty Dumpty and I'm gonna shove a clod of dirt in your mouth!" **Zetsu's Darker Half growled menacingly.

"Do it anyways. Then we won't have to listen to him complain." Lighter Zetsu suggested helpfully.

"**Best idea you've had all day."** Darker Zetsu agreed and without further ado Zetsu did just that.

"**You're an ungrateful little bastard. If weren't for Konan, I would have left you to rot." **Darker Zetsu told Hidan.

"Now wait a minute-" His Lighter Half began.

"**Oh. That's right. This is your fault too!" **His Darker Half sneered.

"Konan wanted him back!" His Lighter Half protested, ignoring the muffled sounds of inquiry coming from the priest. He crossed his arms stubbornly and Hidan was reduced to rolling his eyes.

One thing was for sure, the venus fly freak probably never got lonely. He thought.

"**So we're going to do what Konan wanted?" **His Darker Half asked incredulously.

His Lighter Half grinned and replied. "We already have."

There was nothing to be said to that, signaling the end of the argument.

By this time Hidan had spit out most of the mossy, moist dirt so that he could finally speak.

"Well where the hell is she?" He demanded.

"Scotland." Zetsu muttered in a tone to low for Hidan.

"And how do you know?" Hidan asked. He'd certainly never heard of this place.

"I have an intimate connection with the earth. It comes with being half-demon." Zetsu shrugged.

"**Why the hell do you think I was such a damn good spy?" **His Darker Half said smugly.

"Where the hell is it? I've never heard of it." Hidan whispered.

"Few shinobi have." Zetsu said matter-of-factly. "I haven't either until recently."

"If you've never heard of it then how-"Hidan began but was quickly cut off.

"**I already explained that to you, you thick-headed little bastard. Now sit down, shut up and let the medic do her job!"**

Hidan shut his mouth. He'd spent just enough time to know when Zetsu took on his hungry voice. He wasn't keen on finding out what it felt like to get eaten alive.

Several days later Hidan was up and moving again, his Divine Healing Powers were beginning to kick in now that he was whole, well more or less.

He sacrificed the terrified medic nin, while trying to console her that she would go to straight to heaven. After Zetsu had his fill, much to Hidan's disgust the priest was ready to go.

"Where do you think your running off too?" Zetsu demanded. "You're going to help us find Konan!"

"Fuck you! I've had it with this screwed up organization!" Hidan snapped.

Zetsu opened his mouth to argue further but his darker half interrupted. **"Just let him go! I'm tired of the little ingrate's bitching. I really don't want to travel with him. We don't need him."**

His Lighter Half considered for a moment and Zetsu's Darker Half let out a gusty sigh. The human part of him, courtesy of his deceased human mother had always been hopelessly attached to people who had shown him the slightest bit of kindness and his loyalty to Akatsuki alone had nearly gotten them killed. Now here he was, preparing to go off to the ends of the earth to go find one of the last remaining members. They were going to get killed because of these foolish attachments and at nearly fifty-nine, Zetsu was in no rush to die young and in his prime, considering he would live for three hundred years. Perhaps a little less. He was practically a teenager among his race!

So Akatsuki's Spy master once again set off alone, allowing the gifts of his race to track down the remnant's of his colleague's chakra.

Zetsu moved faster underground then any shinobi alive moved above it and he found himself in the canyons of Hidden Stone where, much to his surprise he saw a ragged, noticeably thinner Kisame battling Stone's Hunter nin.

Kisame, who had had to live with the burden of being born from a whole clan of shark demon ninja had understood Zetsu better then anyone else in the Akatsuki. He had been in fact the only person the plant man could call a friend. So it was only natural that he fight by the shark nin's side.

When the last shinobi had been downed and Zetsu had satisfied his hunger, he asked.

"What are you doing here?"

"The for hire sign was a trap. That damn Daimyo let me fight for a while before he threw me in the dungeon, to collect on a hefty bounty. I busted out of there and killed the little idiot." Kisame said in a disgruntled tone. "I thought you'd been killed." He added as an afterthought.

"I have no intentions of dying yet." Zetsu responded. "I'm been tracking Konan's chakra signature in the earth. It's incredibly strong here so I know I'm getting close."

Kisame nodded, well used to Zetsu's unusual skills. "So she's alive then?"

"Yes, Hidan is back on his feet again too, the little ingrate. Madara's dead."

"Where's she at?" Kisame wondered.

"Scotland?" Zetsu answered.

"Scotland?! Where the hell is Scotland?" Kisame demanded.

Zetsu sighed, getting a sudden sense of déjà vu.

**Author's Note:**

**I know it's not as long as the first chapter. **

**But I hope you liked it anyways.**

**To Wrong Light: **

**Hope this answers your questions, **

**though Hidan may catch up to them later on.**

**I'm not quite sure yet****.**

**To AlchemicNinja26844:**

**As for romances I'm still not sure. **

**Though you did give me an idea about**

**a Konan/Zetsu or a Konan/Kisame.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

A few days after he'd left, Hidan cursed and stomped his feet. It had been nagging him again! Stupid conscious! Gah! He swore some more and turned around, trying desperately to pick up Zetsu's trail. Yeah. He owed Konan big time! The ass-kissing little chit! And he sort of owed Zetsu too. Well….Zetsu's nicer half anyways. Damn plant man better not forget this! Because after he paid off his little debts, he was coming home from wherever the hell this Scotland place was! He'd convert some heathens there too and Konan and Zetsu wouldn't dare tell him no!

Konan was meditating when she sensed something. Instincts told her that it was an intruder, it could have been one of the children running around, they often did flout the rules but her instincts prodded at her and so she got up, ghosting out of the room, feeling every bit a kunoichi. Still she had to hold back, just in case it was one of the little brats.

She saw a man, dirty, disheveled, half-crazed and stiffened. Her persona of kunoichi taking over completely. She made a few clones and threw a few shuriken hitting the unaware fool, one embedding itself into his back.

The man turned around, stifling a cry of pain with his hand to find himself staring at a devastatingly beautiful blue-haired woman, whose eyes were as cold as ice.

"You do not belong here." She said and Sirius turned to run, trying desperately to ignore the awful pain in his back, only to find himself face-to-face with the strange woman. She kicked him hard and Sirius found himself on the ground, the strange star digging deeper into his back and a handheld knife pressing against his throat.

"You don't understand! I'm innocent!" He pleaded.

She shrugged, "Innocent. Guilty. It doesn't matter. You're trespassing and you must be eliminated."

Sirius was staring into those mesmerizing blue eyes of hers and felt a chill creeping up his spine. In Azkaban, he'd witnessed several kinds of killers. Most of them were either passionate killers, who let their emotions get the better of them, or killers who plotted things out, eyes shifty and plotting. Some were total lunatics who enjoyed killing. (His cousin Bellatrix came to mind) She was none of these.

Her eyes were blank and cool, he'd only seen a handful of those kinds of killers and he was inclined to believe they were some of the worst kind because they could not be manipulated or bargained with. She seemed more like a robot then a human being and Sirius knew that this was no threat she was issuing but a promise. He threw a small smoke bomb and Konan was momentarily blinded, Sirius ran for it dodging a few of those strange knives and ducked into a secret passageway.

Konan cursed under her breath, angry that she had let the man get away by such a cheap trick, but then again, perhaps it wasn't so cheap because her heart began pounding painfully against her chest and she became very dizzy and lightheaded.

She heard the commotion made and began slipping past them quietly, pocketing the smoke bomb. Poisons weren't her specialty but perhaps the school nurse would know.

"His eyes were like the devil sir!"

"Yes but her sir, she chased Black off before he could do anything!"

"That's roight, she come in like an avenging' angel she did!" Said another portrait with a thick cockney accent pointing at the new teacher.

Konan froze in momentary shock.

Multiple pairs of eyes turned on Konan expectantly.

"Angel." She murmured. It seemed that the nickname followed her wherever she went. She had been daddy's little angel as a child, she had been the Angel of God to Hidden Rain and Deidara's sweet angel.

Albus didn't fail to notice the brief flash of pain on her face when she whispered the word angel to herself.

Konan's chest was really hurting now and she couldn't entirely blame the smoke.

She saw Deidara's lips quirking into that lazy Cheshire cat grin the first time they'd made love.

"_You really are an angel yeah. Pity Leader tries to keep you all to himself."_

Deidara had been wrong of course, Nagato was like a brother to her. They'd never even thought of each other in any other way then as siblings and he hadn't fully trusted the rest of the Akatsuki not to hurt her. He had been taken by surprise when she'd told him she was with Deidara but he didn't kick up a stink about it.

Deidara had died two years later and it had broken her heart. She'd never gotten to tell the blonde Rock ninja that she'd fallen desperately in love with him.

Then of course the last time she had seen Nagato_. "Run Angel! My time is done here. I need you to live!" He'd pleaded. _

_But she'd shook her head, intending to go down with her best friend. _

"_That's an order Konan!" He'd growled harshly._ "_It's my dying wish."_

And so she had been forced to leave a dying friend for the second time in her life. But not before taking out some of the enemy. And Nagato had laughed as they found not a weak kunoichi who used her looks to get by, but a fierce fighter with razor sharp focus and a slew of jutsu used only by the Akatsuki's lone female. A few tears trickled down her cheeks, as she relived that awful memory.

After being checked out and treated by Madame Pomfrey, Konan began her lonely walk back to her room.

Professor Lupin seemed to be moving something with magic. It was fascinating that he got that big trunk to float in the air.

"What's in there?" She asked.

"It's a Boggart." He said.

"A what?" She wondered,

"It's like a boogey man, it hides in dark places and frightens its victims by taking on the shape of their greatest fears. Mostly goes after children. It's for class tomorrow." He tripped a little and the creature was released, a dark spot floating right in front of Konan.

Staring at it with a sense of detached fascination, she wondered what her own worst fears were. She'd already lived through several of her worst fears and she had to admit that she felt no stronger because of them. She felt…hollow inside. Everyone she loved was gone and Konan saw herself painfully alone, with no one to care, no one to mourn, just a faceless shell of what she was in a faceless crush of people.

Professor Lupin was about to dispel it when she moved her hands in a strange position and said.

"Kai!"

The creature returned back to its shapeless dark mass and Professor Lupin herded it back in before he looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face.

"What kind of spell was that?" He wondered. "I thought only Riddikulus worked on Boggarts."

Konan seemed lost for a moment. "It's used to dispel illusions."

"Locomotor Trunk." He said, deciding that this would be a better way to get the trunk there, even though it would use up more of his energy then the simple levitation spell in one go.

"But where was your wand?" He demanded and realized she had disappeared. Remus was confused, but he also realized that he had just found his substitute teacher.

"Are you quite sure Professor Nakamura is up to the task Remus?" Albus asked.

"Yes. I saw her defeat a Boggart using magic. The strange thing was, she had no wand with her and it wasn't the Riddikulus spell. She called it…Kai."

"Interesting. I've never heard of wandlesss magic before." Said Albus, stroking his beard. "Well, I'll call her in at break and ask her if she would like to substitute for you."

The students, Konan thought. Were doing coming along nicely. There were quite a few who had difficulties, not so much with the words, but with the order of the words in simple sentences. There were also quite a few that struggled with the written language. But Konan, as strict as she was, was turning out to be a surprisingly patient teacher. She was also beginning to realize how much she enjoyed teaching even though it was something as mundane as foreign language. Perhaps instead of trying to find her way back home she could stay on?

Nearly a month had passed by for her in which she had found out that she was on a continent called Europe and that this magical community was every bit as secretive as a

shinobi's. There were many people here who seemed to hold the civilian community with low regard and treated many of them as some strange, less intelligent alien species. Yet they were not above teaching some of their children.

The pureblooded families were nothing like the clans at home, it was true that they were better inclined to magic but they possessed no special abilities, no kekkai genkai, no nothing that would set them apart to cause that superior belligerent attitude of theirs. Let the snobs meet up with the likes of a blood lined clan, like the dreaded Gouryuu clan who could merge their bodies with their opponents and kill them from the inside out cell by cell, or the nearly extinct Uchiha clan of Konoha and they would not be so stuck-up. She thought with a quiet chuckle as she made her way over to a student who needed help.

A small piece of paper made its way over to her. She unfolded it and read the message. Professor Dumbledore wanted to see her at break. Hmm.

Sibyl sighed, she knew that the other teachers thought her an old fraud and for the most part they were right. She had the gift there was no doubt about that, but she had tried and failed countless times to use other methods to make herself look legitimate simply so she could keep her job.

Unfortunately she wasn't joking when she told her students that the gift of seeing could not be brought on by command. Most of the time, her true sight lay with seeing what was around people, it was invisible to all eyes but hers. They came and went forcing her into a state of temporary hysterics. Giving her colleagues cause to believe that she was play-acting.

But none of them saw the King's Crown on Dumbledore, golden and powerful, or the black cross of betrayal, heavy upon Severus Snape's back. She had been delivering paperwork to the Headmaster when someone entered the room and she turned around to face their newest teacher.

"Good evening Shiori." Albus greeted cheerfully.

Professor Nakamura was the most horrifying sight Sibyl Trelawney had ever seen. Two white wings protruded from her back, ruffled and rustling in a non-existent breeze, they were also flecked with blood. She was covered in it. It soaked her clothes and ran down her face in rivulets that dripped from her hair. It splashed against her porcelain skin like spatter s of paint and Sibyl _knew _that this blood was not hers but the blood of countless others she had killed. Behind her was a grim reaper, staring at the woman with blank, ghoulish eyes, lips twisting into an expression of manic glee, prayer beads clinking gently around its wrist. The woman was chained to the specter, signifying that she was both death's agent and a closely hounded target. The sun was slowly rising behind her, bathing the woman in a ghastly red light. Sibyl let out a shriek

Konan's eyes widened in surprise and her left hand twitched towards her kunai holster.

"No! Get out! Get away! Blood! You're covered in it! Can't you see it?" Sibyl pointed at the blue haired woman with a shaking hand. "How the Grim Reaper stands next to her?"

There was no mistaking the smile that flickered across the woman's face like lightning as Konan was instantly reminded of Hidan.

"Send her away Headmaster I beg of you!" Sibyl stumbled and fled from the room.

The Headmaster let out a sigh, his patience clearly strained.

"Well Shiori, it seems that you have impressed our Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher and he wants you to sub for him. You see he is not in the best of health and there will be times when he will be indisposed. "

That would be most interesting. Thought Konan.

"Of course." She said.

Zetsu was getting frustrated. Some time during the week of painfully slow tracking, he had lost Konan's trail and if there was one thing that Zetsu hated more then anything in the world it was getting lost, his frustration was nearly overwhelming him at this point.

"**Her trail's gone cold…why has her trail gone cold?" **Zetsu's Darker Half asked for the hundredth time.

"Zetsu calm down. We'll pick it up again." Said Kisame soothingly. He'd quickly learned that a frustrated freaked out Zetsu was dangerous to be around.

"**Don't patronize me!" **His Darker Half grumbled.

**Authoress:**

**Aww. Poor Zetsu. Who knew the guy could get lost?**

**I know the feeling, I hate being lost! It drives me nuts!**

**And how do you think Konan will handle teaching DADA?**

**I've also decided there will be no pairings.**

**Will Hidan catch up? Hmm. He never**

**struck me as much of a tracker.**

**And yes, Trelawney does have a part to play**

**Till next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

Holy cow!

I cannot believe how many fans this fic is getting!

This is a shout out to each and every one of you!

You guys rock!

**_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Chapter Four**

Two shadowy figures stood in the deepening gloom of the Forbidden Forest.

"Has Zeitweger come back yet?"

The other man looked nervous.

"No my Lord."

"Why not?" The taller man demanded.

"Because we have discovered that Zeitweger was killed on sight."

There was a moment of silence then the other man nodded.

"I…see." He said. "Then we will have to try again."

Konan was examining her class schedule for tomorrow, since Professor Lupin would be indisposed for a time. She noticed that the afternoon class conflicted with her own. She pondered this small problem for a moment. Should she? Yes. She decided, it would be perfectly fine. The students didn't use their wands in her class and so her water clone wouldn't be dispelled. Furthermore, it could report anything it had learned back to her. She would have to use a transformation technique before walking to her second class.

Now the big question remained. What exactly should she be teaching these children? It took years to learn ninja techniques and a firm understanding of physical and spiritual energy. Hmm. He had been using that strange creature a few days ago. Why not expound on that and teach them how to recognize and break genjutsu? That was something they could learn and it could turn out to be a valuable skill. She would also be testing them at random intervals throughout the day so they wouldn't become complacent. Konan's mind whirled with thoughts and ideas.

The next day she quietly released her water clone into the classroom and began walking towards the DADA classroom.

"Good afternoon class. I am Professor Nakamura and I'm filling in for Professor Lupin. As my Foreign Language students already know, I will not tolerate slacking or disrespectful behavior in my classroom."

Her voice was quiet, but had that same cool authority that demanded instant respect.

"We are going to be working on recognizing and breaking illusions."

"Illusions? You mean like what's on the ceiling at Hogwarts?" One boy asked.

"Yes. That is an example of a benign illusion, however there are many harmful ones." She explained.

Snape was walking by when he caught sight of Shiori, he stopped dead in his tracks and looked through the window again. Hadn't he just seen her teaching her Foreign Language class?

"They can take on fantastic forms." Konan continued, hands working in several seals that took a fearsome memory from her own mind and imposed it on her students.

The ground began to rumble and out burst the Five Tails, eyes flashing deep red, it let out a fearsome howl, boulders and stones seemingly defying gravity around it as it ripped the earth apart around them. Its deadly, oppressive chakra filled the room, striking terror into the hearts of all her students.

Snape was even more confused when her class screamed and scrambled over each other in an attempt to get away from their teacher.

Konan dispelled the illusion and added another one in its stead.

"Illusions can also be so subtle that you could be taking your daily stroll and never even realize that you are about to walk right off a cliff."

Snape watched with some amusement as the entire class walked right into a wall and fell over each other with oofs and grunts and scathing remarks.

"They engage all the senses, sight, scent, hearing, taste and touch." She continued

"The enemy can take the form of one of your loved ones, or an everyday object, or even disappear from view right in front of your eyes."

She cast a combination camouflage and invisibility genjutsu and flickered out of view, reappearing in front of a startled student.

"Whoa." Ron said. His eyes widening in wonder. "That's wicked."

Snape frowned, he had never seen anything like it. Yes there were enchanted items, potions and spells that could accomplish similar results but never as quickly as that and never without the use of the aforementioned tools. What on earth was she doing in there? He would have to find out more about her later since he had a class to get too.

Konan held out a bowl. "Everyone take a slip of paper and form a group on the opposite sides of the wall according to your number."

The awestruck class did as it was told and were soon assembled on opposites sides of the room.

"Group One, you will be observing your classmates today. Learning how to do this will teach you how to recognize when others are under the effects of a genjut-an illusion." She corrected herself.

"Group Two you will be the ones under the illusion. This will teach you how to recognize when your minds are under attack."

Harry raised his hand.

"Yes Mr. Potter?" She said.

"How are they going to get us out of the illusion Professor?" He wanted to know.

"They won't. As I said they are just observing today."

Hermione raised her hand next and Konan nodded.

"Professor? Will you be targeting the group as whole? Won't that make it rather easy to distinguish."

"An illusionist can target the group both as a whole and individually at the same time."

Draco raised his hand.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy?"

"How are we are affected physically if only our minds are being attacked." He demanded.

"Excellent question Mr. Malfoy. Our minds are like the master controls of our bodies, it controls motor functions, basic senses, thoughts and emotions. By focusing on the mind, it ensures that the victim will have a much harder time distinguishing between what is real and what is not, rather then say focusing on only one sense such as sound. Now if there are no more questions we will begin."

Konan hadn't used any serious genjutsu techniques for ages. All children in Rain had been drilled regularly, since for some reason the village churned out the highest number of Genjutsu users, so for her this was as much a training exercise as it was for her students.

Her hands began forming seals, shaping and molding chakra into a loose net that blanketed the group which would establish the base for her suggestions.

Ron was waiting for something to happen, when he caught sight of a spider crawling up his pants leg, it wasn't a big spider but he screamed all the same and began brushing off his robes frantically.

In the meantime, Harry was talking to Ron in a hushed whisper, as they both speculated about the new teacher. Others were watching a strange little Asian dragon weaving in and out of the woodwork, totally fascinated.

The observation group watched as Professor Nakamura even tapped a few people on the shoulders and they fell into a blissful slumber.

Konan frowned, keeping up multiple genjutsu was a serious strain on her, which showed her how out of practice she really was. She didn't like that at all.

Hermione watched the group, then began scribbling furiously. Some of them were easy to spot, others she wasn't so sure of.

Professor Nakamura glanced at the clock, noticing that the school day was almost over. She did something odd with her hands and said.

"Kai!"

She turned towards both groups.

"Group One your homework will be to write down everything you observed outside of the illusion. Group Two you will write down everything you experienced within the illusion. Tomorrow the two groups will trade places. Class dismissed."

She sensed that her water clone had dismissed her Foreign Language students and she stopped to review the information it brought to her mind once it had dispelled. All in all, it had been an interesting day.

Tomorrow she would be working with her Foreign Language students on conversation. A sense of contentment washed over her, followed by a sharp stab of sadness.

"This is the kind of world we wanted to live in Nagato." She whispered, forcing back the tears from her eyes. "I wish you were here now."

When she got a hold of herself she decided to slip into the forest for some training after grading the homework.

Professor Dumbledore knew that there were different sorts of psychics and seers and had been intrigued by Sibyl's vision of Shiori Nakamura. It could have been that she had seen the woman as she was when she had first been discovered, but it would be better to see what Sibyl had to say about the matter. He decided to pay the resident Divination teacher a visit.

When she had finished, she slipped into the forest and created a few different types of clones, first she made a water clone, then a few mist servants and finally two Haze Clones. They attacked her viciously, Konan ignoring the aches and pains she was still plagued with after being attacked by the Hunter nin, she began to get absorbed back into the rhythms of dodging and attacking. Hearing someone approaching, she hastily dispelled the clones and turned around to face Hagrid.

"Shiori? What on earth are ya doin out here?"

Hagrid took her appearance in. She was sweaty and dirty and there were cuts and bruises on her slender arms and torso. She had discarded her cloak and was wearing one of the mesh shirts she had made, underneath a blank tank top, the whole outfit revealing many old scars that littered her well-toned body.

"Good evening Hagrid." She said in that cool, polite voice though Hagrid could tell that she was not going to discuss whatever it was she had been doing.

He scratched his head, "Err…I was jus goin out for a walk in tha for est. Got to collect some ingredients for Madame Pomfrey tomorrow."

"I see. May I accompany you?" She asked.

She wanted to start mapping out the forest and the surrounding grounds, this was in case an enemy shinobi attacked she would have the advantage of knowing the surrounding area better then they did.

No matter how safe it feels here, I must always think like a kunoichi. She told herself firmly.

She also wanted to learn about some of the local creatures here. Partly to satisfy her own curiosity. Partly to learn which areas to avoid, or when the situation called for it, to lead unsuspecting enemies to their death. She smiled at the thought. She also wanted to be able to set traps. She could also send clones out later to scout the area.

"I guess…if you feel up to it I mean." Hagrid said uneasily, eyeing her cuts.

"Of course." She said.

"Sibyl? May I come in?" Albus asked.

"Of course Headmaster, please make yourself at home." Said Sibyl, inviting the man in. "What can I do for you?"

"You had a vision concerning Shiori Nakamura and of course it's sparked my curiosity. Could you please expound on it in greater detail for me?"

"Of course Head Master."

Ugh! Traveling with wizards is slow going! Konan thought with a stab of irritation. Her feet itching to leap into the branches and cover ground more quickly. She forced that irritation away and studied the areas that Hagrid led her, she also discreetly released a clone to map out the area on the blank scrolls she kept with her.

It was also childish of her. She chided herself. After all, Hagrid didn't have to take her into the Forbidden Forest while he was running his errands, he could not help being born into a wizarding family anymore then she could help being born into a ninja family. It was just who they were.

A herd of strange half eagle, half horse creatures moved past her and one, a sleek black looked her right in the eyes. The intelligence shining out of the animal's eyes did not surprise Konan in the least, but it made her even more wary then its sharp beak and talons. After all, the more intelligent a creature like this was, the more dangerous it was. Which she supposed was true for human beings as well.

"Hello there Tanith!" Said Hagrid, bowing low to the ground.

Konan followed suit and Tanith bowed to Hagrid, but refused to bow to Konan.

"This is a Hippogriff Shiori. Proud creatures they are! But you don't wanna get to close to them if they don't bow back. It means they don't trust a person…yet!" He amended.

Konan smiled. You're very wise not to trust me. She thought. Though the feeling is mutual.

Hagrid immediately began pointing out the other members of the herd. "This here's Buckbeak and over there is Snowy and her baby Roslyn! That there's King! He's the leader of the herd and this is Tawny and her brother Lightning, this is Thundercloud and this is Excalibur.

She bowed to each in turn and Tawny and Lightning bowed back, both demanding her attention. She hesitantly patted them. They were fierce and beautiful and deadly and she couldn't help but think that they reminded her of herself… if just a little.

Albus listened carefully to Sibyl Trelawney, carefully considering every little detail of what invisible trappings surrounded the mysterious blue-haired woman.

When she had finished he looked into her eyes and gravely asked. "Is she a threat to this school Sibyl?"

Sibyl bit her lip but answered honestly.

"I do not believe she will willingly harm anyone here, but she will eventually bring danger to the school." She trembled a little.

"I can feel that threat, slipping through the shadows like a phantom, hunting his quarry and he has death on his mind Albus."

Albus instantly thought of Sirius Black. Would the man want revenge for Shiori chasing him out of the castle? It was a possibility and they would have to keep their eyes open.

By the time it was nine-thirty, Konan had mapped out a several portions of the forest, closest to the castle. She had also mapped out a few of the more dangerous parts of the forest, deeper in and had found creatures both animal and plant that she could lead her enemies too.

She had managed to see man eating trees, unicorns, thestrals acromantulas and various other creatures.

Yes. The Forbidden Forest was most interesting.

The next morning was a busy one for Konan as she had her students pairing up to speak to each other in Japanese. She walked around the room, listening to the conversations taking place around her. Then she noticed one girl left without a partner. She immediately walked over to her and sat down to help her. The girl stumbled quite a bit and Konan corrected her where she needed it. The conversations were nothing more but small talk and other then a few students who struggled with it, the class overall was doing quite well.

**Author's Notes:**

Ooh! What threat does Trelawney see coming for Konan?

And how did you guys think she did as a sub?

What were those two shadowy figures talking about in the beginning?

All in good time people.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The students were abuzz at Professor Nakamura's strange magic. No one had seen how she's cast most of these illusions, but the two times they'd seen her do anything was with her hands. No wand in sight. Perhaps that was an illusion as well? No one was sure, rumors and theories ran rampant at Hogwarts

Zetsu and Kisame eyed the boot warily, both nin could feel the thrum of power around it and chose to keep their distance though Zetsu seemed reluctant to leave it and had even circled like a weary shark for several hours during the last two days they'd been here.

"This is where she disappeared." Zetsu finally said.

"What do you mean disappeared?" Kisame asked.

"The earth holds memories, there have been several people coming here and two who have gone there. One of them is Konan."

Kisame snorted. "Zetsu it's a boot. It can't take people anywhere." He said, extending his arm for emphasis.

"The images don't lie." Zetsu argued. "She went there and not even the Iwa nin will touch it."

Kisame scowled, it had been unbearably hot in Earth Country. The Shark nin had gone for ages without seeing anything larger then dwindling creeks and he had become cranky and agitated in this barren wasteland of canyon and desert and wondered if the combination of intense heat and trying to lose Hidan, who was a better then either of them expected, had short-circuited the Kusa ninja's brain.

"Zetsu, it's just a piece of trash left out in the middle of nowhere by some careless merchant. It can't do anything, it can't take anyone anywhere, it can't whisk people away to some unknown land. There's probably a genjutsu around it or something. Let's look somewhere else!"

**"I'm telling you it was the damn boot that took her to Scotland!"** Zetsu's Darker Half insisted angrily and he grabbed Kisame's hand and put it on the boot.

"Aww fuck!" Hidan snarled as he caught sight of Zetsu and Kisame vanishing into thin air. "I'm gonna have to go after those freaks of nature aren't I?"

Grumbling he hopped down to the ground and after a moment's hesitation, touched the boot. It sucked him down so fast that he didn't even have time to cuss or utter a prayer for his soul.

As confident as Hermione felt, she was still a little nervous and very excited about this new brand of magic. She took a deep breath, eager to see what unique illusions Professor Nakamura was going to show her. She waited and waited, until she became very bored and wondered if perhaps she was somehow immune to these illusions now that she knew what to expect-

"Hermione, you've been sitting there for five minutes, class is over now."

Hermione was startled to find everyone but herself and Harry in the classroom. She got up and walked out the door only to find herself back in the classroom. A sense of realization that she had been caught in not one, but two separate illusions dispelled that strange, indescribable feeling of reality in her mind, as if she had been dreaming a life-like dream only to find that she had not quite woken up yet and was now just beginning too.

Paranoid, she suddenly realized just how easy it was to be forever caught in a waking dream.

The bell rang, signaling that class was over and Harry came to see if she was alright.

"Hermione are you alright?"

"Is class over now Harry?" She asked, rattled.

"You know it is." Said Ron, giving her a strange look. "What's wrong?"

"I'm fine." She snapped as she marched out of the room.

Ron and Harry looked at each other and shrugged.

"I wonder what she saw?" Ron mused.

"Dunno." Harry said, "but it must have really shaken her up."

The next several days were spent attacking the students minds during class when they were supposed to be reading or studying how the basics of illusionists, she had started off with graceless amateur work on them at first and had pushed them a little farther by making it more and more difficult to recognize them.

It was complicated work for their age group and Konan found herself being mildly impressed by some of her students and completely baffled by others. Still. She thought with a slight smirk, what she was doing with them now was nothing like their final test would be like before Professor Lupin returned to work.

Harry and the others were rushing for the DADA class, Professor Nakamura was more unpredictable then they had expected and no one was sure what would happen if they were on a test day. He and the others ran into her class, muttering apologies to the mildly irate woman and ignoring the snickering students who had gotten there before they had and walked over to his desk.

"Look at that. I wonder what he thinks he's doing?" Draco snickered

"Do you think he's -" Crabbe began but was rudely cut off by Draco.

"Shh! I wanna see the look on his face when he realizes what's happening." Draco shushed imperiously.

Harry was shocked to find the empty desk preoccupied and sprung out of it with a shout. The Slytherin girl shot him a look of pure contempt and Harry and the others found themselves in a bemused Professor Flitwick's class who were just finishing up before the bell rang.

Professor Nakamura walked into the classroom and shook her head.

"Come into my classroom now." She said.

They followed with trepidation into the room.

"I'm disappointed in all of you." She said quietly.

"After all this time, you should have been able to recognize the feel of genjutsu."

Draco and several of his friends high fived each other.

"As for the rest of you, you could clearly see that your classmates were caught in an illusion, yet you couldn't be bothered to break them out of it solely for your own selfish amusement. Every one of you failed your final quiz."

Just as she suspected, there was an instant uproar.

"That's ridiculous! How were we supposed to know?" Demanded a furious Hufflepuff.

"You can't fail me! Do you have any idea who my father is?" Threatened Draco.

"How could we have failed? You didn't tell us when the test would be. It's not fair!"

"Be quiet." Konan said, while the class stared at her.

"Can anyone remember what I told you the other day?" She asked.

For a moment there was a rebellious silence, which Konan ignored then a teary, Hermione Granger raised her hand.

"You said that an illusionist could attack any time and that you had to be aware at all times." She said.

"Correct." Konan confirmed, "You knew that you were having a test today. A master of illusory arts can subtly weave together their vision with reality, making indistinguishable the obvious and inconspicuous to the unobservant. "

The portion of the class that understood that she had issued a warning beforehand yesterday was dumbfounded by the subtle simplicity of her deception today.

But while most Academy Students and Genin would have vowed to work harder, or at least feel a little ashamed, the spoiled brats either sulked or grumbled about the unfair treatment. Konan shook her head in disgust, feeling glad that by tomorrow morning the DADA class would be out of her hair.

The next morning, a bemused Remus called her to his office. She waited patiently while he looked over at the stack of papers in front of him. Observing that he was wan and weak.

"So." He said at long last. "I see you somehow failed the entire class yesterday." He had been truly surprised to see that, seeing how it was not even something Severus Snape would have done. He glanced over at her face, expecting to see disgust or smug amusement.

There was no expression whatsoever as she answered softly.

"Yes."

"Care to tell me why?" He wondered.

"They failed to meet the requirements, some even doing so willfully, the full report of their work with me is on your desk Professor Lupin."

Remus looked at her mouth agape then shut it again, unsure what to say as she returned to her own class. He picked up her report and began reading.

As the days went by Konan was both relishing these new opportunities and at the same time feeling restless, edgy. Sometimes it was nothing more then a mild annoyance, at other times it was a rage as rabid as any of her former temper-tantrum throwing colleagues. It made her head pound and her heart thump, she felt hot and irritable and paranoid and her hand spasmodically clutched the hilt of the kunai she kept under her cloak. Meditation did nothing for it and sparring relieved it temporarily.

She kept it under wraps during class to the best of her ability but on her worst days the students could feel it, as palpable and invisible as the wind and they became uneasy around her. Though she never lashed out at student or staff member, it continued to fester inside her and it wasn't long before one person unleashed her unnamed agitation and her wrath with it.

She had come to the Staff Room during lunch feeling claustrophobic and aggressive, her offensive aura was keeping away her fellow teachers but one had elected to sit next to her, causing her head to turn towards him in a way that resembled a wary animal.

The moment their eyes locked images flooded his mind,

_A little girl ran into the arms of a tall, slender blue-haired who picked her up and swung her around in his arms, while she babbled and tugged happily on his sleek locks as though almost unable to believe he was here._

He moved through that particular childhood memory a little and was forced to stop at the next one-

_He saw that same little girl, face streaked with tears as she stepped around the bodies of the same blue-haired man and a woman who was too young to be her mother, but perhaps was old enough to be her sister or perhaps an aunt or a cousin._

_The smell of smoke and heat filled his nostrils as she slipped down the back alleyway, trying desperately to muffle her choking sobs in a large moldering, city that was erupting into violence all around her-_

_He moved on again, and he saw a young, long-haired blonde man who was lying naked next to her in bed, lips in a sultry pout as he whispered something in the shell of her ear, making her quiver in anticipation-_

_Moving forward again, he saw a group of nine men, the air in the room radiating with raw power and fierce malevolence that would have cowed Lord Voldemort himself. _

_He moved on again, watching as she drew back her fist-_

At that moment pain bloomed in his jaw and before Severus could comprehend what had happened, let alone react to it, she kneed him hard in the gut and promptly flung him over the table and he winced as he felt the cool cobblestone floor scraping his back before she pounced on him, hand clutching his throat. He had expected to see fear, or at least fury, not mild annoyance…and yet something told him that if he dared to even breathe wrong she would and could murder him if she chose.

"I don't know how you managed to infiltrate my mind but I guarantee that if you do it again, you will be made to regret it." She said, icy venom radiating through her voice.

"Why?" Severus managed to growl. "Do you have secrets you wish to hide?"

"Of course. We all do." She answered and if you are wise, you will not attempt to discover my secrets."

With that she got off and walked away as though nothing at all had happened.

But something had happened, Severus Snape had opened the gates to her tightly held emotions and Konan was making a dignified retreat to her room before anyone could see it.

**Author:**

**Sorry for the short chapter peeps.**

**We'll get back to this drama-filled scene next chap. **

**Perhaps Konan was just a little harsh on them huh?**

**Stay tuned.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

At the same time that Severus had started heading for the infirmary, Minerva was heading for Shiori's room. Everyone within a four foot radius had heard what they had said to each other and Minerva had to admit that she was shocked. Shocked because she had never known Severus to be so heavy-handed, he was quite gifted enough to make a brief pass through the mind and most didn't even know what had happened. (She had helped him practice) though she was only mildly surprised that he had performed legilimancy on her. What had also shocked her was Shiori's violent attack. She could understand the anger to be sure, but she had never seen anyone move so swiftly. Why for a moment it looked as though she might kill him!

When she got to the room, she heard the sound of Shiori sobbing, interspersed with sharp gasping breaths.

"Shiori? It's me Minerva. Now don't cry dear I'm sure the Headmaster will understand-"

Shiori did not look as though she feared losing her job, in fact her eyes had the haunted look of someone who had been through the deepest of sorrows. In fact it seemed that Shiori barely registered her presence at all.

"Dead." She whispered to herself. "They're all gone…I'm alone now." She swallowed hard, arms wrapped around her knees, face both pale and splotchy and sniffled.

"Who is Shiori?" Asked Minerva gently.

"My friends, my family, my lover…" She whispered again, struggling to regain her composure and failing miserably.

"How exactly?" Minerva pressed delicately after a moment's painful silence.

"I was born in a military village where there were constant…uprisings against the government. My mother went MIA when I was one year old, my father and sister were killed because they were loyal soldiers-and I was left alone."

Konan may have been distraught, but not so much that she would tell the whole truth.

"How old were you when it happened?" Minerva asked.

"I don't remember…somewhere past my eighth birthday-I think." She said. "I banded together with two other children a week later. I hated the militaristic ways of our government. Killing and oppressing, getting rich off its soldiers, ripping families apart…."

For a while Konan became silent, realizing at last that she had been a part of everything she'd ever loathed.

"I entered it formally when I was thirteen."

"Thirteen!" Shouted Minerva, thoroughly scandalized.

"We were child soldiers, it is all too common an occurrence where I come from, they train us young and we die young. All for the glory of our village, I hated what they did to the children most of all. We were young and idealistic, we believed we could take it all down from the inside…but of course, in our naivety we underestimated them and I've lost many of my friends since then."

Yahiko had been the love of her life in her youth just as Deidara had been the love of her life in her adulthood and just as had happened with the ex Iwa nin, she had never told him so.

Then of course there had been Nagato her brother by heart, if not by blood and several other friends who had been killed by her own hand, once it had been discovered that they were spies and traitors to the Akatsuki. Madara had always believed she'd been too soft so she had taken it upon herself to kill them before they leaked too many secrets, but the pain of their betrayal or their deaths had not hurt any less.

"I'm very sorry." Minerva said and those were not empty words, she could not imagine what it would be like to live in such bleak and barbaric conditions.

She turned and gazed at her for a moment before a ghost of a smile graced her lips.

"Never make the mistake of feeling sorry for me Minerva. I have disrupted far too many lives to be truly pitied. I was never a victim of circumstances."

Minerva studied her for a long moment before asking, "Then what would you be?"

Konan thought about that for a time, before finally answering. "I was merely a participant on the road of life."

It was something she'd once heard Jiraiya-sensei say, when he was drunk and in one of his rare, philosophical moods.

Kisame and Zetsu spiraled down the bright flashes of swirling, colorful sky and landed with thumps and groans on a cold forest floor. Though Zetsu usually despised the cold air, the biting autumn chill brought relief to his roiling stomach. Both ninja lay there panting heavily, disoriented and nauseous, when they were suddenly accompanied by another falling body.

Kisame was up on his feet faster then Zetsu. He peered through the darkness and inwardly cursed at the sight of fair silvery hair and the wicked looking scythe strapped to his back.

"It's you!" He spat at the Jashinist. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Hidan made a choking noise as he struggled not to puke up his last meal. "Fuck-you-fish head!" He groaned.

Zetsu managed to prop himself up on one arm.

"I thought you weren't going to accompany us Hidan-san?"

"**Guilty conscience?" **Sneered Zetsu's Darker Half at the same time.

"What? Hell no!"

Though Zetsu had a clear strong grip on Konan's chakra trail, he decided that shelter and food would shut Hidan up, if only momentarily and they needed a temporary base of sorts. He was about to suggest making a campsite when a deep, heavy rain came out of nowhere. They sat there for a moment longer in the drenching rain when Hidan asked caustically.

"So what do we do now oh fearless leader?"

"We go find a hotel." Zetsu said simply. "There's no point looking for her till morning."

"Well no shit! But that's not what I'm asking and you fucking know it! Tell me, how the hell are we supposed to get back once we have ol'Blue in tow? Did you even stop to think about that? I don't see any sign of civilization so where we gonna get a hotel room? Where the hell are we even supposed to find Miss Prissy?"

"We simply find the boot that brought us here-" He began but was quickly cut off.

"And what if there is some sort of time limit or chakra limit on the damn thing and we get stuck here?"

Valid questions all, but Zetsu who was still feeling the effects of the strange jutsu had no patience for Hidan's incessant bitching.

"**If you'd shut your ugly mouth I'll tell you." **His Darker Half snarled.

Hidan fell silent.

"**One we'll find civilization the old fashioned way dumb-ass! We search for it! Two I have a firm lock on Ol Blue's chakra signature, does that satisfy you?"**

"Yeah whatever." He muttered rolling his eyes.

"Quit acting like a teenage drama queen Hidan!" Kisame snorted.

"What the hell did you just say to me Fish head?" Hidan growled.

"That's enough!" Zetsu snapped from both sides of his face. Really, of all the Akatsuki that accompanied him on those frustrating ordeal it had to be these two! Sasori, Itachi and Kakuzu would have at least remained quiet and been more useful. All these two did was bicker like Genin!

Kisame took to the top of the trees and spotted what looked like a small town below. They headed in the direction of Hogsmeade making sure to Henge before they got too close, staying behind while Zetsu found a suitable target, Kisame drained them of energy, which he noticed was like very weak chakra, though they had it in abundance. Soon, they were all sitting comfortably in a spacious room.

If there was one positive side effect about the incident between Severus Snape and

Shiori Nakamura, Minerva thought, it was that the legilimancy had broken through her seemingly impenetrable wall. The next couple of days, she actually seemed capable of conveying emotion, though it was muted and dulled compared to normal people. She had even laughed once at a joke Hagrid had made. It had been a quiet laugh, but the smile had reached her eyes before her face fell into a neutral state once more. However, the Foreign Language teacher was still aloof, even around the few people she befriended. No more had been said to her about Shiori's past and Minerva had the feeling that she had been spoken to in confidence and perhaps out of some sort of desperation.

Dumbledore had given both teachers a sharp reprimand. While he understood Shiori's need to defend herself, he would have rather she had not done it so violently. Severus had glared at her when she announced that while she could maintain a professional working atmosphere with him, she would not tolerate his or anyone else's intrusion into her mind and had Albus that she would not be held responsible for any teacher who attempted to attack her.

That being settled, Hogwarts began to prepare for the first Quidditch match of the season. Having nothing better to do, she decided to see what all the hullabaloo was about. Quidditch, thought Konan was interesting. It may have looked like some mad scramble but the teams were well coordinated and it helped to hone, sharp reflexes, speed and teamwork. In fact they reminded her of predators working together just a little, but they lacked the fierce instincts of animals and shinobi. Still, she thought as she shielded her eyes from the driving rain it was certainly fascinating.

Suddenly a slew of creatures that Professor Dumbledore had talked about during the start of school term called Dementors appeared and they went for one of the students, she was not sure exactly what they did to him but he fell off his broom from a dangerous height and began plummeting to the ground.

She moved quickly, pumping chakra to her legs and catching the unconscious boy midair. Once behind the stands she caught sight of the man who had transformed into the large black dog in the castle.

Sirius had never seen anyone move so quickly or jump so high in his life! He had certainly not forgotten the woman who wanted to kill him but before she could make a move, a Dementor flew towards her and Sirius took his chance to escape, though he felt guilty at leaving his Godson undefended.

Konan narrowed her eyes at the demon. It was hideous and seemed to be searching for something inside of her, feeling despair in the air around her, Konan emptied her mind of emotions and took a wary step back, eyes tracking the creature's every move. They seemed to feed and magnify bad emotion and despair she now remembered Lupin saying. She flung a kunai at it experimentally, cursing quietly when it passed through its body harmlessly. She dodged and ducked, the boy heavy in her arms, using a few evasive maneuvers and even a few genjutsu to try and escape it, but to no avail. The damn dementor just kept coming for them.

Albus had been curious about the swift blur that had snatched Harry from the sky and had vanished before his eyes. Searching round, he swiftly located his new teacher, who had the boy in her arms and was effortlessly dodging a Dementor intent on pursuing them.

With a swish of his wand, he sent the bright silvery phoenix to chase the dementor away. He was about to say something but thought better of it and smiled to himself as he used his locomotor spell to take Harry to the hospital wing. It seemed, just as he thought it would, that their Foreign Language teacher was full of surprises.

He had been stuck here for a week, searching, desperate and had finally found a clue though he had felt like an idiot trying to do simple sign language with human/horse demons. He had ambushed one and held it by the throat trying desperately to get it to talk. In frustration he had ended up pointing first to his hair and then to his sandals while repeating Ao! Ao! And sashaying like a woman. The dimwitted creature had finally understood him and had pointed towards a towering castle. He had spent a few days observing the goings on and he had even followed her to the town though she had sensed him and given him the slip even with that enormous man she was with. His mind was busy working on a plan to lure her out into the open and he finally spotted his little opportunity at an open window and slipped inside the castle, reveling in the fact that the teacher didn't even notice he had an extra student.

**Author's Note:**

**So what do ya guys think?**

**Who do you think this guy is?**

**I bet you can't wait to find out!**

**Tune in next time for chapter seven!**

**Little Kunai**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Zetsu, Kisame and Hidan, spent a few days at the hotel recovering, stealing supplies and gathering information. Unfortunately for them, nobody around Hogsmeade spoke their language, so it was taking longer then usual to get settled in. Each one of them took turns "room-sitting" as they called it while the others went out. They had certainly caught sight of a shinobi, but they avoided him. Zetsu had decided that today would be the day they went looking for Konan. Using his Mayfly Jutsu, he sank into the ground and met Hidan in the edge of the forest.

Konan was busy testing her students when she felt the same flash of chakra that she had felt in The Three Broomsticks. She could also hear the source of that chakra screaming a very familiar name. A name that made her insides freeze and sent adrenaline pumping through her system.

"_Akatsuki!"_

It was coming several doors down from Professor Flitwick's classroom.

"_Akatsuki! Come out of hiding!"_

She looked at her confused students. "Go to your dorms and do not come out!"

"But-"

"No arguments Miss Granger. Go!" Her tone of voice left no room for argument.

Konan watched her students file out quickly, casting curious glances at the enraged, near unintelligible screams coming from down the hallway. She began walking down and noticed Professor Lupin running to join her.

"What's going on?" She asked, even though she had a pretty good idea.

"Hostage situation. Some lunatic disguised as a student grabbed Charlie Thurston and held a knife to his throat, then started making demands. We can't understand what he wants-he's speaking an entirely different language!" He was beginning to panic.

"I see." She said.

"We can't use a translation spell and we can't use a stunning spell either for fear he'll kill the boy."

"I'll get the boy back." Konan said.

"We can't risk the boy's life Shiori!" Remus insisted.

Konan turned and looked him in the eye.

"I'll get him back and you will help get the students to safety on my signal Remus."

Her cool confidence reassured Remus that she was more then capable of pulling it off.

Fourteen year old Masahiro Fujimoto was quivering with anticipation. He was going to kill the Akatsuki who had slipped from his grasp in the canyon and avenge his brother's death. A flare of foreign chakra alerted his senses as the door opened to reveal the blue-haired kunoichi in Akatsuki regalia. Masahiro recognized her from the Bingo Books.

"_Is there something you want?" _

Konan asked calmly as she surveyed the situation. The boy had shaggy, honey blonde hair, tanned skin and pale brown eyes. He was smaller then her, well muscled and had several scars on his chest and face and a there was a gap where a top tooth had been. She also noticed he was missing the tip of his ring and pointer fingers on his right hand. Part of his left ear was missing and he was wearing an Iwa headband stretched out like a bandana over most of his head.

"_Your head on a pike!" _Masahiro sneered.

Konan made a noise indicating disdain, as if she didn't consider him a true threat.

"_Tsk tsk. Holding a little civilian boy hostage just to get to me? I didn't realize Iwa nin were so cowardly."_

"_Cowardly? Hardly!" _He sneered back.

Konan took a deep breath, as she prepared to take a dangerous gamble with the wailing second year's life.

"_If that were me, I'd be killing the brats off one-by-one until my demands were met." _She waited to see if he'd take the bait.

Finally to her intense relief he did and with a scowl of self-loathing on his face, he flung the poor boy into the desk. He sat up, mouth and nose bloodied and a tooth on the floor as he crawled pitifully into Professor Flitwik's comforting arms.

She snorted.

"_Now tell me. Why you are here?"_

"_You killed my brother!" _He roared, pain and fury etched into every feature.

She shrugged, indicating that his brother was of no importance to her.

"_Perhaps. Perhaps not. Though I doubt I'd remember him if I did."_

A manic smile appeared on Masahiro's face.

"_Oh…you remember him alright, you targeted him specifically."_

"_Which means nothing. We targeted a lot of people specifically." _Konan interrupted.

"_You'd never forget him, he was a jinchuuriki."_

"_Ah. The Five-Tails. The famous jinchuuriki of Stone." _Said Konan with a trace of cruel amusement in her voice. _"Yes I do remember him. I was the one assigned to get him. He was particularly difficult to capture and his agony was almost too painful to bear." _

She smiled maliciously as though she remembered savoring the man's agony which couldn't be further from the truth. Konan had been sick to her stomach for days after performing extractions. It was the one thing she had hated doing in Akatsuki. Their dying screams and moans haunted her dreams to this day and she had been secretly glad when she'd found out that the Kazekage had been brought back to life by some sort of forbidden jutsu.

"_The stubborn fool fought the extraction process for five days, convinced that he would be rescued."_

"_He…was…my…brother!" _Masahiro ground out, pain constricting his heart and rage contorting his features into something savage.

She shrugged elegantly. _"And how many siblings have you killed? How many lovers? How many children have you orphaned? Don't come whining to me about murdered family members. We are the same!"_

She flung her shuriken at him and at the same time Masahiro let loose a strangled scream of rage and lunged at her, signaling Lupin who flung open the door and began evacuating the students from the classroom while Konan fought with the Stone ninja.

"_Is this how you intend to avenge your brother? _She whispered mockingly in his ear as she appeared behind him. _"Pitiful."_

Masahiro whipped around and grabbed the surprised woman by her cloak, sending her crashing into the desks.

Konan got up but not fast enough to avoid the roundhouse kick that caught her in the face. She hunched down and dealt him an undercut, before grabbing him by the shirt and attempting to knee him in the groin.

He moved his body so that she caught him in the gut instead before she was forced to fall back under a barrage of kunai.

She tripped and fell hard over a panicky student and Konan got up and hurried the girl along the way, mentally cursing herself for getting rusty.

At this time, Severus and Minerva had come to her aid while Remus and Flitwick were evacuating the students.

"No. This is my fight. Get the children to safety now." Konan told them.

"Shiori watch out!" Minerva called but it was too late.

The intruder had flung more of those throwing knives which embedded themselves in the wood, causing Konan to jump on the railing as she grabbed them to give herself a larger arsenal. She flung a few back and hit Masahiro in the throat. He melted into a mud clone and Shiori cursed openly.

The real Masahiro rammed his shoulder into her, knocking her off the banister and he laughed like a mad man as she fell.

Severus began casting a spell to stop her fall but Konan instantly flung a shuriken, causing him to duck out of its way.

"I think she actually tried to hit me with that damn thing!" He cried incredulously as the mad man jumped after her.

They both reached for a kunai that was larger then the ones they'd thrown at each other and the sound of metal striking metal filled the corridor as they each tried to slash each other in midair. Suddenly Konan kicked him hard and caught hold of a moving staircase, She tucked into a flip and reappeared on the other side.

Masahiro caught hold of a stationary staircase and applied sticking chakra to his hands so that he could pull himself up, walking his hands one over the other and landed on his feet with acrobatic grace.

In the time it had taken for him to pull himself up, Konan had made a Mist Servant and had slipped outside to warn Hagrid to get the children out of this ugly mess.

Hagrid was just getting ready to take his class out when Shiori appeared in front of him. He had never seen that look in her eyes before. They were so cold and something about her had changed, something frightening and intangible and he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Hagrid, a very dangerous intruder has infiltrated the castle. You need to-"

"Professor Nakamura behind you!" Harry yelped and several of the girls screamed in horror as a strangely clad man put a sword through her head.

She went blank-eyed for a moment, blood gushing from between her eyes before dissolving into a puddle of water at his feet.

Hagrid was so stunned by the gruesome display that he couldn't move his feet. He just stood there trembling violently.

Konan came from above and the man jumped out of the way faster then they could see properly.

Masahiro drove her back with a series of vicious chakra-filled punches, he aimed one high kick at her and she desperately crossed her arms to block it. He dropped into a sweep and she leapt to avoid it, ignoring the pain in his back and shoulder Masahiro suddenly twisted his body so that he could slam her forcibly into the hut with his feet, then he flung one of his kodachi, which pinned her arm to the wall.

Konan let out a low moan of pain as she jerked the sword out. It had been to long since she had fought a real opponent and this damn cloak was slowing her down. She began taking it off, her eyes never straying from the enemy ninja.

"_You know what they say about the Akatsuki don't you? When they take off their cloaks they'll be killed!" _Masahiro growled in excitement.

Konan who had just let the cloak drop to her feet, began to laugh.

"_What a foolish superstition!" _She said. _"If that were the case then we would have died every time one of us decided to take a bath."_

Nobody could quite understand why Professor Nakamura had stopped in the middle of the fight only to burst into laughter.

Konan frowned when she felt a large surge of chakra beginning to form underneath the ground.

"Hagrid! Get the brats into the castle before you get killed! Now!"

Her voice had broken the man out of his spell and he began herding the kids away from the battle scene when the man shouted something and the ground began rumbling.

"_Earth Release! Stone Spire Devastation!" _

They all turned around to watch as the ground erupted violently beneath them and large rock spires twisted out of the ground like giant drills.

Hagrid forced them to run for it, his heart wrenching as he heard Fang's terrified howls from inside the hut.

Bleeding and battered, Konan had formed the seals to form large paper wings which lifted her to safety with a chakra powered leap. She clung to the wall as she traveled upwards, dragging a kunai to slow her down.

Sibyl was looking down at the window when she heard a low rumbling noise and someone gasping for breath by her window. It was an absolute shock for her when she saw a blood-spattered Shiori Nakamura clinging to the wall with white, blood-flecked paper wings on her back. To have her vision come to life in front of her eyes forced a shriek of terror from her quivering lips and she could only stare as Shiori began flexing her massive wings before pushing off from the wall and swooping down like some sort of warrior angel.

She skimmed over the rubble and was brought down by several clones. Hands dusting the ground, she barely missed being impaled on a spire and punched him hard.

She led him out farther from the castle and onto the lake. Moving into another sweep, she momentarily blinded him with water before slicing his skin with a paper clone.

He snarled and formed hand seals, which caused several rocks from the bottom of the lake to jut out and form a circle around her.

She flung several kunai at him and formed a few hand seals. The man had to dive out of the way of a flock of origami birds whose razor sharp claws tore at his skin and whose beaks tried to peck out his eyes. He flung a few kunai and managed to rip a few wings so that they fell and floundered in the water. He made a long series of hand seals and the earth from the lake tilted into a steep rampart in the middle of the stone circle.

"_Earth Release! Whirling Earth Cobra Trap!"_

Konan used a substitution jutsu before she was sucked down by the coiling ground and landed on a tree

"_Double Rock Assault Jutsu!" _

The ground split open and rocks and pebbles of different sizes flew up from the ground pummeling her before she had a chance to move and she only barely managed to perform a Substitution jutsu before they came crashing down.

Hagrid had come back to get back but was mesmerized by an amazing sight! There was Shiori and that lunatic fighting on top of the water! Not in it but on it! How could they do that? How could he manipulate rocks and stones and stuff the way he was? How could Shiori take all that punishment and still be fightin fit? Hagrid also realized that the guy fighting her was nuthin but a kid! A kid who was hell bent on murder! He couldn' a been any older then thirteen or fourteen at least!

Movement caught their eye at the same time and Konan went after the Iwa nin. She kicked his arm and flung a handful of shuriken, pouncing on him her hand holding a kunai, she plunged it towards his throat, but he caught her arm in time and twisted it, so that it plunged into his shoulder bone before shoving her viciously, but she dissolved into a flurry of paper and one of the origami birds cut him in the eye.

Blood obscured his vision partially but that didn't stop him from forming his seals.

"Earth Style! Rock Punch Jutsu!" He slammed her hard in the face but she did a body flicker and sent her flock of birds after him.

He erected a temporary stone barrier. Which would give him just enough time to stop the bleeding.

Konan was breathing hard as she and birds settled down to wait.

"Hagrid what are you doing here?" She asked, her voice was low with fury.

Hagrid gulped. "I came to get Fang."

"You came back _for the dog_?" It radiated off of her and Hagrid was suddenly afraid of her.

"If you want to live you _will not move _unless I tell you too. You _will only move _whereI tell you too. You _will not come out _to look for me." A voice whispered in Hagrid's ear, even though the woman was standing right in front of him.

"Now listen, this is important, if I come into back into the castle you must say these words to me. In which direction does the butterfly travel? And I will answer, the butterfly travels a little to the south. If I don't say it correctly, then that means that I've been killed and the person in front of you is an imposter. You must kill him immediately. Do you understand?"

Hagrid swallowed thickly and nodded his head.

"Good. Run quickly."

Hagrid turned to find another clone carrying Fang and beckoning him forward

She studied the ground hard and began forming seals on paper kunai. Then she waited.

"Head Hunter Jutsu!" A hand came out to grab her but Konan was ready for it and leaping high she couldn't help the sadistic smirk on her face when she yelled out in Deidara's voice.

"Katsu!"

The blast sent Hagrid sprawling several feet away, his ears were ringing and noises became a little more muffled as he struggled to get to his feet. All he could think of was the password she had given him. The question and the answer, he repeated it over and over in his head like a mantra, shaking violently as the clone opened the door and dissipated.

Masahiro was grinning triumphantly as he rendered the Akatsuki's arm useless. It hung limp and twitching at her side, partially severed from the shoulder. This seemed to be his lucky day the young Hunter nin thought happily.

"Whatcha gonna do now that your arm is useless bitch?" He gloated. "You can't form anything other then a few elementary hand seals."

She was breathing heavily and staring at him through heavily lidded eyes. "My lover managed to fight off and escape two groups of Konoha's elite squads with no arms and a kunai between his teeth. What do you think you're going to be able to do little boy?"

She asked mockingly before taking off into the trees.

He took off in hot pursuit, even at times when she managed to evade him and disappear into the thick forests, all he needed to do was follow the trails of blood coming from her wounds. He would kill his brother's kidnapper and avenge him even if it meant becoming a one-eyed nukenin for the rest of his days. Through the trees and on the ground, he could sometimes see her, slowing down, weakened from blood loss and chakra depletion, though he knew that she was holding back. Did she think he was so weak that she didn't even need to use her more dangerous jutsu on him? Well! The haughty bitch had another thing comin! Masahiro thought, angry at being dismissed so easily. He had her on the run now.

He flung a few larger kunai at her legs and she tripped up.

Masahiro stalked into the small clearing, brown eyes shining victoriously. Yes! He had her now! He thought, slashing her Achilles tendons.

Above him, thunder began to growl in the gray sky and a chill wind whipped through the leaves.

Zetsu and Hidan picked up two distinct chakra signatures not too far off in the distance. One was angry, hard, powerful and earthy, the other cold and light, dancing and refreshing as a sweet, playful summer breeze. The second chakra signature clearly belonged to Konan, they headed towards the two sources of chakra cautiously.

He drew out his second kodachi and forming the swords like a pair of great scissors prepared to decapitate the crippled kunoichi.

Konan frowned as she finished her hand seals. Getting the brat and holding multiple genjutsu and her paper clones through her pain was becoming more difficult as she watched yet another clone leading him to this very spot was very difficult. He was a lot stronger then she originally thought but he was still way out of her league.

Masahiro watched as her rolled on the ground before turning into a fluttering bunch of paper. He paled when he realized that he had been right into her trap!

He watched as the Akatsuki member and three of her clones rose slowly into the air like angels of death on blood spattered wings. They were forming hand signs and for a moment everything became eerily silent as she performed the last of the seals.

The centaur herd had come to see what the source of disturbance in their forest had been, what met their eyes was a strange, gruesome sight. The blue haired human they had saved in the forest had sprouted wings and had somehow divided herself into four people that surrounded a bloodied child warrior watching with fascinated horror! What manner of warrior witch was this? They wondered.

Konan steeled herself, she was about to perform a sure kill jutsu. But it was a dangerous one that had not been perfected and took up so much chakra that it could be deadly because instead of slicing the outer body, it went through the body. She had no partner to aid her in case he had back-up somewhere or he managed to escape it, leaving her defenseless.

"Wind Release! Four Crosswinds of Origami Steel!"

The centaurs watched in horror as the four women dissolved into rotating paper stars and cut through the boy as though he were made of paper, his scream nearly muted by the roaring winds as she tore through his floating body, moving through flesh, nicking bone and shredding soft vital organs.

When she finally reformed as just herself, blood and flesh scattered on her body and in her hair Konan was exhausted. The Iwa nin's face was frozen in a permanent scream, his eyes were bloody masses, his tongue swollen and hanging out of his mouth, his body full of ragged holes where white bone and bleeding intestines showed.

"What were you saying about showing mercy mother?" Bane whispered. Eyes bulging out of his head.

"What kind of a witch is she?" Murmured Bane's oldest brother Magorian.

"She's no witch, but a descendant of an ancient race of warriors from far away."

Answered Orestes. "We need to leave. No one is to approach the warrior woman."

They left quietly and a crack of thunder disrupted the grisly scene, as the rain began to fall.

Konan breathed in the scent deeply, her whole body shaking as she leaned against a tree for support.

"Nagato." She asked as the rain washed the blood from her as though erasing this last murder from her existence.

"Have you come to welcome me into the next world?" She wondered.

Zetsu stilled at the words.

"Perhaps you should go back to the inn with Kisame." He whispered to the intrigued looking priest.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because seeing you here will put her in a state of shock and she may try to attack. She knows I'm alive, but she doesn't know you were dug out."

Hidan glanced suspiciously at Zetsu but he was not going to argue. It had been raining off and on since they got here and Hidan hated being out in the rain. If the Venus Fly Freak wanted him back at the room who was he to tell him no?

Konan sensed a familiar chakra signature in front of her and she stiffened when she Zetsu coming from the woods towards her.

Zetsu was letting off a steady flow of chakra, since signatures could not be faked and he watched as she stiffened in shock, glazed eyes frantically roving over him and hand outstretched as though she were unsure if he were a dream, a genjutsu or a ghostly apparition.

"Zetsu-san?"

She asked questioningly, wondering if he were an enemy ninja or if he still felt compelled to make sure that the bodies of the Akatsuki disappeared forever. It would only be fitting, her foggy brain told itself. She could not fight anymore and if she was going to be killed then at least she had seen a familiar face before she left this world.

Zetsu closed his eyes as a pleasant shiver skittered over his skin where her fingers had grazed him momentarily.

**"Nice of you to tenderize my meal for me."** His Darker Half said appreciatively, indicating the Iwa nin behind them.

"You should get some rest Konan, I'll keep watch." His Lighter Half amended as he began creating a small underground space for him to devour his prize in peace as Zetsu had not eaten since they'd arrived here.

Konan's back hit the tree and she slumped forward in exhaustion, a kunai clutched to her chest and her eyes closed to the world.

What seemed like hours later, she staggered to her feet, limbs numb from the now stinging rain and Zetsu rose from the ground, mouth bloodied and licking his lips.

"Zetsu san. It's really you." She asked. She was sure of herself now

He nodded.

"You should have those looked at." His Lighter Half said.

**"Yeah! I didn't come all this way to watch you die from septicemia."** His Darker Half grumbled.

"We will meet here tomorrow at five o clock in the morning after I've had my wounds tended too." She explained.

"Alright."

Hagrid was watching the door wearily. It had been well over an hour since she'd left and he was beginning to think she hadn't made it when the door opened and a wet, wounded Shiori dragged herself in.

Madame Pomfrey looked grim as she slung the teacher's arm over her shoulder. How the woman was still walking was beyond her and it seemed as though this woman defied all known medical fact.

Hagrid was at their side in an instant.

"Wait." He said and whispered in her ear. "In which direction does the butterfly travel?"

"The butterfly travels a little to the south." She answered.

Madam Pomfrey gave him a look of disdain. "I don't know what you're playing at Hagrid but-"

"But he is doing exactly as I instructed him to do."

Konan interrupted with fierce scowl.

"First things first. I need antibiotics immediately."

Madam Pomfrey glowered at her as they reached the Infirmary but administered the antibiotics, then she drew a curtain and got her out of her wet clothes and into clean dry ones. Bandages wrapping themselves around her wounds, the floating wand scanning her body for broken bones and internal bleeding. Her lips were tinged a slight blue and her face was unnaturally pale. The woman was also physically exhausted and so Madam Pomfrey gave her both a blood replenishing potion and a gentle warming potion which the woman downed with a grimace.

"There's no signs of blood poisoning, no internal bleeding and your arm will be as good as new, though it will be sore for a while. I think you'll live Ms. Nakamura."

"Get some rest Shiori." Albus Dumbledore said. "We'll talk when you've healed."

"Is the intruder gone?" Asked Severus.

"Yes. He's gone."

"Is he dead?" He demanded.

"Professor Snape!" Poppy hissed.

"Perhaps, he was wounded pretty badly when he fled."

Konan lied smoothly, noticing that neither man seemed inclined to believe her.

"Out! Out! My patient needs rest!" Poppy growled, ushering the two out the door.

Albus and Severus went to look outside and were stunned by the amount of damage done in such a short time. Large stone spires, interspersed with soggy sheets of white paper littered the ground, around a shallow hole in the earth that was black with scorch marks. There was a gouge in the wall of Hagrid's hut where the sword had been thrown by the Iwa ninja and huge rocks, including a strange rocky spiral floated in the lake as though someone had peeled an enormous gray apple and left the twisted skin behind in the water.

Though they searched some of the forest, neither could find evidence of a body and already the rain was rapidly erasing the existence of some sort of fierce battle in a small clearing not to far from the edge of the forest.

Albus Dumbledore decided to call all witnesses of the fight to see if he could glean any clues about the attacker and what had happened between the two.

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry people, **

**but I haven't seen Konan fight yet, **

**so I have to make up a few of her abilities, **

**other then her origami attacks I mean. **

**I'm not too good at writing battles yet *grins sheepishly***


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Dumbledore looked around at the staff that had witnessed the fight between the teacher and the intruder. Filius Flitwick, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall Rubeus Hagrid and Sybil Trelawney. The last of which was wringing her hands nervously. He brought out his pensieve.

"While all of you have the choice to simply relate what you saw in words, I am hoping that you would share your memories of the unexpected events today."

Most of them agreed to it, since the wizards were unfamiliar with what they had seen and felt that words could not do it justice. Sibyl alone remained silent.

Filius was the first to step up, since it had been his student that had been attacked. Each one also cast a translation spell since none of them knew Japanese. Like a muggle slasher film it started with Professor Flitwick explaining the basic movements of the Aguamenti spell when a boy no older then thirteen or fourteen grabbed Charlie Thurston and started making demands of them, threatening to kill the boy if they didn't hand over the Red Dawn.

Sibyl twitched at that.

Remus entered the scene, hands up and trying to get the boy to understand, he had been driven out by a barrage of those strange metal stars and the man started screaming for the Red Dawn to come out of hiding. A few minutes later, Professor Shiori appeared and the teachers, sans Minerva, were appalled at the conversation between them, though there were a few things that didn't translate well. Horrified when she suggested what she would have done in his place.

Minerva remembered what Shiori had told her not too long ago. She had been a soldier and had taken many lives before. But it had seemed she did not enjoy the prospect of killing another. Yet here she was acting like she did and then reminding the boy that he had done the same many times over. The boy was a child soldier. She thought, feeling nauseous. How barbaric! Who were these people? She wondered. Who would train children to do things that most adults had never even done? Stripping away their souls and denying them the joys of childhood?

Shiori had once told her that wizard and civilian children should count themselves lucky and now, seeing what had happened to this young boy and even to Shiori, she realized that the children here never would understand how lucky they truly were.

The fight began between them and they watched Remus' own exchange with Shiori.

Then came her own, another brief moment and the same with Severus'though he had stayed to watch the fight after they had both fallen off the railing amazed at their acrobatics.

Finally it was Hagrid's turn and what they saw stunned them all. In the first half of Hagrid's memory, it was incredible to see the two people perform amazing feats of martial arts. The boy moved with feral savagery, all raw, angry power. Shiori moved with cool, poetic, grace. Her face giving away nothing save for two moments of emotion. The brief flash of pain as the boy pinned her with his sword and her surprised laughter.

Hagrid didn't seem to understand the morbid humor. Even now that he understood what they were saying. The boy's manipulation of the very earth around him was simply staggering! No witch or wizard could do what he did!

Sibyl reluctantly revealed her own brief memory and they were shocked further to see her flying on white paper wings.

The second half of Hagrid's memory revealed what happened to the lake, which seemed to dwarf the fact that they could fight on water as easily as they could on solid ground, the whole thing ended with Hagrid stumbling back to his feet after a small explosion.

Silence reigned in the room and after a long discussion they dispersed.

Severus frowned, he had always known that there was something odd about their newest teacher, had known it since he first saw her teaching DADA and now here it was. She was nothing but a cold-blooded killer and he didn't believe for a second that she had let that boy live, though he could not prove it since he was not keen on risking her wrath by attempting Legilimancy again now that he had a good idea of what she was capable of.

But that begged the question. What was she exactly? He wondered as he headed towards his room. Clearly she and the boy were not wizards. Yet they could walk on water, manipulate their natural surroundings and change their appearances at will.

Konan had slept lightly during the night, ears pricking at every sound she heard. Twice she'd had to forcibly refuse the nurse's sleeping medicine, then at four thirty she left a "sleeping clone" in the bed and slipped out into the cold, dark, morning.

Hagrid had had several tasks to complete in the forest as well and he unwittingly found himself in front of some very strange people. His eyes flickered nervously between the hungry golden gaze of the strange plant man, the blue shark man and the deranged looking man with the scythe. They began to close in on him and Hagrid wished more then anything that Shiori was here.

Then something more interesting caught their attention behind him.

The scythe man grinned, reminding Hagrid of Draco Malfoy when he was getting ready to start trouble.

"_Blue you prissy bitch! That was an awesome ass move you pulled on that Iwa jerk yesterday. Seriously! I swear I'll never make fun of your girly girl jutsu again!"_

Konanrefrained from rolling her eyes at Hidan's nickname for her. She was not particularly pleased to see him here, she'd been looking forward to living the rest of her life without having to put up with the mouthy priest again.

They watched as she turned towards the large hairy man and began speaking with him.

Hagrid frowned, she did not seem tense or wary this time around. In fact, given the casual way the man with the scythe talked, they seemed to know each other.

"Hagrid. Go back to the castle and wait for me. It is not safe for you here."

"But-" He began.

Konan cut him off.

"I do not want you alone with them Hagrid, if you will wait a half an hour I will escort you into the forest."

Hagrid glanced at her healing wounds and winced.

"All righ'." He murmured, realizing that it would be better to trust her instincts.

"And Hagrid, I would appreciate it if you would keep quiet about them for the time being. I will tell the Headmaster myself." She reassured him.

She turned towards Zetsu and Hidan expectantly.

"_Hey now that we've found the bitch let's go home!" _Hidan said impatiently.

Kisame almost grinned at the look of startled gratitude on her face. Even though it would look like nothing had really changed, Kisame had been partnered with one of the most expressionless shinobi on the face of the planet and he had learned to read his moods very well.

Konan tensed a little, she was surprised and…pleased that they would come all this way just to find her and bring her home. She wasn't sure exactly how they would react to the news that she could not go home just yet. If at all.

"_I'm grateful that you came all this way. But I have a debt to repay to these people."_

"_Oh is that so?"_ Zetsu's Ligher Half asked politely.

"**I told you we should have left her alone." **His Darker Half growled irritably.

"_What?! We came all this way for nothing!" _Hidan yelled, shooting her and Zetsu nasty looks.

"_What do you owe these people exactly?" _Kisame finally asked.

"_They paid my hospital bills, took me in and gave me a job. I am indebted to at least pay them back the money." _Konan explained.

Hidan ran a hand through his hair in agitation.

"_Fuck Blue! Do you realize what we've been through just to get here?! We had to place our hands on some smelly, magical boot and fly through some freaky rainbow tunnel only to get dumped on the ground in the fucking rain."_

"_A boot?" _Konan asked, giving him a strange look. Surely he didn't mean that old boot in the canyon?

"_They gave you a job?" _Kisame asked. _"What kinda job?"_

"_I teach Japanese to the students at the school." _She replied.

There was a moment of stunned silence as Kisame and Hidan blinked owlishly at her. Then they burst raucous laughter.

"Seriously? You're teaching a bunch of foreign brats Japanese?" Kisame asked.

"You do know that civilian teachers make dick for wages right?" Hidan chortled, holding his stomach.

"_We're getting off track. What's this about a boot Zetsu?" _She asked in confusion.

"_Yeah what about the boot Zetsu?" _Hidan asked once he'd managed to stop laughing. _"I thought you said she'd teleported or whatever."_

"_She did." _Zetsu said.

"**Well I never said she was conscious when she teleported." **Both halves grinned.

Hidan scowled but didn't say anything.

Kisame scratched his head and muttered. _"Well now what?"_

"_Well you owe us a debt too Konan-chan! We came all this way looking for your prissy ass so you had better show us some goddamn hospitality!" _Hidan declared, pointing a finger at her.

Konan gave the aggravating man a tiny smile. _"Of course Hidan-san." _She turned and they followed. _"Though it will have to wait until I can speak with my boss about your lodging. He may also be able to get you home in a safer way."_

"_What time do you get off Konan?" _Zetsu asked.

"_Three thirty. I will meet you at six."_

Albus looked up from the paperwork on his desk when he heard the knock on his door.

"Come in." He called.

Professor Nakamura walked in with Madame Pomfrey trailing closely behind, berating the blue haired woman for being foolish.

"You must get more rest Shiori! You are in no condition to teach a class right today!"

"Madame Pomfrey, I am grateful for your concern, however I have suffered much worse and have still been able to work. I assure you that teaching a foreign language to a well behaved class will not tax my strength."

Albus' eyes sparkled when he heard the faintly amused tone in her voice. "If you don't mind Madame Pomfrey, I must speak with the headmaster on private matters."

Suddenly her voice was all business and Madame Pomfrey glowered at her before stalking out the door, muttering darkly under her breath.

"You have questions about the attack yesterday and I will answer them." She said and Albus suddenly realized that this was a woman who was as adept at taking charge as she was at following, there was something about that he had not noticed before, a sort of military manner in which he associated with Aurors and the like.

"Do you know why Charlie Thurston was attacked?" He knew why of course but he wanted to hear it from her own lips.

"He used the boy as a hostage to get to me." She replied.

Short and to the point. He thought.

"Why?" He asked.

"As I have told Minerva, I was in born into a militaristic village prior to this. I killed his brother because he was my target specifically. He wanted revenge on me."

"How did he find his way here?"

"That I do not know, though I have a theory." She said. "It involves a different matter though, so we will have to side-track a bit."

"Go on." He urged.

"It appears that some of my colleagues are alive, I found them in the Forbidden Forest. They had tracked me here out of concern. By the use of…" She trailed off.

"By the use of what?" He prodded.

"This is going to sound crazy…but they said they-teleported here by the use of a boot."

Albus was startled to hear that and though he kept it well hidden, he could see that she was perfectly aware of his shock.

"Indeed? I see. That my dear is what we wizards call a port key, it is a mundane object magically charmed to take the user to a specific location. Furthermore, this must be happy news for you my dear. Do your friends need lodging? Perhaps they can do a little teaching here as well."

"I would not advise allowing them to work with the students." Again there was the faintest tinge of amusement in her voice.

"It seems they are quite anxious to return home." She said. "As far as lodging goes well….they are not an _idle _bunch and would prefer to work, though I doubt you have need of their skills."

Albus' mind was churning, it seemed to remember something about a military oriented group of wizards off in the east, something had long since been banned by the increasingly paranoid Ministry during the beginning of Voldemort's reign of terror.

"Your friends are welcome to visit free of charge and perhaps we may find a use for their skills yet."

"I will pay for their lodgings, though it may take a little longer to repay the money." She said.

"Not a problem at all Ms. Nakamura. In fact we were rather hoping you would stay on."

She smiled. "I would like that Headmaster."

The two men had found their way out of the canyons of Earth Country and were now in Rice Country. They hadn't gone very far when a group of people stopped them, donning purple headbands and white and purple uniforms.

"State your business." An older man growled, he was bald with a black beard and golden eyes, he carried a metal stave and had small gold earrings in his left ear.

"We have come to hire shinobi." The first man, O Malley said.

The strange bald man considered for a moment then beckoned for them to follow him. They were led through thick forests and blindfolded before going deep down into the earth. For O Malley, it felt as though he were being led down to the Underworld and he shivered a little under the oppressive atmosphere. When the blindfolds were removed they were stunned by what they saw.

**Author's Note;**

We'll continue this fun little meeting in the next chapter

The plot unfolds!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

**Author's Note:**

**Holy cow! **

**I never imagined that one of my stories would get over a hundred reviews! **

**You guys are so awesome! Thank you! **

**:D**

* * *

When the blindfolds were removed they were stunned by what they saw. There stood an effeminate white-skinned person, with golden eyes and long, black hair. There was something distinctly snake-like about the stranger and Eric O'Malley wondered if the Dark Lord had family that even he did know about. Hell! He wasn't even sure if this was a man or a woman!

Lucius Malfoy couldn't quite hold back a shudder when the man licked his lips with an abnormally long tongue. When he finally spoke, the voice was deep and smooth, erasing the Death Eater's doubts of the person's gender.

"Ryouga tells me that you wish to hire some of my shinobi."

The man sounded highly amused and Eric shot a warning glance at his traveling companion to keep his mouth shut and let him do the talking.

"Our Master, Lord Voldemort needs help in taking out an organization that is detrimental to his plans."

The man frowned and whispered something to one of his guards.

"You are clearly not from around here." He said.

"What's it to you if we are or not! Are you freaks going to accept our job or are you too cowardly to do so?" Lucius snarled and both of the Death Eaters took several nervous steps back when he approached them, realizing that this was a far more dangerous man to cross then Lord Voldemort ever was.

The man studied him with keen, intelligent eyes for a long moment. He had only heard the strange, lilting accent once before when he and his teammates had been hired to aid some foreigners from Ireland who had been captured by a nukenin.

He also recalled that they had many amazing abilities, though they were lazy and practically worthless in a fight. He had been intrigued by what they could do then and he saw no reason why he couldn't discreetly squeeze more out of this bargain then the fools realized.

"Come now. There is no reason for hostilities, Kabuto will go over the contracts for you and select the appropriate team."

He nodded towards a white haired, bespectacled man who bowed slightly and led them towards his office.

Two hours later they began their return trip with a team of highly skilled shinobi from Otogakure.

Voldemort was pleased. Things were progressing more smoothly now. They had intended to ask Iwagakure for assistance but this Otogakure with it's intriguing leader was proving to be the better choice.

In the meantime, Konan was busy buying her colleagues drinks and explaining their current living situation. As she predicted, Hidan was absolutely furious and she was having a difficult time maintaining her composure, but then she always had difficulties where Hidan was concerned. Specifically since neither Madara or Nagato were there to prevent her from shoving a kunai into his brain and shutting him up permanently.

The only thing that kept her from doing so was the fact that somehow, in the recesses of his twisted, little mind, he had decided to come looking for her of his volition and for that she was grateful.

"What?! How the fuck is this hospitality? We've been doing just fine without you!" He snarled as he jumped up in one of his little tantrums.

She sighed in aggravation, she could feel a headache coming on.

"For one thing, it's only temporary until you either decide to go home or better accomodations are made." She explained with a _very _patient air. Though she was gritting her teeth.

"Two, you will all be getting your own rooms." That was out of necessity though. She knew that if they did not have their own places to stay, there'd be at least one less Akatsuki residing in Scotland.

Apparently, all was forgiven because Hidan jumped up yet again and screamed happily.

"My own room? I could just fucking kiss you Blue!"

"That won't be necessary." Konan said testily.

Kisame snorted with amusement. He would be glad to get his own room away from the bitchy priest and while he was friends with Zetsu, he did occasionally wonder if his fellow half demon was curious to know if he tasted like sushi or not. Information he could definitely live without.

Albus had had two important meetings that day. The first was with Professor Binns, who refreshed his memory about their ancestors who had risked their lives, their family's lives and their integrity to break off from the Shinobi world with textbook accuracy.

The next meeting he'd had was with the retired Auror Alastor Moody. The man had been in awe of the Shinobi's skills as Albus showed him the memories of their newest teacher's battle.

"This is amazing! I aint never seen nuthin like it! The kid's dead though, aint no doubt about that. She's killed before, I can tell by the look of her. They both meant business anyway. It was either one or the other that had to go and he wasn't strong enough to finish her off though he certainly gave her hell! And she's a Shinobi to boot! I always figured they was just a footnote in our history. That they'd all killed each other off and that's why no one really paid em much mind."

Mad-Eye shook his head in disbelief. The little woman didn't look it, but she was clearly a force to be reckoned with, even his magical eye had only _just _managed to keep up with their movements and sense the magic surrounding some of their attacks.

"It's just in time too. I don't know how you manage to do it. But somehow you always find just the right people." His voice had suddenly become grim as he turned to look his old comrade in the eyes.

Albus waited expectantly for him to continue, for though he would never say so to his old friend, the man seemed to have a penchant for delivering bad news in a melodramatic fashion similar to that of Sibyl Trelawney.

"The Death Eaters are mobilizing against The Order. They were spotted with some foreigners. Weird-looking bunch. And they had head gear similar to what your Foreign Language teacher wears. It all makes sense now, with her and her friends and that portkey! You-Know-Who's followers musta set up that portkey and grabbed themselves a bunch of shinobi. Probably to murder us all in our beds."

There was a long silence as Moody pulled another swig from his canteen.

"Your damned lucky you found her before they did. See if you can't get her and her friends to help us out." He suggested.

"I will do that but first we must call a full order meeting to discuss these matters."

Minerva and Hagrid had followed Konan out after school had finished. She seemed to be looking forward to sparring with these people and that left both of them nervous since she had not finished recovering from her injuries fully.

"Please see sense Shiori! Poppy will have our heads!" Minerva pleaded.

The woman turned and looked at her.

"I am perfectly capable of assessing my own physical limitations." She informed them. "I would also advise you to keep your remarks about their appearances to yourselves."

Minerva gasped when she saw them, she'd never seen anyone like them and she had thought that Shiori's appearance was highly unusual. The handsome white haired man made a rude gesture and spoke in an irritated tone of voice.

"_Who the fuck are they?" _Hidan demanded.

"_Hagrid-san is one of my fellow teachers who insisted on following me here despite my warnings." _Konan responded with a nearly indiscernible smile.

The three of them looked confused and curious.

"_Minerva-san can perform a translation jutsu which will allow you to be fluent in their language with no effort at all." _

Konan's eyes drifted towards Hidan and Zetsu when she said that. With the foul mouthed priest and Zetsu's twin personalities, it would cause untold amounts of trouble for the kunoichi.

Minerva looked towards Konan questioningly.

"This is Zetsu." The plant man gave them a hungry look as he inclined his head in a polite bow.

"Hidan." The man with the scythe sneered at them.

"And Kisame Hoshigaki." The shark man grinned maliciously as he bowed, he was going to have fun messing with these peoples' heads.

The trio looked suspicious as Minerva walked up nervously while Shiori explained how the spell worked. Then beckoned for one of them to step up.

Hidan did not want to look like a pussy in front of the others and there was no way he could spread the word about Jashin when these pasty-faced heathens couldn't even understand him. So he stood in front of her, eyes promising a painful death if he didn't like what she did.

Minerva noticed that beside her Shiori was tense and alert.

"_Speak into the wand Hidan-san." _Konan urged.

"_What the fuck should I say?" _He muttered.

Konan shrugged in response.

"_Heathen." _Hidan refrained from flinching as the chakra enveloped his head.

"Pfft! That was it?" He asked Konan.

Seeing that no harm had come to Hidan, Kisame, drove Samehada in the ground and spoke his name into the wand.

"You spoke your own name?" Hidan scoffed. "How lame is that?"

Kisame growled at the man.

Zetsu went last and said,_ "_**Shut up Hidan or we'll eat you."**

Hidan snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you've been threatening to eat me for the last how many years?"

Hagrid and Minerva flinched and at a discreet glance from Shiori they decided to take their leave.

"Well I have some paperwork that needs tending too." Minerva said and walked away.

Something on the lake caught Kisame's attention.

"What was that?" He asked. "It looked like a person with a fishtail."

"Oh that'd be the merpeople." Said Hagrid.

"You mean they actually exist?" He asked astounded.

"Hey Sharky! It looks like you finally found someone to make little fish babies with!" Hidan said.

"Piss off Hidan." Said Kisame offhandedly, pale eyes scanning the lake in interest as Hagrid offered to introduce them, chatting animatedly about the merpeople to the equally intrigued former Kiri nin.

He and the mermaid looked at each other, a huge smile on his face, a curious look on hers.

When she opened her mouth a horrible screeching noise filled the air and Kisame's cringed.

Hagrid chuckled.

"You gotta dip your head under the water to understand em proper."

"Really?" Said Kisame and before Hagrid could stop him he dove into the lake.

"Wait! The merpeople might not take kindly to that! And there's Grindylows and a giant squid down there ya fool!" Hagrid wailed.

Upon hearing that, Kisame only became more intrigued. His eyes closed with pleasure as he listened to the silvery voices surrounding him.

"Hey babes!" Hidan called.

Konan made a scoffing noise at that.

"Let's say we do a little sparring. I haven't had a chance to since I've been traveling with these shitheads!"

Konan looked up at him. She had discovered a long time ago that the trick to beating Hidan was outsmarting him, it would make for a good sparring session, especially since Hidan aimed to kill.

Hidan backed up a little, a sadistic smile on his face.

"Maybe you'll become an angel after all." He leered.

Konan frowned, he was too close to the Whomping Willow.

"Wait Hidan not there-" Konan began.

Hidan was sent flying.

"What the fuck hit me?!" He snarled.

"The tree." Zetsu said, his golden eyes had gotten bigger.

"Get real. The tree can't move! Look see, it's just a stupid tree." With that the Yuu nin hacked off a branch with his scythe and was sent soaring over their heads by the enraged tree.

Kisame had surfaced just in time to see Hidan get whacked by the furious tree.

"Only you would be so obnoxious that a tree would force itself to hit you." He snickered.

Konan hid a small smile at her their antics behind the high collar.

Hidan flipped him off.

"That is the Whomping Willow. It's said to make a useful guardian." She explained.

Zetsu was itching to study the tree more closely.

"Aww fuck! It broke my neck!" Hidan whined as he picked himself up for the second time and began readjusting it.

"Then perhaps you should refrain from agitating it Hidan."

She said as she used one of the few healing paper jutsu she had developed to help hold his neck in place till it healed.

Hidan scoffed at her.

Zetsu gave her a strange look. Was that…amusement in her voice? Konan had been one of the most stoic kunoichi he knew, she seldom ever showed her feelings to anyone, especially not the outer ring of the Akatsuki. She had changed.

After several rounds of sparring with her comrades Konan escorted them to the hotel and went back to Hogwarts. The weekend was only a day away and Konan was looking forward to devoting more of her time towards-catching up with them, for lack of a better term.

**Author's Note:**

**I figured the Akatsuki needed to have a little fun. **

**I know this is supposed to be a somber fic but humor is always appreciated.**

**especially when it comes at our favorite Priest's expense. XD**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"Absolutely not! I will not have these barbarians fighting with us!"

This was uttered vehemently by Hestia. The elderly witch was normally good-natured and agreeable but she could be fiery and very adamant when she had made up her mind about something.

"They are too dangerous Albus and are as different from us as can be!" Said Sturgis Podmore, disgust evident on his face when he saw the memories of what Hogwarts' resident kunoichi was capable of.

"Actually they are much closer to us than you think." Albus explained, blue eyes twinkling with good humor.

The members of the Order particularly the younger ones frowned.

"That so?" Asked Tonks, clearly excited at all the things these people _could _do.

"If it were not for them, we might not exist either. We are their descendants and though our magic has evolved in drastically different ways, they stem from the same source. Our ancestors, the very founders of Wizarding Society as we know it risked their lives and the lives of their families as traitors by abandoning the Hidden Continent so that they could create an era of peace for their descendants long before the Hidden Villages had begun to form. When they found their havens here, they managed to seal themselves off from Hunter nin intent on bringing them back for execution. Eventually establishing our population and forming our society and ways of doing magic. The older witches and wizards will have remembered this in History Classes, though the younger ones will not, since it eventually became a banned topic."

The group of wizards were in shock at this new revelation.

"Furthermore the founders hopes for a peaceful society have been in vain since we have had our fair share of bloody conflicts over the ages. So you see, we are more alike than you believe."

Minerva frowned at that, trying very hard to remember when that particular lesson with Professor Binns, who had been teacher there when she attended Hogwarts as a girl had come up. Though she'd never admit to it, even she had had extreme difficulty trying to stay focused in his classes.

Albus smiled at the memory of Shiori, as she herself had shown some shock in hearing that they were the descendants of the long-lost group of traitors that had left the shinobi population fairly diminished. Though she was thoroughly familiar with the historic desertion of many individual ninja and their families.

She had even speculated that several people had severely diluted and evolved bloodline traits leftover from their shinobi heritage. Those such as the Metamorpmagi and the Animagi could very well be descendants of the Sukinshifuto clan of Yuugakure who had been wiped out over forty years ago. Furthermore, given their affinity to communicate with owls, suggested that they may have had ancestors from the ancient Bird Tribe of Yuki no Kuni.

"Why not give her a fair chance to assess the situation?" Mad Eye suggested. "These are her people after all, she knows more about them than we do."

There were resigned sighs as wearily, the resisting Order members agreed to that much.

Much to everyone's surprise he opened the door and in walked the blue haired beauty. Those who had spoken against her turned beet red when they realized that she must have had heard every word they'd said and a few hoped that they had not said anything too derisive about her.

Albus noticed that both Moody and Tonks were dieing to meet her, the latter with unconcealed excitement, the former with a good deal of professional restraint.

If the woman heard any of their complaints, she never showed it and sat down to listen to Podmore's report on the strange nin accompanying the Wizarding World's greatest enemies. She asked what they looked like, what they were wearing and then she asked him to describe the symbol on the metal headband.

"It wasn't like yours." He said. "It looked like a musical note."

"Oto nin." She stated simply.

"Just how dangerous are these Oto nin?" Asked Mad-Eye.

"They are very dangerous, but nothing we can't handle." She answered him.

"But how much of a threat are they?" He pressed.

"That would be difficult to answer since I have not had any experience with these particular shinobi to my memory. But Otogakure has never made any lasting allies so you do not have to worry about them calling for back-up. They are an-enemy to everybody." She said.

There was also the possibility that Orochimaru was planning to rob the wizarding world of some of it's best and brightest to experiment on, as the man was renowned for bringing back several near extinct bloodlines and even creating a few new ones. It was a pity that the fool wasted them before they had a chance to grow into a formidable force.

Moody frowned at her hesitance. He knew something was up and he would question her later.

"Can we combat them without you?" Asked Hestia.

"No. You are not fast or strong enough to avoid their attacks or even use one against them. They will kill you before you can even blink."

The Order of the Phoenix experienced a collective chill at the calm surety of her words.

"Well-well can't you ask your village for back-up?" Asked Tonks.

"That would be impossible. I am considered a traitor to my village and if they find out that I am here the retribution would be devastating."

"So you and your buddies can take them on right?" Asked Moody.

"Yes, but first we will need to discover why they are brought here, before we can devise the best course of action. Furthermore, it would be in your best interests if you let us deal with the Oto nin."

They began to discuss the terms of payment among them all the while Konan was discreetly eyeing Severus Snape. She never could stand double agents, especially ones like him. There was no surefire way to make sure that they were staying loyal, so she would have to have spies of her own.

Zetsu was an obvious choice and snapping up a few Death Eaters and enemy shinobi to infiltrate this Voldemort's organization would be key. She was suddenly very grateful that Sasori had taught her the Sleeper Jutsu. It would suit her needs perfectly.

After the agreements were made she went out to inform the others. All three readily agreed once she had promised that the wizards would not interfere with their affairs or their methods and that there would be steady pay for them, furthermore their employer would help them get home free of charge once it was over with and so Zetsu was sent out to spy on the Death Eaters.

Hours later, he came back with information that Voldemort had decided to take out the Order before Voldemort made his grab for power and since none of them had a clue that they were here, they would take the Sound nin by surprise instead…all they needed was bait.

Kabuto was sending out a team of mid-level fighters for the job. It was an act of caution if nothing else, because he had heard some disturbing rumors about a shinobi battle on the grounds of this school and he wanted to test the waters to see just how powerful this particular ninja was, since the wizard who had hired them understood nothing in terms of their power. The team's capable leader Kenta knew to pull back if it got too nasty and besides it was better to use an expendable team just in case this woman turned out to be A Rank or higher.

"Kabuto-san. My team is ready to strike the first target"

Kabuto turned to regard the team. Kenta was a muscular, twenty-year old with gold-green eyes and dark blonde hair, he was patient and intelligent and a keen strategist. Beside him was Yuki, a 22-year old with dark red hair and grape green eyes. She was a vicious kunoichi who weaved chakra into her songs to confuse or command the enemy, she was also an excellent illusionist and a fierce fighter. Then there was 19-year Yuudai who had dark brown hair and ice blue eyes, he was leaner than Kenta but incredibly fast and good with weapons, he was also a bit of a hothead. The last member of the team was 21-year old Masato. He had red hair and dark brown eyes. He was not the most powerful but he had developed some interesting jutsu over the years and he was very loyal to Orochimaru.

"When do we leave?"

"You will leave in one hour. This is your first target." He said, showing the team the picture. "Watch out for the kunoichi, we have reason to believe she is a member of Akatsuki but nothing is certain."

"Yes Kabuto-san."

Back at Hogsmeade, Konan had taken Minerva McGonagall in hand.

"Minerva, we have just received intelligence that you are the Death Eater's first target."

The woman paled.

"Walk with us." The way Shiori said it, was not a request but an order and Minerva, it seemed had been shocked into obedience, noticing with distaste that Hidan was waiting for them, an excited leer on his face.

Hidan looked at Konan too. He'd never been partnered with the Rain kunoichi and hoped that she wouldn't be a nag like Kakuzu had been. She didn't seem like the type to nag and bitch, so maybe it could work out.

The four ninja gathered on the walls and hid in the shadows as they watched the target walk by alone, each tensed to attack but not liking the fact that this seemed way too easy.

Yuki signed Genjutsu. Bait. Trap.

Kenta gave a curt nod her way and waited while she weaved the signs to break the genjutsu, then all hell broke loose.

Cackling like a mad man, Hidan burst in front causing Kenta to swear loudly, he was expecting a kunoichi, not the infamous Jashinist priest! Wasn't he supposed to be buried in Konoha?

"It's playtime bitches!" Hidan said.

Konan swore quietly. For all the years that Kakuzu had complained about Hidan's reckless behavior on missions, she had for the most part, ignored him. Now she could see what the dead Falls nin meant about his brash attacks. For people like Kakuzu and Konan, they relied on stealth, wits and the element of surprise. Hidan did not seem to possess any of these things and she knew she'd have to make up for it, or it would cost her dearly.

A haunting melody came from up high and Konan saw Hidan's eyes go blank.

"Idiot."

He rushed towards her scythe swinging wildly. She caught it with her own kunai and forced the scythe to the left. careful to not get cut and leaped over him, plunging it in between his shoulder blade and his back.

Then she weaved the Silencing Barrier Jutsu. A sound based genjutsu that surrounded the area in a dome-like shape to block all noise. It was a perfect technique for assassinations and ambushes, though it was not for use in the thick of battle, it would disable the Oto kunoichi's dangerous voice.

Kenta and Yuudai dodged as the scythe on the rope flew towards them, it was odd seeing the man laugh at them as his scythe gouged deep scratches into the concrete but not be able to hear a word. Yuki should have cleared the genjutsu by now, but a quick glance her way told Yuudai that she was busy dealing with the Akatsuki. That quick glance also turned out to be his last mistake. The scythe caught him in the arm and the man reeled it back, cutting a line across his pink tongue and licking his blood off it at the same time.

The man stabbed himself and Yuudai howled silently as the blood across his arm splashed on the ground.

Hidan drew the sacred symbol and the men watched in horror and confusion as he went on a long rambling speech.

Kenta was working on a plan to get the Jashinist out of the curse symbol. He couldn't use any jutsu to seriously injure the Jashinist without injuring Yuudai and the man was very close to his height and had a lot of muscle to back it up, so attempting to tackle him was out of the question.

Masato was weaving his hands together in a very elaborate form of signs for the Mirror Image Jutsu. It allowed him to mimic his opponent's movements with perfect accuracy and while it may not have sounded dangerous, it did hinder them from performing any dangerous techniques without having them canceled out or risking them getting caught in the backlash.

He leaped in front of Konan and Yuki on the last sign and Konan found it difficult to not be able to land a kick or perform a jutsu without him starting to make the same signs instantly all while trying to defend against the other Oto nin.

Every time she punched, he punched, every time she turned they both would turn, every time she tried to leap over him or go around him, so would he. Konan had memorized the sequence of hand signs. It was both a vexing but interesting jutsu and she would have to practice it later. Finally she broke loose with the one jutsu he couldn't use and a flurry of butterflies split around him, rendering his jutsu ineffective. Yuki went after her as she ran up the brick wall, they vanished into the darkness before she got a shot in, causing Konan to fall.

Yuki plunged after her and cut her throat, but the moment she did, Konan dissolved into paper hundreds of paper insects which scrambled up her arm faster then she could brush them off, clogging her nose and mouth and throat, leaving her to suffocate to death as she clawed frantically at herself and tried alternatively to breath and force the paper insects out with her fingers.

Hidan struck himself in another vital organ, waves of pain and pleasure rippling through his entire being as he and his God became one with each other, sharing his sacred offerings of agony and death. His cursed form faded and Hidan went after Kenta.

This was stronger and tougher than the other had been, but Kenta was not as quick as Yuudai. So Hidan got his blood easily and Hidan phased back into his cursed state as he brought a second offering to his God.

Now that she had defeated one of her adversaries, Konan turned towards the second one.

She watched as Masato formed his seals again, her photographic memory lodging it deeper into her mind's eye, she remembered the Boggart constantly changing forms in confusion and decided to create a jutsu of her own.

He watched her peeling and splitting to take on a different shape and he automatically formed a few clones of his own.

He tried desperately to counteract each new form she took; a dragon, a group of butterflies, whirling tornado, a dementor, a tiger. But the time between transformations was so rapid that he was beginning to have trouble keeping up, Konan slammed unconscious against the wall and in the dark of the alleyway, began performing the seals for the Sleeper Jutsu. He fought it, body twisting as he went into violent paroxysms of the invasive jutsu.

"Hey Blue you done yet?"

"Almost Hidan-san." She said, lifting the Silencing Barrier Jutsu.

"Well wait a minute?" Why is he still alive?"

"Because he now serves our purpose." She said softly and walked away from the fitfully unconscious man.

"But-but what about the…bodies?" Minerva asked, unable to look at the mangled corpses the ninja had left behind in their wake.

"They are being properly disposed of." Konan explained with a look that told her she_ did not want _the explanation as to how they were being disposed and so Minerva did not ask as they walked away from the small massacre.

Kabuto was mildly surprised to see only one member of the team drag his battered body back to the Riddle House. The medic in him kicked in as he began healing Masato.

"I thought your ninja could do the job." Said Malfoy sleekly.

Kabuto ignored him.

"Kabuto-san, there was more than one Akatsuki member guarding the target. One has been confirmed as the Ame kunoichi Konan and the second has been confirmed as Hidan, the Jashinist priest."

Kabuto swore silently as he worked on Masato. They were both highly dangerous individuals and they would need a better plan in order to defeat them, now that they knew who they were dealing with and when there was one Akatsuki, there were probably more of them.

He would send a message to Orochimaru-sama asking his advice on the problem.

Massacre. That's what Shiori had told them it would be if they tried to defend themselves. It was a massacre all right and she plainly told Dumbledore so. Minerva didn't think she'd forget the horrible things she'd seen last night. True, it had been implied by Moody and said by Shiori that she had killed before, but hearing it and _seeing it _were two different beasts altogether. Minerva had seen people killed before by the Death Eaters, but seldom with such blood and violent fanfare as Shiori and her colleagues.

How could that woman stand being among such powerful and deranged people? Minerva didn't like them one bit and she could scarcely stand to be around them and yet Shiori seemed completely at ease amongst them, though she did not realize that the at ease part was more of a deliberate act and the blue-haired woman was warily polite and professional, just as she has always been.

It also seemed to unnerve the Orders professors at how quickly she could go back to being the seemingly, mundane Foreign Language teacher, since several of them feared that she might snap and attack the students. Surely, they argued, going back and forth from assassin to teacher was not mentally healthy for anyone. It was funny how quickly perceptions changed, Hagrid thought sourly when people begin to view Shiori Nakamura or Konan as a real threat when she had been nothing but helpful. After all Severus was known to be real vicious when it came to his verbal assaults on the children and staff alike an nobody was clamorin for his resignation.

Quite a few of em too, were worried about the moral implications since the Order had actually hired trained killers to protect em. This went on until Moody, ever practical and ever paranoid ol war dog that e was pointed out that the other side had already hired trained killers to kill them all in their beds and that they needed to fight fire with fire. He then asked the Order if they wanted to be left to their own defenses. That shut everyone up as they stared around in uncomfortable silence while Moody grinned smugly.

Albus wore a bemused expression on his face. The ninja's first victory had certainly caused an uproar all around, since it was likely, according to Shiori that Oto would be calling for reinforcements.

Orochimaru read the encrypted message with a strange smile on his face. How interesting. Kabuto and his team certainly weren't dealing with your ordinary run-of-the- mill ninja. They were dealing with the most notorious S-Rank criminals in all history. Since the client was paying them so handsomely, the Sennin hit upon a marvelous idea that this Lord Voldemort would certainly appreciate. It was time for him to call upon an old colleague.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

For the next few months, the Oto nin were relatively quiet, barring the fact that they had killed several members of the Order to unguarded attacks once Kabuto had figured out they had a spy in their midst. He knew about Severus Snape of course and suspected him as the leak. He had a few of his ninja try to tail the man but they had been killed quickly by one of the three Akatsuki members guarding the Order of the Phoenix.

Kabuto had to wonder just how many were here and why? It was a slim possibility that the remaining members had fled here, though very few ninja knew about the lands outside of the shinobi world, more likely they had stumbled across it, or had even been sought out and contracted by them just as Otogakure had. Possibly because the services of a nukenin were cheaper. Or perhaps they just didn't know any better.

Orochimaru in the meantime, had sought far and wide for the man he was looking for, even requesting an owl while he planned and schemed on how he was going to "help" this Lord Voldemort take over wizarding Britain and than in turn overthrow him. Day after day he waited impatiently for that damn bird to come back. Orochimaru wasn't too concerned about not being able to find him, convincing him to work with him however…well that was another matter.

Still, Orochimaru had a talent for swaying people to his side, even one as secretive and stubborn as him. In fact the man had never quite forgiven him and had nearly succeeded in murdering him for stealing some of his secrets and creating what he had scornfully called a complete, bastardization of his jutsu.

While all this was going on, Konan had been training the members of the Order in an exercise that most of the younger generation seemed to ignore. That of learning to recognize energy signatures. She had started pairing them up, first with those who had the least contact with each other and gradually moving up to those who had the most contact with each other.

One of the most basic shinobi arts, she had told them, was the Henge which allowed a ninja too look and sound like anyone and if done correctly, than a skilled shinobi could impersonate even the closest members of one's family with them none the wiser, but chakra signatures could not be faked, since each one was unique only to that person and the four dead members had been killed by their "loved ones."

Kisame had found a good drinking partner in Hagrid, who seemed only to happy to introduce him to the world of European alcohol. Mead and Fire whiskey, Gin and Rum and Brandy and Ale and Scotch. The two men would often be found in Hagrid's house getting drunk together or going out into the Forbidden Forest so that he could introduce them to all the interesting creatures that lived there. Though that was more to help Konan map the place and for the rest of the shinobi to familiarize themselves with, than anything else.

Zetsu was kept out of sight most of the time, because Konan did not want the Sound ninja or Snape to realize he was here and in all honesty, the Grass nin disliked the cold anyways and had been going back and forth from Wizarding Britain to the Hidden Continent to bring back supplies, clothes and news as he spied on Orochimaru and his village.

It was when the snow was beginning to melt away in Britain when the owl finally found it's target in a lonely little civilian town between the outskirts of Suna and Iwa. The sun was setting, casting a warm reddish glow on everything around it as the man killed the bird and stared at his name written on the scroll in the elegant hand of someone he had been plotting revenge on for a long time.

He unrolled it cautiously and began reading as a sadistic smile broke out on his face. The man had stolen his secrets and desecrated his life's work without an ounce of remorse years ago and here he was practically handing himself on a silver platter, how interesting. He got up, packed his belongings and headed for Rice Country.

Konan had just finished practicing her new jutsu when something caught her attention. She watched with critical eyes as two teachers, one Remus Lupin, the other Severus Snape followed the Animagus Sirius Black that she had been tracking. Her orders were to apprehend the man and bring him in immediately, she followed them into a secret passage hidden underneath the Whomping Willow at a cautious pace and waited patiently in the shadows.

"What would you have done?"

Coward. But Konan squashed that thought, after all these were not ninja and she could not expect them to act like one.

"I would have died! That's what I'd have done! I'd have died rather than betray my best friends!"

Konan frowned when she heard those words coming from the killer and the traitor teacher. She had been watching the scene play out for a while now as she clung to the ceiling of the Shrieking Shack like a fly. She had every intention of dealing with the three of them and had been waiting for the right time. Now she would make her presence known.

There were multiple gasps as she landed on the floor with cat-like grace.

"Professor?" Said Hermione tearfully.

Sirius blanched and pressed himself against the wall, but she ignored him as though he were invisible. she was surrounded with an aura of such malice and murder that the room was thick with it and it was becoming difficult to breathe. Her cold blue eyes were focused on the rat man in front of her, who was staring at her and making pitiful mewling noises in his throat.

Predator. That's what Peter Pettigrew's instincts told him. Perhaps it was too many years spent in his Animagus' form, but it seemed to be the only word that fit. Every movement of the petite woman was predatory, intense as a snake, and silent as a big cat. Peter felt as though he were being hunted down. He swallowed thickly, vision blurring and doubling as he watched the cold-eyed woman coming towards him with the grace of a predator. His limbs were visibly quaking and when he finally looked at her he saw his death in her eyes and let out a low moan of terror, barely registering the wet heat spreading over the front of his pants.

With a shriek he ran for his life and she stilled. As soon as he was level with her, her arm shot out and caught his in a punishing grip, Hermione shrieked as blood splattered the walls of the shack.

Sirius and Remus were wide eyed as Peter lay on the floor, kunai sticking from his legs and arms, wriggling but unable to move.

Just as suddenly Sirius found himself surrounded by her paper clones and Konan looked into his eyes.

"You will come with me or I will kill you."

Sirius grimaced at this strange new magic. He'd never seen such a thing before! And since she had just severed Peter's tendons, it was obvious that she had no qualms about doing the same to him.

She turned to Remus.

"I expect you and Severus to take the children back to the castle. Attempt to run and you will have me to deal with."

Remus nodded and began herding the children away from the grisly scene.

Albus Dumbledore was shocked when he saw two Professor Nakamuras' climb into his window and deposit Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew onto the floor.

"I caught these two intruders on the castle grounds, this one was foolish enough to run from me and is now permanently crippled unless your medics can heal severed tendons. The other came without resistance, so I have spared him from sharing the same fate. As I have little knowledge of the entire situation, I have decided to leave it up to your justice system to deal with them instead. Though from my observations, there seems to be more to this story than meets the eye, perhaps using veritaserum would give you more accurate answers. Professor Snape should be here shortly."

Albus hesitated. "I see. We will lock them up and wait for the authorities. Professor Nakamura would you mind-"

"I'll confess!" Peter squealed. "I'll confess everything but just keep me away from her and-and the Dementors I beg of you!"

Dumbledore considered. "Professor Nakamura would you be willing to witness this confession?"

"Yes." She said and locked her steely eyes on Peter.

"You had better tell the truth or I will make you wish that the Dementors _had _kissed you. Understand?"

Peter shuddered and nodded his head and began to confess everything while Dumbledore's quill began to write everything down of it's own accord, while Dumbledore himself, mindful of the scene playing out on the grounds below and hoping beyond hope that Hermione and her friends could right ages old wrongs.

The Aurors stepped in and patiently read the confession of one Peter Pettigrew, long believed to be dead and one Sirius Black a madman who confessed under veritaserum, something the Animagus thought resentfully, that should have been done years ago.

Orochimaru was more than a little surprised to see him standing on the bridge, head cocked slightly with mock curiosity and eyes staring blankly through him.

"I must admit, I wasn't expecting for you to come." He said, smiling cordially at the diminutive man."

"Don't bother with formalities Orochimaru." He said irritably.

"Of course. Kabuto-san will be arriving shortly. He'll be filling you in on the way to our client's residence."

At the mention of the medic nin's name, the man scowled and Orochimaru laughed.

"And why do I need to be escorted to the client's house?"

"Ah. Now that is what will interest you the most. You see, this client lives in a world outside the Hidden Continents and while he is no shinobi, his instincts and his bloodline are rare and interesting."

Before Orochimaru could continue to elaborate Kabuto spun from seemingly nowhere, clutching a chakra-laden sign with words that looked like gibberish to him and Kabuto looked surprised when he saw exactly who he was supposed to be escorting to the Riddle House, all the same he bowed politely and bid the man to come forward.

As they vanished, Orochimaru frowned. The fact that he had come so willingly was highly suspicious and he would have to warn Kabuto to keep an eye on him.

As Kabuto led his guest into the Malfoy's Manor, it was obvious that the Death Eaters were curious about the newcomer. Was he a special assassin? Perhaps one of the people who had been instrumental in the demise of these people? They all turned their heads curiously as Kabuto began to speak.

"Infestations of this nature are always difficult to rid an area of once they've taken root. As Konoha discovered at it's expense when one particularly powerful member ran rampant through the city and devastated it."

"You make them sound as if they were an infestation of rats instead of dangerous, S-Class criminals Kabuto." The hooded figure rasped softly, with tints of amusement and indignation in his tone.

Kabuto turned towards him, his voice slightly cooler then it was before.

And the man merely smiled.

"Even rats can be dangerous." Then the congenial voice and pleasant smile was back as he continued his explanation.

"Individuals of this particular organization have proven impossible to capture alive and incredibly difficult to kill. Doing so requires forethought and meticulous planning and even then, things can go terribly wrong when dealing with the Akatsuki. That's where he comes in."

There was something…a hint of cruel amusement, in the mild-mannered medic nin's eyes promising Lord Voldemort that he would appreciate what he had in mind. He leaned forward in anticipation.

"Allow me to introduce you."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

**Author's Note:**

_**It's been a while since I last updated huh people?**_

_**Sorry about that.**_

Konan looked out at the blossoming countryside that contradicted how she felt on the inside. Bleak, empty, yes she had a new job that she loved, yes, she had found a small measure of peace in her life and she was surrounded by new friends and old, familiar comrades but it bothered her that her newfound peace, so precious, so fragile was swiftly being crushed by war and death once again.

It seemed to be her lot in life, something she couldn't escape, from the time that she was a little girl and had stumbled across her father's and sister's bodies into the war- torn cesspit that she had called home, to fighting bloodthirsty Sound ninja now, it left her feeling empty inside, hollow, weary and she wondered briefly if this is what it must feel like to have no soul and to have nothing to look forward too. Yes she was a strong accomplished kunoichi with power and notoriety behind her, but what had she lost to gain those things?

Her head snapped to look behind her to find the Headmaster grinning ruefully at her careful observance, Remus was with him.

"Is something the matter Konan?" He asked, sensing her need to talk.

Konan wanted to unburden herself so badly, something she used to be able to do with Nagato, since it was disadvantageous and foolish to do with other shinobi. But these people lived like civilians, they could not understand the horrors of war on her level, they could not understand what it was like to have a hand in killing the man you called sensei, to kill the people you thought were friends.

Remus studied her, she seemed so strong to most people, but as the full moon approached, he could sense what a muddled mess she was on the inside. Sure she didn't let it affect the things she could do, she didn't fall into despair or reckless anger the way some people did, but the despair was buried there beneath razor-sharp instincts and a cold mask of indifference.

Suddenly there was a commotion coming from within the Headquarters and Konan got up to see what was going on.

Kisame had a black-haired, vicious-eyed, child by the throat, the child wore Oto's headband and, she thought squinting a little, Orochimaru's cursed seal.

Members of the Order were formed in a loose, half-circle around the Kiri nin and were either gazing uncomfortably at him, or protesting the boy's treatment.

"You can't kill him! He's only a boy!" Molly pleaded with the man and Konan knew that she was seeing one of her own children in his place.

"Lady, little boys like this could kill you while you were wide awake." Kisame explained in a patient tone.

"Anyway it's not my call." He explained, jerking his head over in Konan's direction.

The newest member of the Order pleaded with her.

"Konan, you can't let him be killed. You just can't!"

Konan looked at Kisame who looked back expectantly, then her gaze shifted to the child. She stepped forward and pulled the collar of his shirt back a little, where she could clearly see the cursed seal between his neck and shoulder. Another surge of bleakness crashed over her. She did not like what had to be done, but she didn't have a choice in the matter, if given the chance to activate the second level, he'd be a match for them.

The other members waited with baited breath as she turned back around.

"I am sorry Molly." She said, her face blank and perfectly composed.

_Molly, what a pretty name. _Her tired thoughts provided out of the blue and briefly made her wonder where that thought came from.

"But the boy is of no use to us."

"No-use-the-boy-no-use-he-he's just a child!" The woman sputtered.

"And a lethal one." Konan explained.

Minerva felt a lurch of nausea in her stomach. Child soldiers….

"The only use we could have had for him would to be interrogate him and he would suffer terribly before he died. At least this way, he will be killed quickly and cleanly."

Most of the Order members stared at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"Well…why couldn't we just toss him in prison?"

"Do not be foolish. One, by your own wizarding laws he would have to be sent to Juvenile Detention instead of Azkaban, a place he would be able to break out of with absurd ease. Two you would have to explain why he was there and the authorities, who have never dealt with a shinobi child would come snooping around and there is a good chance that they would discover your secret organization and the fact that you have hired high profile assassins to kill for you in which case you would end up either in Azkaban yourselves or on the run from the law."

"What if I adopted him?" She shrilled, hand reaching for her wand.

"Then you and your entire family would be slaughtered." Kisame answered. "It's not an uncommon tactic for some Ninja Villages to use younger kids to gain a family's trust and sympathy so that they would either end up taking in a spy or an assassin. I agree, it's not fair and it isn't right, but that's just how it is sometimes."

_He speaks of the Bloody Mist. The one village that still refuses to set an age limit on their shinobi. _She realized.

Before further discussion could be had, the boy's neck was snapped and the struggling child moved no more.

Molly flew at her and Konan caught her fists in her hand as she tried to beat against her chest.

"How could you?!" She shrieked. "You're a monster! A horrible, horrible monster!" She railed and Konan simply let her do so for a while until Arthur came and led his distraught wife away.

Kisame immediately went to see if the brat had teammates tucked away in the building somewhere. After making a thorough scan of the building, he told the wizards that they needed to a more secure space and soon.

As they walked away from the Headquarters Kisame sensed Zetsu's chakra flaring in the forest.

He had the weapons that they needed and had been doing a little spying on Otogakure.

"Zetsu-san." Said Konan bowing politely.

"Orochimaru is planning to attack Hagrid and the Weasley family, other then that, he's been away from Oto a lot."

Kisame snorted.

"**He's also planning to wipe you out.**" Zetsu's Darker Half said.

"**Which means lots of carnage for us."**

"I trust you three will take care of it."

"**Come now, haven't you ever wondered what Kisame and Hidan would taste like?"**

"That would be an interesting experience." Zetsu's Lighter Half said contemplatively.

"Sorry Zetsu, but you're not going to find out anytime soon." Kisame said.

"Perhaps."

"**We'll see."**

With those parting words, the Spy Master melted into the forest.

Kisame and Konan walked back towards the Headquarters and called a meeting, as soon as everyone was there, Kisame spoke.

"Good news folks, we just received news from one of our spies that the Weasley family and Hagrid is next on the hit list."

"How is that good news exactly?" Asked Arthur.

"Because it means that Oto no longer has the advantage of surprise." Kisame said, turning serious now.

"Kisame will be guarding Hagrid and I will be with the Weasleys'." Konan said.

"No! I refuse to have that woman in my home!" Molly objected vehemently.

"_Looks like she hasn't forgiven us yet." _Kisame said.

Konan raised her eyebrow at him and turned to address Molly.

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter, since Kisame's strengths and talents will be better suited to defending Hagrid's and the other teachers at Hogwarts and Hidan is not suited to guard duty."

"Why not?" She asked.

Those in the Order who had met the psychopathic priest winced collectively.

"Hidan is a Jashinist priest and there is a chance he would slaughter you as well as the Oto nin."

"You mean….that his religion requires him to go round killing people?" Asked the now white faced woman.

"That is correct. So like it or not, I will be standing guard in your home."

Later on that night, a special assassin lay in wait, listening to the sounds of drunken revelry coming from inside, when the two men finally fell asleep, he crept in noiselessly, it was going to be difficult to try and kill the target with the inebriated Akatsuki asleep on the table, especially since he'd fought members of the Hoshigaki clan before and they were a formidable bunch.

He plunged the kunai into the man's throat and it poofed out of existence.

Kisame swung his sword into the man's torso.

"Surprise." The man hissed behind him as the Shadow Clone dissipated.

Kisame grabbed the man and flung him down in front of him and struck him viciously across the jaw with his foot. The man rolled out from under him and burst through the window with Kisame hot on his trail.

"We know all about your little spy." Denjiro said, leaping into the air and flinging some shuriken at him.

"Do you now?" Kisame asked in amusement as deflected them with his sword and began running up the tree trunk.

"Exploding Water Shockwave!" The water was powerful enough to take down trees and shrubs in it's path and the Oto nin used a Substitution Jutsu to avoid getting caught in the deadly surge that reached as far as the lake and filled it to just overflowing.

Kisame used his elbow to break the man's nose and the ninja ducked out of the way and led him towards some trees. Kisame growled as exploding tags were set off and the assassin watched irritably as the clone turned into water on the floor.

"_Where'd he go?" _He wondered, trying to sense the ex-Kiri nin's chakra.

His eyes widened as he looked to the left and he ducked as Kisame nearly ripped off his head with Samehada and he flipped and zigzagged tree to tree. He whipped a scroll out of his pocket and used the blood from his nose to summon Kasshoku-Kakyaku.

The spider was about ten feet tall and her long, strong legs made her seem even larger.

Kisame eyed the summons with a bit of apprehension as he tried to figure out how he would dispel it. Then he closed his eyes and performed the seals for the Hidden Mist Jutsu and a thick, heavy fog rolled around the forest.

"Mmm. Mist user, it's been a long time since we have fought against one of those eh Denjiro?" The spider murmured as fangs dripped poison along the ground.

"Yes and this one is a Hoshigaki, I recall how much you enjoyed the juices of the last one we defeated." Denjiro answered.

The spider suddenly seemed excited and went on the hunt, her legs shaking the ground and causing all forest creatures to try and scramble out of her way, then she lunged down.

Denjiro frowned, he knew Kasshoku-Kakyaku was one of his best hunters, but surely the Hoshigaki would be harder to kill then that. His instincts proved correct as a centaur convulsed from the paralysis poison coursing through his system.

The spider wrapped the hapless centaur up in her silk and sent him to her web in the other dimension for later, before resuming her hunt for the Mist user. Kisame sent out a water clone and ripped off part of the Summons lower leg before leading her on a chase through the thick fog.

The enraged summons thundered after him and fell into the water with a loud splash.

The real Kisame was in the water and was beginning to create his sharks when the summons created a giant bubble and began swimming expertly towards him.

"Oh shit!" He thought.

Molly had not seen hide or hair of Konan that night and she suddenly wondered if the woman was coming at all.

"Arthur when do you suppose-"

"Shh Molly. We mustn't talk about that now, or they'll know we've caught onto them." He murmured in her hair.

"I'm frightened." She said, eyes darting frantically towards the children's rooms.

"I am too. But we have to have some kind of trust in Konan."

"I don't trust her any further than I could throw her." She hissed vehemently.

"But Dumbledore trusts her and we have no choice but to trust her." He explained.

Konan waited patiently in the shadows as a small squad of ninja came out of the forest, among them, she realized was her spy Masato, she began performing the hand signs.

Molly and Arthur were in the hallway as a last line of defense for their children, when they heard a loud shouts of dismay in Japanese.

Arthur told her to stay put and cautiously crept his way towards the front yard, there was one of these Oto ninja, the first he'd seen close up, with his dead teammates scattered around him.

"Konan-sama." He said, kneeling in front of her.

"You have done well Masato."

Arthur gulped. So, these ninja had their own form of the Imperius Curse did they? It was something he would have to tell Dumbledore and Moody about.

She knelt down and began weaving her hands in a jutsu, modifying the one still breathing kunoichi's memory on the off chance that she survived, it would not do for Masato to be the lone survivor of a massacre a second time. Kabuto would be sure to get suspicious.

The man took his dying teammate and headed off in the direction he'd come.

The water churned and frothed as Kisame's sharks continuously attacked the Summons legs. It made strange noises that sounded like a cross between a hiss and a shriek and finally the beast decided she'd had enough and went back to her own dimension to heal.

The sharks turned to the summoner and began ripping him apart and Kisame watched as the man's head followed his body and leg down into the lake before swimming back towards the surface and taking a deep breath of air. He hopped onto the surface of the lake and dispelled the fog.

At dawn Konan made the journey back to Hogwarts where she met up with her tired colleague and sat down to sleep.

A few days later, they were heading out to Hogsmeade with Severus, Remus and Minerva when Kisame sensed several chakra signatures slowly flanking them.

"Oto shinobi are coming our way."

She turned towards the wizards. "You will do only what we tell you to do if you want to survive this experience. No arguing."

Severus opened his mouth to argue when they attacked.

Konan tensed as Kisame and Hidan took off after two of the ninja, Hidan's bloodlust heavy in the air around them. The twins were from the Gouryuu clan and he swung his scythe at them, trying to get a hit.

But the twins were fast and dodged it. They blocked his heavy handed punch when Kisame severed the offending hand with Samehada and backed away hastily. He had never liked fighting Gouryuu.

"Don't let them touch you you fool! Don't you know what clan they're from? He growled.

"So fucking what?" Hidan sneered. "Who cares what clan the little freaks are from?"

"They are members of the Gouryuu clan Hidan." Konan explained, "The way they kill is unique. They will take over the body of their opponent one cell at a time, absorbing and killing all your own cells until you are no more. They are one of Hidden Rain's most formidable clans."

The wizards gaped. These people could do things like that? Create entire families capable of manipulating their bodies and the bodies of their opponents at a cellular level?

Hidan lifted an eyebrow in disgust before letting out a loud whoop, he leaped over the Gouryuu's head and swung his scythe hard. But each and every time the scythe was blocked by a hand or a leg that came from nowhere.

One of the twins sneered at him as she pulled herself into his body.

Hidan tensed at the frightening sensation of his body being slowly absorbed by the girl.

"Are you ready brother?" Haruka asked with glee.

"Yes…" Kinkin responded as he began sliding into Hidan.

Hidan slashed at the places where the twins were merging into him, causing shock and dismay as blood fell to the ground and Hidan ingested their blood by cutting his tongue and .

Minerva froze. She didn't think he could stand to watch the priest perform his horrifying rituals again.

"W-what the hell are you doing?" Kinkin asked as Hidan drew the sacred symbol and began to change color.

"Tell me, do you believe in God?" He asked.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh! It has everything to do with it, because today you're going to meet him." The man cackled.

"Come and we will share the gift of your agony together!" Hidan lifted his pike and raked it down his arm, causing the Gouryuu twins to scream.

Kisame felt his own battle lust rising and he went after the brown haired kunoichi.

She made rapid hand seals and stomped the ground with one foot.

"Earth Release! Crumbling Earth Jutsu!"

He leaped out of the way as the ground crumbled beneath him and made three water clones to circle her.

Her sharp brown eyes flickered to each one rapidly, before she spun out of the way of his sword.

"Is that the best you can do?" Kisame mocked as he brought the huge sword towards her shoulder, she moved towards the ground and sank beneath it, only to pop up behind him at a safer distance.

Kisame sneered. "Not good enough! You're playing with the big boys now girly! You need to do better then that to keep up."

Hidan plunged his pike into their liver and laughed as they crumpled to the ground.

"Eh. You know that's not a fun way to go. But wait'll you see what happens when I kill you little freaks! That's the best part seriously!"

He plunged the pike into his heart and the twins lay dead at his feet.

Remus, who was the only one who hadn't seen them fight was surprised to see the big man moving so quickly as he kicked the girl, she got hit with Samehada before she body flickered out of sight and thrust a kunai into his kidneys, dissipating the water clone. Then she turned and was forced on the defensive by Kisame, being backed further and further away from her teammates, she grit her teeth in pain each time the big sword shredded her skin.

"Double Rock Assault Jutsu!"

Kisame hooted with laughter as he slashed through the rocks, swinging his sword he whirled and hit hers again, she blocked with her right and struck with her left, but he merely turned Samehada and blocked both, before using both hands to try and knock the right sword left, then she groaned as she felt herself being drained of chakra.

The real Kisame threw a kunai and she melted into a mud clone.

Severus Snape may not have been a ninja but even he could see the apparent differences in strength.

"Why is he taking so long when he could easily dispose of her?" he whispered to Konan who was guarding them from attack.

"Kisame likes a good battle, though I fear he may not get it today. So he will toy with the kunoichi in hopes that she is holding back. He will get bored soon enough."

She replied in an emotionless tone of voice when a third nin attacked her, they watched in horror as the ninja plunged a kunai into her throat and let out stunned cries as she turned into a log.

Konan stood on a tree watching the ninja and cast her genjutsu.

The Oto nin looked around and saw his team being obliterated, then one of his dead teammates got up right before his eyes and transformed into the Ame kunoichi. With a snarl, he went for the enemy.

"I'll kill you Akatsuki bitch!" He said.

The kunoichi flipped over his head and he blocked, forming hand signs he blew out a large fireball and she rolled on the ground to put it out, getting up smoothly on one knee.

The other two were coming closer, the Kiri nin grinning unnervingly and the crazed Yuu nin brandishing his scythe. As the three closed in he applied chakra to his legs and leaped over them. The kunoichi was closest and he severed her head.

The wizards screamed in horror as the illusion melted and he stared at the headless body of his teammate.

What was that? Snape wondered. He didn't understand. These ninja were far more dangerous then the Dark Lord and all his Death Eaters put together! Even a handful of them had caused a remarkable amount of devastation in a few short moments.

"Dammit Konan! " Hidan growled angrily. "He was supposed to be my fucking kill! Not yours! Mine!"

"Save some for the rest of us Hidan." Kisame called.

She shrugged and went after the Oto nin. The man spat in her face and she leaped, he blocked her kick and blew out another fireball.

She made rapid hand signs and spoke in English.

"Origami Dance! Murder of White Crows!"

The wizards watched in morbid fascination as she dissipated into a flock of slowly circling white crows, they spiraled higher and higher before covering his body, sharp beaks and talons ripping the man to pieces.

Kisame had the girl's leg shredded off, she backed away with terror in her eyes, she looked dumbly at the sight of her leg on the ground before he killed her. Minerva shuddered. It looked as though it had gone through a blender.

Konan and Kisame shot each other significant glances.

Something was wrong. Something was off, this fight had been too easy. She had worked too long with the Snake Sennin, who was something of a tactical genius to know that with him, things were never as they seemed. He always had a bigger, better plan behind subtle ruses.

"It is a ruse." She said out loud. "Orochimaru is planning something."

The sound of someone slowly clapping caught their attention.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

The sound of someone slowly clapping caught their attention.

Konan turned her head to see two ninja coming from the forest.

Remus noticed that her eyes calmly swept over the white haired man, she didn't seem too surprised to see him. But when the other man took off his hood, her eyes widened a fraction of a second with surprise before she faced them completely.

"So. You've figured it out have you?" The white haired man asked in a congenial tone as though he were making polite inquiries at a social gathering.

Konan brought her kunai closer to her chest.

"Sasori-san. It is a surprise to see you here of all places. I didn't realize you were working with Orochimaru."

The red head inclined his head a margin to the left, his voice as toneless as hers.

"Believe me, I was just as surprised to learn that he wanted to hire me for this job. I would have refused on principal of _who it was." _Here he shot Kabuto a disgusted look._ "_But when I heard what the other half of my payment was, I couldn't resist."

"Oh. And what would that be?" Konan asked.

"The prospect of adding some very unique puppets to my collection." Sasori said, his blank face morphing into a beautiful, dreamy smile.

For a moment they locked eyes and Konan understood, giving the ex-Suna nin a barely imperceptible nod.

"I didn't know Orochimaru thought so poorly of us." Said Kisame sourly.

"Why you little traitor! By the time I'm through with you, you'll be nothing but firewood!" Hidan snarled and Kabuto laughed.

"Traitor? Those are lofty words coming from the remaining members of a notorious group composed almost entirely of nukenin. Or didn't they tell you?" He asked the group of wizards.

"Nukenin?" Remus asked, apparently confused by the foreign word.

"Nukenin. Rogue ninja. Each of them have committed serious acts of treason against their village. Shall I tell you more?" He asked and went on anyways at the wizards dumbfounded looks.

"They are all members of the Akatsuki."

"I keep hearing that word being bandied about." Severus said. "Just what is this Akatsuki?"

"The Akatsuki were a group of rogue shinobi bent on complete domination of the ninja world. Their goal was to capture the jinchuuriki. Ninja possessed by nine very powerful demons called Bijuu. They extracted the demon from it's human host and sealed it, waiting until they had all nine so they could unleash them on the world as a weapon. But their plan went up in smoke when the organization was destroyed before extracting the last demon."

He paused for a moment to allow the wizards a moment to absorb the new information.

"Hoshigaki Kisame is the Monster of Kirigakure. He attempted a coup de tat on the Leader of the Land of Water's life and fled his village when the attempt failed. Konan was the right hand of the Akatsuki, while living the double life of a village council member in Amegakure. Hidan is an immortal priest to Jashin God of Slaughter. He became a missing nin after wiping out most of the village of Yuugakure. Imagine that? Your saviors are nothing more but the most dangerous criminals in history."

The wizards stared. "Is this true?"

"Yes." she said simply.

Konan sought out Kisame's eyes, they flickered briefly at Sasori and he grinned.

Kabuto began forming hand seals and the four ninja tensed when coffins appeared from the ground in front of them. The first coffin opened and Konan looked stricken when the tall blonde man came out from it.

Severus saw the look on her face and remembered that the blonde was her lover.

Minerva and Remus saw the look on her face as well and despite the disturbing information they'd received, felt bad for their friend.

After her moment of shock, Konan drew in a deep breath, though her eyes were narrowed in complete disgust as the second coffin opened to reveal a frighteningly tall and intimidating man. She was just as surprised to see Kakuzu there but, this time she revealed nothing though inside her heart was hurting for Deidara. He did not deserve to be used like this.

The blonde raised his head to look at her.

"_Konan-chan, long time no see."_

"I'll take care of ol Stitch face! It's high time I sent that bastard to hell like I promised!" the Jashinist said, licking his lips with anticipation.

"_Hn. You never could beat me while I was alive." _Kakuzu scoffed. "_What makes you think you can do it now?"_

"Shut the fuck up Kakuzu!" Hidan snapped.

Kabuto walked up to each ninja and placed a kunai inside of them, making them obedient to his will.

Konan's hand tightened around her kunai.

"You know." Kabuto said, addressing the wizards with that strange smile on his face. "You wizards don't have much sense."

"And why is that?" Severus snarled.

"Because you are standing amongst six members of the Akatsuki. No ninja ever saw this many in one place and survived."

Remus blanched. All of them? Even the redhead? They were all members of this criminal organization? Looking around at the seven of them, he smelled power on them and psychosis too. They thrummed with it, he could believe that he was in a midst of dangerous criminals.

"The Akatsuki is no more." Konan said. "And it hasn't been for months. You act as if we are still working towards a common goal…_Kabuto-san_."

Kabuto grinned. "I'm sure. Now if we're done talking, let's get this party started shall we?"

Faster then Minerva could see, the remaining Sound ninja stood in front of her, poised to kill. Konan flickered into her view and she stepped lightly away as the Sound nin drew his large sword against her smaller kunai. The sound of clanking metal filled the air as the two ninja fought. Their speed was so incredible it was as if the two were disappearing and reappearing constantly.

He swung left and she ducked to the right, then he swung the other way and she ducked down, parrying each swing with her kunai then they both leaped in the air and he swung down, she moved her kunai up to block it and leaped out of the way again, causing the downward arc of his sword to hit the ground. They leaped again as soon as they landed and Konan stood on his sword before jumping off only to find Kakuzu at her back.

The stunned wizards watched as Konan was knocked through two trees with one punch. She managed to shake herself out of her stupor and transformed into a group of white butterflies, which split itself around the next tree and flew towards the sky, before forming into a dragon. The origami beast roared before power diving towards Kabuto.

Legs spread wide, Kabuto ducked low, one leg crossed over the other so he could catch Konan with a kunai to her leg. Konan could only smile as sheets of paper fell to the ground and she reformed behind him. He turned and flung a handful of shuriken which she dodged with ease by leaping skywards.

Sasori and Kisame watched with interest as the two battled. With a loud whoop of his own Hidan moved towards Kakuzu.

His scythe came clashing down on the unperturbed man as he turned a strange shade of gray and with one chakra powered fist, sent Hidan crashing to the ground. Hidan got up quickly when Kakuzu was almost on top of him and only got grazed when the man detached his arms.

"Still up to your old tricks ya stupid bastard?" He sneered.

"There's no point in taunting him Hidan, you will no more get a response out of him then you will out of one of Sasori's puppets."

It was one of the techniques Orochimaru developed in Akatsuki and she was sure that the Snake Sennin was somewhere out there laughing up his sleeve. The man loved emotionally charged dramatics to accompany the battles he orchestrated.

"Kisame! Watch out!" She called.

Deidara flung a handful of grasshoppers at him and he only barely managed to get out of the way, cursing wildly as they began tracking him. He remembered this particular form of Deidara's jutsu and taking a deep, calming breath stopped moving as he began working on an idea to get out of this unexpected situation, the clay grasshoppers came closer and with a sudden swipe of his Samehada, he slashed through them, draining them of chakra.

.Konan saw where Deidara was headed and stopped for a moment to watch as he skimmed low over the ground on his clay bird, birds flew from Deidara's hands and in a few flashes of bright light, he decimated half of Hogsmeade, her blue hair was whipping in the wind the explosions had created.

People trapped in the buildings screamed, others caught in the streets were stumbling over dead bodies, trying frantically to get away from the Iwa bomber. She expected him to turn around and smile ecstatically at his work. Those particular expressions on his face were what made him so beautiful in battle. When all that remained was a blank-eyed stare something snapped deep inside her.

Minerva's hand clutched her chest as it beat erratically, she felt as though she were going to have a heart attack and Konan had just stood there watching it happen, looking strangely expectant and wistful at first but then her face twisted into one of cold fury.

Remus saw how many innocent people had been killed and how many more were being trampled in a panicked crush. He began retching violently as the smell of burning flesh reached his sensitive nose.

"Minerva take this." Severus said gently, handing her a bottle light blue potion.

Hidan was getting thrashed by his former teammate, but the Jashinist didn't seem to want to give up. Kakuzu punched him hard and sent the priest rolling over the ground, he was up in a flash and his scythe caught his ex partner's leg and ripped it clean off, where it re-grew much to the Jashinist's disbelieving eyes.

"When the hell could you do that?" He asked in confusion.

Konan shook her head.

Sasori took advantage brought out two puppets and they flew towards the blue haired kunoichi with an eerie clacking noise, reminiscent of chittering insects.

"Your fight's with me Sasori." Kisame said and Sasori smiled. He had not had a chance to relish a fight between equals since the pink haired girl and his grandmother had "killed him."

Sasori scowled as Kisame stared at him, both shinobi were scrutinizing each other. He knew that Kisame could cut right through his chakra strings and drain him and his human puppets of their chakra. He would have to distract him until he could get a clear shot on the Kiri nin. He smiled and shot a wave of white hot flame and Kisame dodged it, knowing that countering with one of his water jutsu at such a close range would create scalding steam, when Kisame moved away from his attack, Sasori shot off several rounds of his poisoned senbon creating a deadly field and Kisame created a water wall and tried to flush some of them off the field so he could get close enough to drain the puppet master of his chakra.

Konan felt her own battle lust come roaring to life as she faced Kabuto but Severus stepped in her way.

"So you won't stop your lover even though he's destroying the town! What the hell happened to doing what is necessary?"

When the woman faced him, Severus finally understood the phrase if looks could kill. Her eyes were murderous now and he had never seen her in such a state, feeling suddenly apprehensive that he'd gone too far, he stepped back, swallowing thickly when she grabbed him by his cloak.

Remus and Minerva flinched at the sight.

"Do not speak of things which you know nothing about Severus._" _Then in a voice so low that only they could hear she whispered, "You and you the others need to leave this place now. We cannot keep you safe and kill off such high level shinobi at the same time. Go help the villagers."

He maintained a neutral expression though he could still feel her fury pouring into him like a noxious poison and he wondered if she would harm him once this was over…if she survived. Severus was not entirely sure if he wanted them too or not. Perhaps these dangerous freaks would solve both Dumbledore's and the Dark Lord's problem and kill each other off? He fervently hoped so.

Remus suddenly felt himself being swung up on Konan's back and carried off at a breakneck pace towards the burning town, Minerva and Snape were next to him on her clones. They were deposited and the clones dissipated into paper.

"You two will help put out the fires! I will help get the villagers to St. Mungos!" Severus ordered, whirling to find Kingsley and Moody there with him.

Remus shuddered as he cast a dousing spell on a house that was only beginning to burn. Was this what it was like for their ancestors? He could certainly understand why they wanted nothing more to do with that lifestyle, war and murder day in and day out! He fully sympathized with the reason they fled and allowed their skills and talents to weaken and why they adopted such strict policies on magic over the years.

Konan groped at her throat as Kakuzu held her in his powerful crushing grip, it was becoming hard to breathe and her vision burst with white stars against blackness before she managed to bring trembling into a sign and the wood between the Taki nin's hand cracked, she hid in a tree to regain her breath and analyze this surprising turn of events.

Kakuzu was intelligent and wise and physically powerful and that made him one of the most dangerous people Konan had ever met, she glanced apprehensively at the two remaining masks on his back. The man only used them when he was up against particularly powerful opponents and Kabuto had always been particularly talented at proper information gathering, to have learned his jutsu well enough to fight, though this was weaker, slower, and at the moment, incapable of thinking on his own. Talented though Kabuto was, he had nothing on Orochimaru's talent and cunning. The Sennin's tactical genius and intimate knowledge would have made this a flawless performance

Still, Kabuto was very clever and with his medical jutsu attacks he was a particularly formidable opponent and Konan knew that killing or severely injuring him would break the jutsu. Orochimaru must have been particularly desperate to have taught him such a powerful jutsu. One, that he could no longer execute himself. She thought with a slight smile.

Where was Hidan? Ah. The man was trapped in one of Kakuzu's Water Prisons and was struggling to get himself out, so his Water Mask was intact, but she could not tell what the other mask's elemental affinity was, since taking hearts was reserved exclusively for the Wakahisa clan's kekkai genkai and was not something that could be duplicated.

First she would have to dispel the clone that held Hidan prisoner, then she would have to have Hidan get between her and Kakuzu, after that she had to take down Kabuto. She formed a clone to draw off Kakuzu's attack and another to go after the clone, while she positioned herself in place to kill Kabuto.

Kisame had formed a deep pool of water and sent his sharks to rip the puppet to pieces, they grabbed Sasori and dragged him down. Kisame cursed as he saw Sasori's heart transfer to another puppet

The Suna nin charged with a surge of lightning and Kisame only barely managed to escape getting fried. He alternated between shooting off poisoned senbon and lightning, forcing him to watch where he was stepping. Kisame had seen what the sadistic bastard's poisons were capable of and if this was a new one, well Kisame did not want to be the first on the battlefield to see what it did.

Konan cursed as Deidara dropped a few lizards on her, they were incredibly fast and difficult to evade, but she had gotten Kakuzu off her back at least. Her clone was fighting alongside Hidan who was chopping at various body parts and cursing angrily when they grew back. She ducked into the cover of the trees, dispelled the clone that was fighting with Hidan and formed a new one to draw Deidara over to Sasori. The Suna nin's howl of rage told her that she had successfully destroyed a few of his puppets, who had been waiting to ambush Kisame when he got close enough.

She formed her hand and summoned a demon windmill shuriken and flung them at Kabuto who ducked, then Konan formed a flurry of flower shuriken and blinded the medic nin while she guided the demon windmill back, if she timed it right she could cut off his hand and sure enough she heard his cry of pain as the Oto shinobi, Deidara and Kakuzu fell to the ground, the earth melting off Kakuzu to reveal the face of a tall, burly Oto ninja. Deidara's "body" detonated on impact and she closed her eyes and moved away from the burning trees as Kabuto beat a hasty retreat, cradling his severed hand in his one good arm…and yet, there was a smug smile on the bastard's face as he teleported and she wondered what he was up too, but she would have to figure that out later since the fight wasn't over yet, they still had to fight Sasori and that alone was no easy feat.

Sasori surrounded the winded kunoichi with several puppets and Konan was caught in the melee, unable to move away from the poisoned blades, as the poison began to affect her nervous system and she was beginning to run low on chakra, she wondered if today was her day to die. Still, she had no intention of doing so without taking some of his puppets down with her, she slapped explosive tags on them and switched out with one of her clones, her limbs were beginning to shake and she was finding it harder to move, as the small explosion tore them apart.

Sasori snarled irritably as Kabuto told him to retreat and he began backing away from Kisame when Konan appeared behind him. Together she and Kisame took off after him through the burning forest. Kisame dodged a falling branch and Konan had to jump over a log that burst into flame, showering her with hot sparks. The smoke was making it harder for her to breathe as the poison worked its way through her system.

"You ok Blue?" Kisame asked as she stumbled.

"Poisoned." She muttered.

Ahead, one of Sasori's puppets made the sign for a parley and the two nin stopped.

"Good, we can talk here safely." Sasori smiled.

"I need you to two to do me a little favor."

"What do we get in return? The antidote?" Kisame asked suspiciously.

"Of course not. You know how I like to give people a sporting chance. It makes the game more interesting. But I need you to help me take down Orochimaru and Voldemort."

"For your art?" Konan asked with a slight smile.

Sasori returned it.

"That's one reason. Voldemort can do things not even ninja can do and I want him for my collection. I hardly think I need to explain why I want to take down Orochimaru, but I need powerful ninja at my side when I do it. I'll be sending you a little message later on...if your still alive Konan-san." He sneered as he and his puppet disappeared.

For a moment, all they heard was the crackling flame, which lent the forest an eerie glow, finally Kisame spoke.

"Think we should take a chance with the little bastard? He did just try to kill us after all." But he was grinning as he said it, clearly looking forward to the idea of matching wits with the wily puppet master.

Konan felt chills wracking her body despite the intense heat.

"Yes. I believe we should, but keep Hidan out of the know, after all, we should give him a sporting chance."

Kisame let loose a bark of sardonic laughter as they emerged from smoke and steam. The Aurors were busy putting out the forest fire when Konan was stopped by Severus.

"What happened out there? Did you get them?" He asked the now barely coherent Konan.

"No…he got away."

"You've been poisoned." Severus stated, as he observed her weakening body.

He should just let her die, he told himself. She and her friends have caused nothing but devastation and death since they've been here. Before he realized what he was doing, he instructed Kisame to take her to the Headquarters.

"Severus." She said weakly. "You must remove all the senbon, but you must not touch them, the smallest scratch will kill you and knowing him, they are possibly coated in contact poisons."

"What the fuck happened to you?" Hidan asked.

"She's been poisoned idiot." Kisame grumbled.

"Hey before you die, can I kill you in the name of Jashin-sama? It might save your soul and it's not like Zetsu will be able to eat you anyways." Hidan said.

Konan glared at the Yuu nin.

"I'm not even dead yet and I have two psychopaths after my corpse."

Kisame snorted in amusement. "Back off you greedy buzzard." He muttered, as he walked Konan towards the headquarters at a brisk pace. Hidan glowered and turned to follow them.

Sirius blanched when he saw who was coming into the house. He never could get over his fear of Konan and seeing her walking into the house splattered with blood didn't help ease them.

"Oh goodness." Molly gasped as she caught sight of them.

Kisame flopped down on the couch and spread out.

"That was a helluva fight! I'm ready to put up my heels and rest for a few hours."

Konan collapsed on the chair and tried to get her foggy mind into order. Where was Zetsu? He'd had enough time to warn them that Sasori was working with Orochimaru. His absence meant that he had either been killed or captured. She coughed and a mixture of black fluid and blood splattered on her cloak, she was simply waiting for the poison to reach her brain and shut everything off. She recognized this poison now, it was the one that immobilized the enemy so that Sasori could finish them off at his leisure so he could began making plans on turning them into human puppets.

She stared with glazed eyes as Severus held a strange looking ball in his hands.

"Eat this. It's a bezoar and it will nullify any poison." He was saying.

Konan stared suspiciously at it, since for all she knew, the double agent could be trying to poison her instead, but finally she took it with shaking fingers and swallowed the thing.

She sat and dozed lightly on the chair for the next hour and was woken by Albus, who looked very grieved, her ears only catching some of the words coming from his mouth.

"Oto nin…killed…five members…left unprotected…while you…fighting…"

So that had been Orochimaru's plan. She thought as she struggled to keep her eyes open. He had distracted them with one battle on top of another so they could sneak around and kill off more members. The clever bastard. Well, she had survived Sasori's attempt at poisoning her and would look forward to playing his game, but for now she needed rest and judging by the looks of Kisame and Hidan, so did they.


	14. Chapter 14

**Far From Home**

**Chapter Fourteen**

* * *

_Zetsu cursed angrily as he wrapped the wound under his ribs tighter._

"**Damn that Sasori!"** _His Darker Half cursed._

_"I'm going to kill him when I get the chance." His Lighter Half agreed._

_He had been surprised to see him working with Orochimaru. Realizing the danger he was in if he hung around the former Suna nin, he had tried to move discreetly through the walls so he could get out and warn Konan, but Sasori had known he was there the whole time and had stabbed him with that poisoned mechanical stinger of his._

_Then Sasori had unleashed a female puppet of Zetsu's kind, the first the half plant demon had ever seen and chased after him with it. It had unnerved Zetsu to be matched on his own ground, something he had never had to deal with before._

_The puppet plant demon could go underground just as he could, could use thorny vines to fight and bind, just as he could and the puppet also had another trick up her sleeve, she could use special pollen to arouse his mating instincts and it had almost been the death of him._

_Fortunately, the plant had neutralized most of the poisons the Puppet nin used and had speeded up the healing process. Unfortunately, his position as a spy had been wrecked and he knew he couldn't go back while that unappetizing little shit was still there._

_"Soon. We'll be there soon." His Lighter Half said soothingly._

* * *

Severus had cast a translation spell on that book that the white haired man had given him. He flipped through its pages until he caught sight of Konan, than he continued to read on about the other members. What he saw was cause for concern.

They were frightening, each member had been a powerful force to be reckoned with all on their own. The fact that this woman and her companions used to work with the leader of Otogakure made him wonder just who's side she was on.

The leader of Otogakure himself had him gaping. The crimes he'd committed alone were enough to turn even Moody's stomach. Not even the Dark Lord himself had experimented on human beings. The fact that this Orochimaru and this Madara Uchiha had found ways to recycle their souls in a far more, time-efficient manner than the Horcruxes made him fearful of how unstoppable he would be if such knowledge ever got into his hands.

The Edo Tenshi and the red head's creation of battle puppets made from the bodies of his defeated opponents made the Inferi seem crude and primitive in comparison. Damn! What was wrong with these people? They were more than just criminals, they had been comprised of a group of psychopathic mass murderers! And those who weren't labeled deceased, were marked Kill on Sight.

Alastor Moody walked up to Severus, looking grim.

"We've lost five order members, two of em were Aurors, four of em were murdered in their homes and we've got no way of knowing if Tonks is among the living or not." He rubbed his face.

"So that was the plan." Severus said just as grimly, "Distract our lovely little murderers while those mangy jackals pick us off."

While Mad-Eye was used to Severus' vitriol, there was something about this particular tone of voice that set off warning bells.

"Now Severus, they're just doing there duty and we're damned lucky to have them on our side."

"Are we?" He asked. "Tell me, did you see the destruction these people caused? I thought they were supposed to be discreet but-"

"Course I saw it! I was there wasn't I?" Mad-Eye countered.

"No. You _saw nothing!"_ Severus interrupted. "You saw the aftermath! You didn't get to witness the entire spectacle. Let me tell you," and here he lowered his voice, "these people are as much a danger to us as they are to these Oto ninja, perhaps even more so. Look at what I found, page 78 under a translation spell, this woman and her _colleagues _used to work right alongside this Otogakure leader lunatic and all of them are marked Kill on Sight! Now, use your keen Auror senses and tell me that doesn't raise red flags?"

Moody was than surprised to see the reptilish resemblance of the leader of these ninja as he perused the book. Orochimaru, Kisame, Hidan, Kabuto and Konan were all marked for death. Hell the entire organization had been marked for death! He bit his lip anxiously when he read about this Orochimaru's abilities to recycle his soul every four years.

"And you would do well to continue to be wary of us. Complacency and complete trust are not virtues among shinobi." Konan said from behind them.

Both men whirled around.

"Feeling better I trust Konan?" Asked Severus archly.

"I am well enough." She replied in a neutral, yet slightly condescending tone of voice.

"Are you sayin we can't trust you?" Mad-Eye Moody demanded.

Konan looked wearily at them.

"Whether you choose to trust us is up to you. I am simply saying that to trust anyone completely is foolish and nothing more. But understand that if we were working with Orochimaru you would have been dead a long time ago as there is no reason to have drawn the battle out for so long."

Mad-Eye was torn between approval of her self-confidence and deep suspicion of Severus's discoveries.

"I need to ask you about this body switching jutsu. Is it possible for Lord Voldemort to learn it?"

"No."

"How do you know this?"

"There is a reason we are trained so young Severus, if left untrained until puberty, our chakra coils will go to waste because they will be too small to accommodate the proper amounts of internal energy needed to form jutsu. If this Lord Voldemort were trained at the same age as the rest of you, just before puberty than his coils would be too small to be able to form even the simplest of jutsu, let alone a dangerous and complex one such as transferring the soul and suppressing that of the host's. You also need to be extremely physically fit, since chakra is a combination of physical and spiritual energy."

Both men looked relieved and Mad-Eye was intrigued. Could it be possible that a wizarding child trained at a younger age could become as powerful as shinobi?

"What about this Sasori? Can you handle him or is he too much for you?" He asked snidely.

"Akasuna no Sasori is a dangerous opponent. His presence changes the dynamics of the playing field drastically." She admitted, "He is crafty and knowledgeable, but if there's one thing I've learned it's that any shinobi can be defeated."

Then she turned towards the Auror.

"Moody-san, where is Kisame?"

"He's downstairs sleeping." He asked.

She nodded her head and walked out of the room.

"I'll keep an eye on her." Mad-Eye said.

Severus nodded.

Kisame woke up with a start to see Konan standing over him.

"_What's going on?" _He asked.

"_Zetsu must have been either captured or killed." _She replied. _"Otherwise we would have heard about Sasori's alliance with Orochimaru." _

"_Yeah, I was thinking that earlier."_

She gave him a look.

"_After you passed out." _He amended.

"_So how are we going to spy on Oto when Sasori's probably killed Zetsu and can turn any of your Sleeper Agents against us?" _He wondered.

"_We'll figure that out soon."_

She paused.

"_It seems that Severus and Moody are suspicious of our motives as well."_

"_That a problem?" _He asked.

She thought for a moment.

"_For now, no. If they want us gone we will leave. If they try and betray us…"_

"_We kill them." _He finished.

She nodded.

"_In a half an hour we are going to call a meeting, the Double Agent and the Auror have discovered the reason behind Oto's large scale attack."_

"_And that is?"_

"_To distract us while they went after five more members. Four confirmed dead, one missing."_

"_Probably dead."_

"_Possibly, possibly not. The missing one is a descendant of the Sukinshifuta clan, so she may have escaped, though it's more likely that she was caught so Orochimaru can use her as part of a breeding program."_

"_Yeah, that crazy bastard wouldn't miss out on an opportunity like that." _He muttered.

Konan said nothing.

"You should go change. Don't wanna frighten the civilians now do you?" He grinned.

Konan's lips twitched in an almost retort, but she refrained. The same, cold, silent specter of a woman he'd always known. Kisame wasn't sure to be glad that they were getting the old Konan back or not. Nah, these wizard types were good for her, got her to open up a bit. So long as she was herself on the battlefield and in the ol' war room it didn't matter how she acted.

Konan and Kisame listened to the Aurors' reports and Konan gave her opinion on Tonks' possible status.

"If Orochimaru's gotten wind of her then she would be too valuable to kill. He might torture her for information on the whereabouts of others like her. But he will not kill her."

"What makes Tonks so special to the enemy exactly?" Asked Perseus Stillwaters.

"Her Kekkai Genkai."

"English please?" Severus said.

"It means her bloodline trait." Kisame supplied. "She's got the ability to change her appearance at will right?"

"Yes." Said Severus.

"That's because Tonks is a descendant of the Sukinshifuta Clan of Yuugakure."

"So…there's a whole clan o' people like Tonks out there?" Asked Hagrid.

"There used to be. They were originally made to be the perfect spies and assassins. But the last of them were wiped out forty years ago by their home village who feared they would turn against them and no one would even realize it." He said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. "So using her to revive the extinct clan would be beneficial to any village."

Almost every jaw in the room dropped open. To have that sort of thing hardwired into your genes, to be trained to be the best of the best and then to have your existence wiped out because the very government that used you had grown afraid of your power? Of the possible what-ifs?

"There is also the possibility she managed to escape." Konan replied.

A flare of chakra caught her attention, though she appeared to have all of it focused on Dumbledore.

Kisame shifted to a more defensive position.

Arthur Weasely walked in and Konan saw the grayish veil of genjutsu surrounding him. Masata. The flash of chakra had suddenly become very familiar and before her brain caught up with her body she flung two kunai and was stabbing a third through his heart.

The Order interrupted into screams and yells.

"Arthur!"

"What the hell?"

"Has she gone mad?"

"She's lost it!"

Molly Weasely stared at the body of her husband.

"Shh. Shh. It's alright Molly, look. This is not your Arthur."

Kisame had never heard her speak so gently before, as though she were soothing a frightened child.

At that moment Arthur Weasely stepped in.

"Good lord what's happened here?" He asked, blanching when he saw the dead body blocking the doorway.

"Arthur!" Molly Weasely flung herself in his arms and held him close, body trembling.

Crisis averted her voice became sharp and commanding.

"Kisame!"

"I'm on it." He split himself into three clones and went off to search the building.

"Dumbledore-san, Moody-san, Shacklebolt-san, you need to get them to a safe place. Security has been breached and my spy has been compromised."

They nodded.

Only one person was capable of tweaking the Sleeper Jutsu. Akasuna no Sasori. Her feet flew but wherever she looked he was nowhere to be found.

After confirming that he wasn't here, Konan regrouped with Kisame.

"Where is Hidan?" She asked him.

"Little bastard is using up all the hot water." He complained.

At that moment, Zetsu arrived.

"Zetsu!" Kisame cried out.

"Konan…"

"**I'm going to kill Sasori for poisoning me."**

Konan reached into her pocket for the Bezoars she had lifted from Snape.

"Here, eat this."

"**What is that?" **

"It removes all poisons. It cured me as well."

Zetsu opened his mouth reluctantly, for all he knew, she could be trying to finish him off for getting caught. It was a common practice to destroy a failed spy in most villages.

"Rest now Zetsu-san." She murmured as Kisame lifted him on the bed.

"One of us needs to get back to the client."

"I'll go." Kisame said.

If anyone attacked, Konan was strong enough to fend them off and she had Hidan there as well.

He caught up quickly with the rest back at the castle.

"You need to find a more secure place for the Order." Kisame told Dumbledore.

"I have one." Sirius growled, looking very bitter.

"Grimmauld Place, it's the perfect place for us to set up shop as its completely unplottable and uses old protection magic that most people don't even remember exist anymore."

Sirius looked up to see the questioning look in the shinobi's eyes, but neither of them said a word.

Remus knew how badly Sirius hated his family home.

"Thank you Sirius." He said, gratitude thick in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't mention it and I mean that literally_!_"

Remus laughed a little.

"Should we head there now?" He asked Kisame.

"No. They'll be expecting that and we need to wait for the others."

"Where is Konan and Hidan anyways?" Asked Hagrid.

"They're waiting to see if they can ambush pursuers." Kisame lied smoothly.

"Man these wizards may be pussies! But they've got the best showers ever! I was in there for damn near four hours and the water is still hot!" Said Hidan happily as he marched down the stairs.

"Hey! What's wrong with the Venus Fly Freak?" He asked.

"He is resting." She said. She was pretty upset that he had spent all his time in the shower when he could have prevented Masata from entering.

He either didn't notice that she was angry with him or he simply didn't care. Konan had never been entirely sure which.

"There was an Oto ninja here." She said.

"Really?" He asked, looking surprised.

At least for the most part he was easy to read.

She reminded herself that she had to be straightforward with him.

"Do not let your guard down again Hidan-san." She said severely.

"Psh! Hey what about you two? You fuckers should have felt him a mile away!" He snapped.

She pointed to the corpse on the floor.

"We did sense him coming and I took care of it."

"Whatever." He grumbled.

She held back an angry sigh. He was absolutely impossible, it was no wonder Kakuzu had constantly griped about him.

"Where did everyone else go?" He asked.

Absolutely impossible.

But she answered in an even tone, "Kisame went with them to discuss finding a more secure area.

"Oh. I guess I didn't think about that." He said sheepishly and Konan found her lips twitching with amusement in spite of herself.

"Hey Konan! When can we get the fuck outta here?" He wondered.

He's like an impatient child. She thought. It was no small wonder that Kakuzu had also shared laughs with the others at his expense.

"Till this is finished. But you know you don't have to stay Hidan-san." She said quietly.

"Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna stick around too much fucking longer."

She blinked. Had it really been that long?

"Ah. Your pilgrimage to the Temple is drawing near."

"You mean you actually remembered?" He sounded as if he wasn't sure whether he should be confused or impressed.

"How could I forget?" She reminded him, a ghost of a smile hovering around her face.

He had nagged and pestered either her or Pein for days on end whenever it was time to make his journey to the Temple.

He leaned forward and kissed her hard on the lips.

Konan was momentarily too shocked to stop him and when it wore off, she pulled away and punched him hard, not feeling particularly sorry about it when she saw the gleam of obnoxious mirth dancing in his eyes as he wiped the blood from his lip.

"It's been fun Blue, but I gotta go."

"You know where the port key is." She told him frostily, crossing her arms.

"Yup!"

"Oh and Hidan-san."

"What is it babe?" He asked.

"If you ever do something like that again, you will get a kunai through the eye."

"It's a date." He said snickering.

After he'd left she muttered irritably to herself. They were short of people as it was and Hidan had left. Not that she expected any of them to stick around forever.

"**I saw that." **

Zetsu. This time she did sigh.

"If it bothered you, we could go after him." Offered his Lighter Half.

"Let it be Zetsu-san." She said.

"**Why? Did you enjoy it?"**

Had it been anyone else asking the question, Konan would have exacted respect in a very vicious fashion. As it was, this was Zetsu, who had no experience of such things and was always very curious about things which he knew nothing about. Konan felt a surge of pity for him. But Zetsu disliked pity and so she gave him none.

"No. He did it to annoy me and for no other reason." She answered honestly.

"Ah." He murmured. Wondering if Konan would punch him if he attempted to kiss her.

"What are my orders Konan-san?" He asked. After all, his human part was rather grateful that she didn't attempt to have him destroyed for having his cover blown. Neither Pein nor Madara would have tolerated such a thing.

At the moment, Konan didn't care, but she said in a slightly weary tone of voice.

"Just rest and regain your strength Zetsu-san."

"I'd regain my strength faster by eating." He said, eyeing the dead ninja hopefully.

"If that is what's needed."

There was a pause as he glided towards the corpse. Gold eyes burning into hers.

"Konan."

"Mmm?"

"**Don't let these people weaken you too much."**

Where did that come from? She wondered.

Zetsu sometimes gave completely non-sequitar answers and as she glanced at him, she realized that he was expecting an answer for what he considered his sage advice. Dealing with the split mind of the Plant Demon Shinobi was always tricky to maneuver, but she'd always thought she did reasonably well.

"I was already weakening before I came here Zetsu-san." She murmured. "I believe," and here she cringed inwardly, "that I was always the weak link of Akatsuki."

"**If that were true Konan, then you wouldn't be alive now."**

And what, she wondered, did that make some of the most powerful ninja in the world that she had worked with for so long?

"**Do not mistake it for being a better shinobi than they were." **His Darker Half growled.

His Lighter Half explained. "We will all kneel to death someday."

He sounds like Hidan. She thought ruefully, but paid polite attention regardless. Zetsu had always been alarmingly honest for a Spy Master.

"**Understand that we are alive, because we did not suffer delusions of grandeur as the others did. That is why they fell as shamefully as they did."**

Oh but she had. She had suffered under the delusion that Pein was unbeatable, had suffered under the delusion of peace throughout the shinobi lands by force, which was not true peace at all. Had suffered under the delusion that they could kill Madara Uchiha and gain control over the organization. She had been so blind and naive and foolish, in many ways she had fallen far more shamefully than the rest had.

The weight of her blind stupidity and deeply buried despair swirled heavily around her like fast rushing floodwater and she sank into the chair, wondering if this was what it felt like to drown without dying. She felt exhausted, totally drained and wondered how other shinobi dealt with this day in and day out.

"You know, your hair wasn't the only reason they nicknamed you Blue." Said his Lighter Half thoughtfully.

She slanted her eyes towards him. "I'm well aware." She said sardonically.

The conversation faded away into the crunching of bones and the fainter sound of sharp teeth ripping flesh, leaving Konan to ponder what they were going to do about finding a suitable spy.

* * *

**Authoress:**

**Thanks to TskenRaider and Ri696q**

**For correcting me about Edo Tenshi **

**and for telling me the name of Orochimaru's jutsu.**

**Poor Konan. She just seems so depressed in this fic.**

**But I'm sure plenty of people would get tired of it. **

**And wasn't that a lovely way to end the chapter? **

**I'm sure you're all starving now. And to all the people who keep telling me that this has gone from drama to action; Yes. I know. I intended it to be that way. **

**They're the Akatsuki people! Isn't their bad-assery half the reason we fell in love with them? Besides it's not like they're going to beat the**

**Sound ninja by showing off their mad dancing skills!**

***Pictures that very scenario and cracks up* **


	15. Chapter 15

**Far From Home**

**Chapter Fifteen**

* * *

"Oh Severus stop!" Hagrid complained.

Severus had called for an emergency meeting of the Order and it was being met with disgruntled sighs.

"Hagrid, it is time you learned the cold, hard facts about your little friends. In fact, I believe this is something you all need to hear. Especially you Dumbledore!" Severus said.

He flipped open the Bingo Book. "This organization is too dangerous to mess around with."

"Severus," Minerva began.

"Let him speak Minerva." Reprimanded Albus.

"Orochimaru from Konoha. Previous Affiliations, Akatsuki. He fled his home village after being caught experimenting on his own people, he is currently the leader and founder of Otogakure. He murdered the Fourth Kazekage and attempted to murder the Third Hokage. He can also manipulate bodies and their souls not only to recycle his own soul, in a morbid brand of immortality, but as powerful psychological weapons against his opponents. Kill on sight."

"Itachi Uchiha from Konoha. Affiliated with Akatsuki. He slaughtered his whole clan when he was just fourteen years old! Left one lone survivor, his younger brother. Deceased."

"He slaughtered his entire family at just thirteen?" Hestia whispered.

"Kisame Hoshigaki from Kirigakure, one of the Seven Swordsmen and one of the most powerful ninja from his village, fled after a failed coup d'état. Affiliated with Akatsuki. Kill on sight."

"Zetsu from Kusagakure. Abilities unknown, cannibalistic. Affiliated with Akatsuki. Kill on sight."

"Akasuna no Sasori from Sunagakure, caught using the forbidden arts of using human bodies to make battle puppets, murdered the Third Kazekage, the leader of Kaze no Kuni. Deceased."

"You mean that man we saw the other day?" Remus asked.

"The same." Severus said.

"Deidara from Iwagakure, terrorist bomber, destroyed half his village all in the name of his artwork. Deceased."

Minerva bit her lip as she recognized Konan's lover, the very same man who had destroyed Hogsmeade.

"Tobi, village unknown, abilities unknown, crimes unknown, affiliated with Akatsuki, status unknown, Kill on Sight."

"Hidan from Yuugakure, slaughtered most of the population of his village as a sacrifice to his God, affiliated with Akatsuki, imprisoned in Konoha, cannot be killed."

"Kakuzu from Takigakure, attempted to murder the First Hokage, was imprisoned then escaped, murdering the village leaders. Affiliated with Akatsuki, Deceased."

"Konan from Amegakure, successfully helped staged a coup d'état against the village leaders and took control of their home village, affiliated with Akatsuki, Kill on Sight."

"Pein, successfully staged a coup d'état against his village leaders, than he became the leader of Amegakure, affiliated with Akatsuki, Deceased."

"The Akatsuki's goal was to seal away the Nine Demons, most of which were imprisoned in various ninja, across the shinobi lands to be used as weapons. In doing so, they would have the ultimate weapon, which would allow them to force the rest of the Hidden Villages to swear fealty to them, in fear of having them unleashed. They failed to capture two demons and most members were killed in battle, while the remaining members are still being hunted down."

He walked around and let the Order absorb the information.

"We have three members of this organization working for us and two working against us. One of these members is listed as deceased." He held up the picture of Sasori.

"Another of these members is imprisoned." He showed them Hidan.

"In light of this recently disturbing information, who is to say that there aren't more of them out there? Who is to say that other "deceased" members are not in hiding? Who is to say, that the Akatsuki and Otogakure have not formed an alliance to expand their boundaries and conquer our world, since they could not conquer their own? Despite our spells and abilities to fight wars, they are superior in their battle magic and their martial arts. We provide a much easier world to target for these people."

Zetsu scowled as he listened, he seem to have had roughly half the organization convinced, the little ingrates! He thought angrily. It would serve them right to leave them to their fate.

Konan listened to his report with a meditative look on her face.

"**So, should we leave those ungrateful wizards to their fate?" His Darker Half asked.**

"Now wait, some of them defended us staunchly, and it is only natural that they are wary of us. After all we've hidden quite a bit from them." His Lighter Half pointed out.

"**Screw that! Let the Sound kill them, let them beg for mercy! Their corpses will be just payment for a broken contract." His Darker Half scoffed, while licking his lips.**

"Too many of these unfit wizards will make us fat. Besides if we left now, wouldn't we be the ones in violation of the contract?"

"**That's true."**

All the time while Zetsu argued, Konan sat and thought.

Kisame was watching as a small smile graced her lips.

"You got somethin in mind Blue?" He asked, stopping Zetsu's argument in its tracks.

"Yes. Let's take a page out of their book. Orochimaru is still too great a threat for my liking and I'd rather see him dead sooner than later."

"Alright, what do you suggest we do?" Zetsu asked.

"Divide and Conquer. All we need to do is convince these Death Eaters that Otogakure is plotting against them, insinuate that they may have formed a secret alliance with the last members of the Akatsuki and are planning to overthrow the Wizarding Government."

Two malicious grins mirrored her own.

For the next few weeks, Konan and Zetsu slipped away, disguised as various Death Eaters and Oto nin and began their rumor-mongering. Whispered conversations in darkened hallways broken off as soon as the other approaches, suspicious glances at one another, slipping hints and sowing feelings of hostility, fear and distrust.

Konan sat at the table with Albus, playing Wizard's Chess and making sure that Severus was in listening range.

"Oto has been quiet lately Konan." He stated simply, considering his next move.

"Mmm." She hummed in agreement. Her eyes studied the board, silently making notes of the most efficient way to wipe out his forces.

"Do you think they'll be withdrawing anytime soon?" He asked as he made his move.

She countered it swiftly. "Not until we neutralize the threat."

"I suspect you have another meaning behind that one my dear?"

Their eyes locked and Konan felt a twinge of something, foreign…yet familiar. It made her slightly edgy, but she maintained perfect composure as she discreetly looked away in a pretense of deciding her next move and slipped past his defenses.

"You are very perceptive, more perceptive than most people give you credit for Albus-san. But you are correct, we don't intend to simply neutralize the threat, we intend to annihilate it completely."

There was an air of malicious triumph about her.

Albus blinked in surprise when his last knight was captured.

"Everyone? Is that really necessary?"

"Of course. But it will take careful planning and when we are finished here, we will go back and strike the final blow to the village itself." She murmured, casually moving a knight to allow him to capture it.

He took the decoy.

"In fact," she went on, acting as though she were only barely paying attention to the game and allowing him to take a few more, "my spies have discovered loyal allies that will come to our aid. There was more to the Akatsuki than just the main core. It would have been suicide otherwise. I was taken by surprise by the numbers alone still left alive, they would be more than willing to aid you if they were allowed refuge here."

"Is that so?" Albus said. "And what prevents you from doing so right now? If I may be so bold as to ask?" He said in a conversational tone.

"One, we need to gather our forces. Moving that many shinobi into the country undetected by ninja and wizard alike is no easy task. Then we must position everything carefully, after that it is all a simple matter of waiting for the right time to strike." She smiled coyly.

"Check."

Albus smiled. A glint of knowing amusement in his eyes.

"Well played." He said graciously.

She tipped her head in acknowledgement.

After they left, Severus let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

Konan's clone allowed herself a small smile, Phase One complete.

"Kabuto, what a pleasure to see you." The Sennin smiled, his tone was as sweet as honey and vaguely amused, though he could never quite disguise the mocking malice just beneath it.

"Orochimaru-sama, it appears we have a leak." Kabuto said.

Orochimaru scowled.

"Our leak is also adding in a few twists of their own in the rumor mill."

"What sort of rumors?" Orochimaru asked. There was no honey-sweet tone now, his voice was cold, angry. That tone could send a chill down even the most seasoned shinobi's spine.

"They say that the Akatsuki are alive and well and that we have allied with them to take over the Wizarding World. Our client is getting nervous."

"You suspect our little scorpion?" He asked.

"I suspect everyone."

"I want it taken care of quickly and quietly."

"Yes Orochimaru-sama."

Severus was frustrated. He had tried in vain to get Albus to listen to reason and now he stood before Lord Voldemort to attempt the same.

"I am well aware of the rumors Severus." Said Lord Voldemort, "and I am employing my own sources to discover how much of it is truth and how much is mere speculation. I suspect you have met with similar reluctance from Dumbledore in this matter?"

"Yes my Lord." Severus said, suppressing his frustration.

"You know at times I have my doubts about you. I sometimes wonder, just whose side you are truly on."

Severus looked into Voldemort's eyes. "If I may be so bold," he began,

"You may."

"I would much sooner postpone your victory, if it meant that those barbarians never got the chance to overthrow us and the Wizarding World for themselves."

Lord Voldemort studied him carefully. He would never allow anyone else to speak to him so, but Severus was the lone exception. The reason being, was that he had a level head on his shoulders and spoke of reason. He understood that there often times many complications that would force him to reconfigure his plans. Something must have disturbed him to protest so vehemently over their use of Shinobi.

"May I ask why you feel so opposed to them?"

"They are far more powerful than we are. Several of the people working for us have killed people far more powerful than the Order and all of us put together."

He handed Lord Voldemort the Bingo Book.

"Furthermore, they start training them as children. According to Dumbledore's kunoichi, if left untrained until puberty, their chakra coils will go to waste because they will be too small to accommodate the proper amounts of internal energy needed to form jutsu, and so that they may be physically fit and well disciplined enough to learn how to utilize it."

"Which may explain why we, their descendants are so stunted in comparison." Lord Voldemort murmured.

"I know you seldom trust anyone Severus, but for once I am going to ask you to trust me."

Severus did not need Occlumency to figure out what was going on in Lord Voldemort's head. Attempting to double-cross the double-crosser was an act of sheer lunacy, but once he had an idea in his head he would go after it.

Konan and Kisame was livid when they heard the news.

"That fool! He's destroyed everything!"

"Perhaps we can turn the situation around." Konan said, being under the rule of Madara had taught her a thing or two about how to twist situations to one's advantage.

"How?" Kisame wondered.

"Both Voldemort and Orochimaru are paranoid, cautious men and Zetsu can forge anything. If we get him to forge a note under Kabuto's hand and send it off to him immediately, Orochimaru will become suspicious of his motives, especially since by now he believes that he has a leak in his midst."

"That's crazy enough that it might work."

"**Indeed." **Said Zetu's Darker Half.

"**If Madara had realized just how closely you studied him Konan-san, he might have begun to view you as a threat instead."**

"Go Zetsu, we have a very limited window of time." Konan said.

"As you wish." His Lighter Half acknowledged.

Orochimaru read the note with suspicion. He was not sure if Wizards had spells to forge people's writing, but he wouldn't put it past some of them to learn.

"So this amateur is trying to double-cross me by buttering me up? Ah no matter. I'm always looking forward to a game of wits."

Orochimaru smiled, if he played his cards just right, he would crush both the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix by the end of the year and start the process of taking over the Wizarding World, especially if there were more people like their newest little captive around. Who knew how many more clans could be revived by these ignorant wizards?

"You do realize that you are making it harder for me to catch both Orochimaru and Voldemort off guard don't you?"

Sasori asked acidly.

When Konan didn't reply Sasori spat out irritably.

"I see that overgrown weed of yours is still hanging around!"

Still she said nothing,

"We are all here for our gains, nothing has changed about that, despite the fact that we are no longer working under the name of a cohesive unit. You and Kisame are here because you want to wipe Oto off the face of the map, if the rumors I've heard are true and Zetsu is here because he follows you everywhere like a loyal mutt. I am here because I want Orochimaru and Voldemort as my new puppets at the very least."

He said, eying Kisame and Konan with a look that said he was figuring out how he should modify their bodies if he killed them.

"Give it up puppet freak!" Kisame snorted. "You can't take on both of us and hope to win."

"If it were someone like Pein, Kakuzu or Itachi saying that, than I'd believe it. You two on the other hand…"

"At least I can trust Zetsu." She interrupted out.

"What a strange thing to say about a cannibal." He mused.

"And you expect me to say the same about the lone reviver of the Human Puppet Technique?" She asked with a tinge of amusement.

"So, you've finally gained a sense of humor." Sasori grumbled.

"Be patient a little longer Sasori-san. We will have our chance."

"You know I hate waiting."

"Than perhaps it's high time you learned to tolerate it." Konan said in a condescending tone, as though scolding an impatient Genin.

Sasori bristled.

Moody shook his head, while he couldn't see what they were saying because the way they were positioned, it looked like Severus' suspicions were being confirmed if they were plottin with the enemy.

Suddenly a clone appeared, grabbed Sasori and held him fast while Kisame whipped out Samehada and held it near the Suna nin.

Konan slapped an explosive note on the heart container.

"You know there's more than one way to kill a ninja." Kisame said pleasantly, "Chakra depletion is a pretty sucky way to go." Watching with unconcealed glee as the Puppet Master went still as Samehada began to absorb his chakra.

"If you attempt to transfer your heart to another puppet, you're as good as dead anyways." Konan added.

She began forming signs, it was a combination of magic and chakra.

"And just what is it that you want from me?" Sasori asked.

"You will disengage from Orochimaru's services and conveniently disappear somewhere in Britain.".

"And just why would I do that?"

"Because we have information about Lord Voldemort that will make him one of your most unique puppets yet." Konan said.

"You see, not unlike the jinchuuriki we hunted, Lord Voldemort has sealed six parts of his soul into what wizards call Horcruxes, so that he may be revived anytime a part of his soul has been destroyed. It is unfortunately a crude, slow process and one has unfortunately already been destroyed but I am sure that combining Orochimaru with Lord Voldemort will speed up the process. I have two people who can help you find the remaining pieces before time is up."

Already Sasori's thoughts were whirling at the implications of having a combined puppet with an arsenal of such unusual techniques.

"You have yourself a deal Konan."

But before he could ask why he had been tied down a flash of magic and chakra coursed over them and entwined themselves around himself and Konan, part of it, he recognized as the type of chakra you would find in a tracking jutsu.

"Congratulations Sasori, you've just made a hybrid version of The Unbroken Vow, if you try to betray us you will die on the spot since it is tied to both body and spirit. The only way for you to rid yourself of this particular curse is to fulfill your promise."

"When I break free of this curse I will kill you." Sasori snarled.

"I'll be looking forward to that battle." She said.

"I'll be sure not to dissapoint you."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

* * *

"Konan-san. We have a situation."

Konan blinked, it was unusual for Zetsu to show up in broad daylight in a crowded area, because for someone who had spent the least amount of time being trained as a shinobi, he was inclined to do things by the book, so whatever it was must be urgent.

"Madara, I thought he was dead but-"

"**Well he tasted the way I thought he would." His Darker Half interjected.**

"Konan, Zetsu. Surprised to see me?"

She turned around and stretched out with her senses, that wild, manic chakra, indicative of the madness the Mangekyou brought to it's user, was unmistakable. Konan had not seen him without his mask in ages.

Both shinobi bowed.

"I am surprised to see you here of all places Madara-sama." Konan said.

"What? You think I don't know about this place? I'm older than you and Zetsu put together and-" he rubbed his ring. "-I can track my members down anywhere. I'm surprised to see you two lounging around without a care in the world. How pitiful that you, two of the most powerful shinobi I've ever met, fled for your lives as soon as you _thought _Akatsuki had fallen."

"I thought you were dead Madara-sama." Konan said, by way of explanation. "And the Akatsuki is finished, we were all lucky to be able to cut our losses and make it out alive."

The Uchiha's mood shifted sharply.

"Insubordinate bitch!" He snarled, slamming her head into the table.

Konan felt blood dripping from her nose.

"The Akatsuki started with just two and it was I who gave birth to the most powerful organization the world has ever known! You-are-all-replaceable and you should have started recruiting as soon as you could get back on your feet! You don't throw away years of work just like that!"

Konan's eyes narrowed dangerously. How dare he treat her like a disobedient dog! She stood up and prepared for a fight, keeping her eyes planted on him, but away from the swirling Sharingan. Zetsu settled back to sit and watch.

"Konan-chaan. You don't really think you can take on the greatest ninja in the whole wide world do you?" Tobi giggled and movement caught her eye to the left of. She grabbed a kunai and blocked his only to find herself being drawn into the Mangekyou.

"It only takes a glance."

Konan shot up from her bed, grabbed a kunai and with the help of her clones, searched Grimmauld Place. Only Sirius and the half crazed house elf called Kreacher, were up and about. Kisame was snoring in the next room and slipping outside, she checked the area around the house. When she was satisfied that she and Kisame were the only nin in the area she returned to bed and reflected.

Things had gone well, Konan thought. Orochimaru had come by with a small, elite force from Otogakure and Konan had used a clone disguised as one of his stationed shinobi and initiated the attack. Chaos had broken out and Konan and Kisame, using henged clones fought alongside Oto adding fuel to the flames and confirming the rumors. The Death Eaters' numbers had been greatly reduced and many of Orochimaru's shinobi killed, though there was still a good sized group left and it looked as though Lord Voldemort would not be trusting shinobi anytime soon.

Orochimaru had gotten away, which was disappointing, but not unexpected. The Sannin had not lived to be as old as he was by being a fool, especially as a wanted man by every ninja village and he was going to be back. A fact that she pointed out to the disgruntled Order Members. Soon, she would call on Sasori and start making preparations to go into Oto and kill him. After all, she had promised to help Sasori get the bodies for his new puppets.

Dumbledore had been feeding her information on horcruxes, which she in turn relayed to Sasori. In the meantime, she had sent Zetsu to keep an eye on Orochimaru and relay news, with the help of an ingenious device called a two way mirror.

The other drawback was that now Oto knew the remaining Akatsuki was out for its blood. Then she realized what she'd just thought and began to laugh, a quiet, desperate, hysterical laugh. How she wished Nagato was here to hold her in his comforting arms. And when she was done, she felt drained and hollow, in a painful, but almost good kind of way.

She turned to see Albus behind her, waiting patiently behind her.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"Well done my dear. You and your friends have pulled things off splendidly and you have more than paid off your debt to us. Though I must confess, you made many people wonder where your loyalties lay."

"My loyalties are to myself." Konan said with a shrug. After all she no longer had anyone to whom she could be loyal, her heart had been shattered too many times.

"Though things did not go as well as I wanted, too many from Oto escaped. Do you think Orochimaru can be driven off so easily? He was merely testing the strengths and weaknesses of the wizarding's best, he retreated quickly because he was satisfied with the results."

He let the subject go.

"Will you be heading home as well?"

_I have no home_. She thought bitterly, then closed her eyes for a moment, but did not answer

"Is it possible to break free of-" She stopped, unsure of how to word it. What was it? Her fate? The dream was still fresh in her mind, a warning of things to come.

He seemed, as usual, to understand.

"I know so. After all, our ancestors of wizard-kind and shinobi fought hard to break free from a way of life they did not agree with, a way of life that had been thrust upon them since birth."

_And it seems that we must do so again, if we are to survive this upcoming war_. He thought.

"There is nothing saying that you cannot leave Otogakure as it is and settle here if you desire Konan."

He paced around the small area.

"But what did our ancestors give up in order to gain their freedom? Power? Yes. Bloodlines greatly weakened, some even disappearing forever? Yes. I am sure you worry about that as well. After all, your own prowess and reputation is hard-earned. The chains of the mind, the strongest chains of all, can be very difficult to break, something which humanity continues to prove time and time again. But you can only give up or gain as much as you choose to Konan. Only fear of change will continue to fetter and weaken us."

Konan nodded. It was good to know and she would certainly be staying around, but she must kill Orochimaru. Kisame and Zetsu did not have to come with her and Sasori to do it and besides, Zetsu and Sasori would probably try to kill each other.

"Now, how about some breakfast? I've discovered it's better to think on a full stomach."

Konan got up and walked with him, vaguely surprised to see bright sunlight peeking through the windows.

Kisame was busy stuffing his face.

"With food this good, I don't think I wanna go home." He greeted.

Konan smiled a little as she sat down and helped herself.

"So, when do we get to take down Orochimaru?" His bloodlust was palpable.

"_We must contact Sasori and Zetsu. Though I'm unsure if Zetsu will work with Sasori."_

"_Zetsu's a professional and besides, he likes seeing Sasori collared." _He assured her as he helped himself to pot pie.

"He's loyal to you." He continued with a grin. "If it were anyone else we were talkin' about, I'd swear he was in love."

She shot him a look and his grin grew wider.

"You think I could get a job here? As a Taijutsu teacher?"

"You'd kill more than half of the students here Kisame-san, this is not Kirigakure."

"I'd just be weedin out the weak."

The teachers stopped to stare, not realizing that the two of them were joking.

"Perhaps you should wait and see if we come back alive and intact first." Konan advised.

He chuckled.

"_You worried Puppet Boy might get a stray shot in on purpose."_

"He'd be a dead nin if he tried Kisame."

"True, figuring out how to combine that magical technique with a sealing and tracking jutsu was a stroke of genius." He bragged.

She shook her head, Kisame had always been pretty good at figuring out new jutsu and since he had the chakra reserves to back him it was not as difficult as it would be for another nin.

After Kisame and Konan had left, Moody cornered Severus.

"I got some information, but not much."

Severus was all ears.

"It turns out they had a weird meeting with that Sasori guy. I couldn't see what they were sayin to each other but, if the Akatsuki treated like their allies like that I'd hate to see how they treat their enemies."

The other man snorted.

"The red head seemed pretty PO'ed from what I could tell and at one point Kisame threw him down and started doin something to him with that weird sword and they did something to him, one of their jutsu and Sasori promised to kill them as soon as he got rid of whatever they cursed him with."

"I recall Arthur saying that Konan had used some kind of jutsu similar to the Imperius Curse on the man she killed and I overheard Kisame talking about how he had managed to combine jutsu with a spell."

"Hmm. I don't think so. The man was pretty lucid, Arthur said that the man who had killed the ninja who targeted his family had a blank look on his face and was totally obedient to Konan. Never heard of an Imperiused person threatening to kill the caster, though I'd sure like to see it." He chuckled.

"If he was so obedient than why did he attack her? I wonder." Severus murmured.

"I don't know." Moody replied.

He seemed lost in thought for a moment and then said.

"Forgive me for cutting this short but I'm late for a meeting with Dumbledore."

As it turned out, Konan was already there, explaining that her spies had confirmed that Tonks was in Oto.

Kisame seemed to find something funny about that.

That made Severus wonder _who _this mysterious contact was and how they could travel from one place to another so quickly. Kisame also had a telling grin on his face. One of those I-know-something-you-don't-know kinds and Severus' suspicions only deepened as did his curiosity.

After the pair were dismissed Severus stepped in.

"Good day Severus, you said you had some news for me?"

"Indeed I do. I've received news from the Dark Lord that he will try and tempt your ninja to his side tonight."

"Is that so?" Albus was surprised.

"That at least dispels the rumor that they were working for Tom at least."

"That is the least of our worries."

"You are worried that one of them will accept?"

"They have no morals Dumbledore and if the price is right, they'll likely turn on us."

Albus sighed. "We can only wait then."

"Hmm."

* * *

Konan was out for some late night training when she felt a presence behind her. She turned around and looked at Lord Voldemort.

"So you are the kunoichi I've heard so much about. You've made things very difficult for me these past months."

He looked into her eyes, admiring the fact that she had mastered the crudest, most difficult form of Occlumency; to be completely blank and not give away anything.

She waited patiently for him to speak, while he mentally assessed her traits, this one could go from leader to follower and back again. She was patient, calculating and ruthless.

"But if you worked for me, I could give you what Dumbledore could not."

"Such as?"

He began pacing as he worked his pitch, the pitch that brought the powerful and talented under his command.

"Putting your considerable talents to use for me, would grant you a high position over any army you choose, you would gain power and glory, your name would be synonymous with infamy all across the land. What say you?"

He saw the answer in her eyes.

"You must be very loyal to Dumbledore to throw away what I'm offering so casually." He hissed.

"As I told Dumbledore-san, I am loyal to no one but myself. I'm refusing you because you have nothing to offer me. I've worked alongside the powerful before. You offer me glory and infamy Voldemort-san? I have that, my name and deeds are known all across my homeland and I am beginning to gain a reputation as a formidable opponent in yours. If I die of old age, my infamy will live on as a ninja who was unable to be captured and killed, if someone kills me, my glory will be intertwined with theirs."

She was self-assured and unafraid, something Voldemort cherished and disliked, because there were only two types of people like that, egotistical braggarts, and people who had seen enough to carry themselves through any situation.

"Besides I've worked with people like you most of my adult life."

"And how would you classify people like me?" Voldemort asked archly.

"As a powerful madman who knows how to play chess with the whole world."

Voldemort was momentarily taken aback by her frankness, then he laughed a little.

"I think I like the sound of that."

That did not surprise her, Nagato had once told Madara the same thing and he'd taken it as a compliment.

"So you'll be taking part of this war on the Order's behalf?"

"I've seen enough war to last me a lifetime and I'm tired of always being involved in other peoples' wars. My protection extends only as far as I deem necessary Voldemort-san."

Her answer would have satisfied some people, but it was just vague enough to keep Voldemort wondering.

"I'm eager to test those boundaries." He said, only to find himself to talking to empty air.

* * *

Her wand had been broken and she was chained to the wall of this dank hellhole, every hour a guard came in to check on her, bring her water and let her use the bathroom. She took one shower a day with a female guard posted inside of it and she ate at the same times everyday. She hadn't been outside she'd been dragged here and no one understand her language. At night they allowed her to sleep on a small, hard cot with a thin blanket by extending her chains.

She didn't know why she had been brought here and wondered if there were other Aurors here as well. Perhaps You-Know-Who had ordered them all to be brought here, wherever _here _was, Oto she supposed, until he could figure out what to do with them.

At least that's what she thought until _he _came in. The man had long black hair, an abnormally white face and golden eyes. His hands formed signs and she could feel a strange type of magic buzzing around her head and throat and that was when she learned why she was here.

It turned out that Metamorphmagi were actually descendants of the Sukinshifuta clan of a place called Yuugakure. She had been captured because he intended to use her to create more of them. In other words she was to bred like a dog in a puppy mill. Of course, the black haired man assured her, as long as she cooperated she would be treated well. Tonks didn't believe him for an instant, but decided that for now she had to do whatever it took to survive until she could be rescued or find a way to return home on her own.

There were no more visits from the man for a time and her daily routine continued, while she plotted her escape. She desperately needed to get out before she got pregnant, because that would make it far more difficult to escape in a strange land where no one spoke her language, since translation spells had to be renewed once a month.

Then another man visited her, this one had whitish gray hair and wore glasses, he was an odd combination between doctor and healer and he began to do regular checkups on her and even though he had a pleasant manner, Tonks was beginning to get nervous.

Several weeks after one of her checkups another man came into her cell, this one was tall and muscular, with dark brown hair and blue-green eyes and at first Tonks thought nothing of it, it wasn't unusual for her to see a new guard after one got injured or killed but as she studied him, a prickling instinct of fear began in her gut and grew heavier. Something was wrong, something had changed and she began fighting desperately as the man threw her on the bed.

The next morning found the Auror red-faced and tearful as Kabuto came in. He scowled at the bruises and fat lip and healed them quickly.

"Kawataro did this?" Kabuto asked her.

Tonks scowled in response, but refused to answer otherwise.

After her check-up Kabuto stalked out of the room and summoned Kawataro.

"You were supposed to be gentle." He informed him coolly.

"Tch. You didn't see what the little hellcat did to me. Got me in the eye with a chain and tried to strangle me. She wasn't exactly gentle either."

"You have been assigned a mission to impregnate the Sukinshifuta woman and Orochimaru-sama would be displeased if his prize miscarried or was damaged irreparably Kawataro." He fixed him with a harsh stare. "Since he is away on business at this time it is my right to discipline people anyway I see fit."

The big man shivered inwardly at the implications and promised to be more gentle. Kabuto had a reputation for being as sadistic as Orochimaru-sama.

After several weeks, Tonks found herself in the worst situation possible, she was pregnant and her chances of escape were slimmer than ever. Pregnancy was supposed to be a happy time, but she could only sit and stew in her misery and her anger, but at least she had no more visits from her attacker.

The way she was treated had also changed, she was no longer chained to the wall and only female guards were assigned to her from that point on. She was taken on walks for exercise outside, the quality of her food changed for the better and she was allowed to socialize with some of Oto's more temperate ninja.

She had made a friend with one in particular, a pretty young teenager who was a missing nin from Mizu no Kuni named Aoidori, for her bright blue hair. She was a Bird Summoner and had a lot of talent with Water based Jutsu and unbeknownst to Tonks or anyone else, she was really a spy for Takigakure and had taken pity on the other woman and the predicament she was in.

The plucky fifteen year old wanted to help Tonks out, but that would be difficult to do, considering her situation. One, she couldn't leave her post until she had been ordered too, for another there was the constant possibility of getting caught and trying to smuggle a pregnant woman out of any ninja village would only increase her chances of a failed mission. There was really only one option for Tonks and while Taki was a lot better than Oto, in the grand scheme of things her village would still want Tonks for her valuable bloodline and she was pretty sure that Tonks wouldn't be too pleased to land back into the same situation. But Aoidori Niigata was a very determined and sneaky girl and that was when she had an idea.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Man this chapter took forever to do! I wasn't sure if I should include Tonks' back story at first, or if I should make it separate**

**but I'm sure some of you wanted to know what was going on.**

**And I might be adding more of it later. Or should I leave it alone for now?**

**And who would like to see Kisame as a Taijutsu instructor? *cackles* those poor kids wouldn't know what hit them! I'm just curious. Feel free to let me know. Next chapter Konan and the crew will go after Orochimaru. Won't that be a barrel of laughs?**


	17. Chapter 17

**Far From Home **

**Chapter Seventeen**

* * *

Lord Voldemort paced around the room. He had offered Dumbledore's kunoichi fame, glory, and her own brand of immortality and yet, she turned him down for reasons he had not been expecting at all.

He had sent Macnair out to gain the alliance of the half-breed ninja that worked with her and the man had reported that he had been laughed at, held against the wall by his throat, and then tossed aside like trash.

The pale haired priest was nowhere to be found. As far as he knew, the woman's debt had been paid and the half-breed had stopped getting paid, so why such continued loyalty to Dumbledore?

He needed someone close to this powerful pair. Someone who was in constant contact with them. Severus did not dare disobey his orders, despite the fact that he thought him mad for continuing to want ninja at his beck and call.

But Voldemort was a man who was attracted to power and he desired to witness the power of his ancestors with his own eyes. It sent thrills up his spine, the second-hand accounts of their speed, strength and magic pulled him in with its siren song and as he gazed at the trapped Dementors, an idea came to him. After all what couldn't be bought, could be had by force.

* * *

"Have you ever wanted children Konan?"

Molly asked, breaking her out of a light meditation in which she'd been mentally compiling their supply list.

That was an odd question coming from the woman who seemed to despise her. Though lately, the red head woman had been determined to see what made her tick, from attempting to initiate talks to provoking and challenging her.

"No. They are…a hindrance that I do not desire."

"But why?" Molly asked.

"My enemies could easily use them against me. They would be nothing but a liability."

"Besides" She added after a long pause. "I did not want them to grow up in a war torn world."

"Are you suggesting that I was selfish bringing children into this world?" She demanded.

"I never questioned or condemned your decision. You came to that conclusion on your own."

To someone like Kisame, who knew how to read a nin like Konan, they would have been able to detect the faintest tinge of irritation, to anyone else, it sounded like a toneless reprimand.

Molly opened her mouth to ask another question when Sirius appeared.

"Konan, Dumbledore wishes to see you." He interrupted.

The blue-haired woman nodded and followed him up the stairs where Dumbledore seemed to be explaining something to Kisame.

"Here. I think you might get more use out of this then I will."

"A mirror?" Kisame asked. "You trying to tell me something old man?"

Kisame had not had the chance to see how a two-way mirror worked. She stood back to watch.

"Ah. But it's not just any mirror Kisame. It's a Four-Way Mirror. Wherever you are, you can communicate with whomever holds the other pieces. All you have to do is say the name of the person. Try it out."

Kisame went to the first floor, activated it with his chakra and said. "Albus Dumbledore."

Dumbledore came into view, with the head of a mounted house elf looming eerily over him.

"Hello Kisame."

"Huh. These are pretty cool. So you giving us a little farewell gift?"

"On the contrary, I expect you two back before the school year starts."

The reflective surface split into thirds like a surveillance tape and he saw his teammate in another section.

"It is unlikely that-" Konan began.

"Oh pish posh Konan! I'm confident a pair of high-class shinobi such as yourselves can accomplish this mission and make it back alive."

She gave him one of her rare, genuine smiles of amusement.

"Whether we make it back in one piece or not is a different story." Kisame chuckled.

"Anyways, do let me know when you've accomplished your mission, or are in need of emergency transport and don't lose the mirrors please, they're extremely rare."

Konan and Kisame nodded.

"The port key will be leaving at 9:30 on the dot tomorrow morning." He explained.

That was good, they would have more then enough time to pick up Sasori.

"We will have to set up another one as soon as you are ready to come home." Albus explained.

Both of them startled at the word _home_. Konan hadn't really expected to ever truly have a home again, even in the loosest sense of the word, since she'd been on the run. Kisame hadn't had a home since he'd botched the assassination of the Mizukage.

Albus yawned.

"Well, better get a good night's sleep. You'll need all your energy for your travels. Good luck."

When all was quiet, Konan slipped outside quietly and stared up at the full moon, as a cool, summer's breeze toyed the loose wisps of hair around her face. She closed her eyes. It been nearly ten months since Nagato, her oldest and most cherished friend had been killed. Several, tears slid down her cheeks as she offered a silent prayer for his soul, hoping that he had found the peace he'd so desperately wanted in the afterlife.

It was a monthly ritual. One that had started after her father and sister were killed by insurgents and one she kept every time someone close to her heart died. She wondered why, despite all her efforts to remain aloof, she ended up getting close to someone. It was a recipe for heartache.

* * *

They left when it was still dark out speeding through the mist-covered forests, where owls hooted mournfully and creatures shrieked and hunted in the night, though Kisame's dangerous demonic chakra kept weaker or more intelligent ones at bay.

Kisame had been feeling pretty good since he came here. He had a place to stay good food to eat, battles to keep him sharp and satisfy his battle lust and interesting new booze to consume. Working with Konan wasn't bad, she was highly skilled.

A figure appeared from the mist and beckoned to them. Tensing the two ninja followed it, every sense strained

He was waiting for them past the river close to the other side of the forest.

"You two are slow. He said.

Kisame growled.

"Why have you called me here Konan?" He asked.

Neither of them had mentioned that they would be going out to kill Orochimaru. Neither of them would put it past the puppet master to organize a small ambush. Just because Sasori couldn't kill them directly or discreetly, didn't mean he couldn't figure out other ways to have them killed. Kisame just hoped the little bastard hadn't figured that out yet.

"There is no time for talk, we must get to the port key quickly and will explain after we've reached our destination." There was a quiet urgency in their voice.

"As you wish…Konan-san." He spat.

She didn't bat an eyelash at his tone. But they followed Kisame, who was letting Samehada guide him to the portkey.

They were halfway there when the ground began to ice over.

Konan stood stock still, listening to the odd sucking sound of Dementors.

"What is that?" Sasori growled, eyes darting around.

"They are called Dementors, they are…parasitic creatures who feed on happy memories and leave only the bad ones, if they get close enough to incapacitate you, they will suck out your soul."

"I guess that makes us a good meal." Kisame snorted.

"Clearing our minds will make us more difficult to track."

"Why can't we just kill it?" Sasori asked.

"As far as I know they can only be repelled not killed."

"We'll see about that." Sasori grumbled and took out one of his puppets.

The puppet shot a stream of fire, but it passed through the demon harmlessly. Sasori looked thoughtful.

"It's incorporeal, which is why we can't kill it." The puppet master said.

"Incor-what?" Kisame asked before blasting one with a water jutsu.

"It's like a purely chakra based attack. You can feel the effect physically, but you can't harm it with anything."

Kisame looked at Samehada, which was undulating, desperate to get at the Dementors, which were swarming them like an oversized flock of freaky birds.

He slashed through the Dementor with it and it gave a long-drawn out gasp of air as a ragged hole was ripped through it, Kisame slashed again, watching with an evil grin as it dispersed into wispy blackness.

Samehada had had a taste and it wanted more, Kisame charged into the swarm, his sword sucking down the Dementors' energy as it went.

Shocked that there was something capable of actually killing them, the remaining ones fled.

* * *

Voldemort was stunned that the Half-breed ninja had managed to do something no wizard or witch could as he beckoned to Nagini to come back. Instead of discouraging him, it made him all the more desperate to have ninja under his control.

These ninja were obviously not going to come to him willingly or otherwise, but if there were ninja on the run from the law, then perhaps making a similar offer to them as he had to Dumbledore's Kunoichi would work better. It was high time he made a trip to the ninja world himself.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Ok, so no Orochimaru battle yet. **

**But there will be in a couple more chapters perhaps.**

**Peace Out! **

**Little Kunai**


	18. Chapter 18

**Far From Home **

**Chapter Eighteen**

Aodori seemed satisfied with Tonks appearance. She had snuck in before her shift, something not easily done in Oto's labyrinthine walls and had given her directions out.

"Walk outside with confidence and don't do anything to make either of us look suspicious. Aki-san will be waiting for you on the tree to the left-hand side with the blast mark on it's trunk to guide you." She whispered. "You have twenty minutes. Now go."

"But what about you?" Tonks wanted to know. She didn't want to leave her new friend behind, not in this dismal hell-hole.

Something in the girl's demeanor shifted, blue eyes turned icy, stance tense and commanding.

"Do you want to get both of us caught and killed?" Her voice was harsh and cold, reminding Tonks that the pleasant teenager was also a killer, a soldier, something her own unborn child would be if she didn't get them out of here.

.

* * *

Tonks shook her head miserably and left the room, going the way Aoidori told her too. She had to act as though she knew every inch of the place. It was harder then it looked. But somehow she managed to make it past all the guards who either ignored her, or flirted shamelessly with her. She hoped she didn't do something stupid or clumsy to give them both away. Just when she had spotted Aki-san and started following him through a thick grove of trees, she heard Aoidori call out.

"The witch woman has escaped!"

"How the hell did she escape?" Another nin asked angrily.

"She's a Sukinshifuta isn't she? She could have transformed into anybody idiot!" Aoidori shot back.

"She escaped on your shift didn't she?" Someone else asked smugly.

"Quit talking and start looking! Orochimaru-sama won't be pleased if we lose her!"

Tonks silently cursed. So that was what Aoidori meant when she said she only had twenty minutes! She wanted to run, but that would only get her caught, so she changed her appearance yet again and continued to calmly follow Aki-san out towards the road. The little sparrow summons half-hopped, half-flittered from tree branch to tree branch. Somehow, she never knew how, she managed to escape. She never knew that Aoidori's clone was hiding her trail with Misdirection Genjutsu. But she made it down the road after a couple of hours, now black eyes never leaving her guide.

Suddenly the summon vanished in a puff of white smoke and Tonks was alone. Alone but free, the rest was up to her and her ability and she had to find transportation home. Something she would have to do before the Translation Jutsu wore off. At least that's what she believed until someone tapped her shoulder and she fell into a peaceful slumber.

For nearly three weeks they had been on the move towards Oto's base. Then Zetsu had arrived, telling them that Oto had moved to another base, this one halfway across the country by Kokegakure and they'd been forced to backtrack, costing them a week and a half more, avoiding ANBU platoons and Hunter Nin and fleeing rather then fighting preferring to keep their identities hidden.

They needed to catch Orochimaru and Kabuto off guard and time was of the essence. Rumors of Akatsuki sightings would be enough be to make Orochimaru wary, hearing that it was the same ones that had cut down his ninja in Wizarding Britain would make him nearly impossible to catch, he wasn't one of the greatest shinobi the world had ever seen for nothing.

There were also rumors of the last of the Sukinshifutas running around the country with child and Kumo, Iwa and Kusa were scouring the land, eager to have the powerful bloodline in their grasp and hoping to use the unborn child against the woman to reveal the location of others who may have gone into hiding.

Konan and Kisame had promised that if they found Tonks they'd send her home, via an illegally made portkey Dumbledore had created himself, but as quickly as the rumors begun, they ended. It was possible that Tonks had found a way back, being raised in both the muggle world and the wizarding world she was not limited to magical means of transportation and may have found passage on a boat to safer territory, it was more probable that her capture had been kept quiet to throw the other hidden villages off the trail.

In any event, she had at least managed to escape Orochimaru's clutches and that was a remarkable feat for ninja or wizard. She had underestimated them.

Kisame was eagerly anticipating catching up to the Sennin, as they were now only a day or two behind, Sasori was eager too, though he didn't seem to show it openly. He wanted the former Leaf nin's body, since Orochimaru was the last of his clan and an inventor of many of his own powerful and unique jutsu. Though if the Sennin knew that it had been Madara Uchiha who'd invented and perfected the Soul Transfer and not Sasori…

She cast an appraising look at the Puppet Master who was busy preparing his sealing scroll in anticipation of gaining Orochimaru. He had taken the soul transfer down a different path, blending it with the forbidden puppet technique said to be taught to shinobi by the Two Tails herself.

Old lore whispered that a member of the Akasuna clan, who'd once lived closer to what was now the border between Suna and Iwa when the hidden villages had just begun to form, had taken the Bijuu as a lover in disguise, passing down the ability to raise the dead and use them as puppets to their descendants. Because of the knowledge of that terrifying jutsu and the Wars, the Akasuna clan had been greatly diminished, with only a few remaining in Sunagakure.

Yet only Madara had known how to keep his body going strong for as long as he had and he had taken that secret with him to the grave. Orochimaru's use of both techniques was still miles behind Sasori and Madara, probably for good ever since the Third Hokage had crippled him.

Still, she thought as she tended the fire, he was not an easy opponent, he had even taken the Nine Tails host, partially transformed head on and the epic battle would be talked about for years to come.

"Whatcha thinkin about?" Kisame interrupted the near silence of the small camp.

"We are not far behind Orochimaru."

According to Zetsu, he was out and about and his ninja were still out searching for Tonks in Hi no Kuni.

"We need to devise a way to kill him quickly and efficiently. If we take too long, Oto will be alerted and we will not be able to wipe it out."

Though it had not been the first time she had taken a village head on, their chances were not as good when they were not familiar with Oto's labyrinthine passages, despite Sasori's magnificent puppet technique which could take out a small army and though Zetsu could fight, he was better suited for espionage and would stay out of the fray.

Sasori glared at the thought of the plant man destroying his chances of gaining unique ninja for his jutsu. He wanted Zetsu gone, but the half-demon would only take orders from Konan. He almost smiled at the thought of killing Zetsu, Kisame had been very foolish not to include the Spy Master in the Unbreakable Vow and besides his female demon _needed _a male companion. The dual attack of two plant demons would make a fine addition to his collection, especially since that pink-haired hellion and his grandmother had destroyed some of his best puppets and he'd all but had to start from scratch.

He spoke then. "All I need is for you to distract him, then I'll take him out with one hit."

"Oh really?" Kisame asked cheerily. "Enlighten us."

Sasori turned his eerie gaze on him.

"I need his body intact _Kisame-san." I don't have to tell you what I'm planning. _Went unspoken.

"Easier said then done." Kisame returned airily.

Sasori narrowed his eyes at the implication and wondered if he could "accidentally" strike a glancing blow to the ex Kiri nin without triggering the curse. Something painful panged in his heart and he pushed the thought away, still unsure how the Unbreakable Vow worked, these wizards were craftier then he'd expected and knew how to lay a curse without loopholes, that he knew of.

"Besides, it'd be a helluva lot easier if we were all on the same page." Kisame continued.

Konan watched the exchange, eyes narrowed contemplatively.

"I'll hide in the shadows, keep him far enough so that he won't detect me and close enough so that I can kill him. Surely you can handle such a simple task?" The Puppet Master asked scathingly.

"Then we take Oto?" He asked, though it sounded like he was laughing at him.

But before he could respond, the ground rumbled and Zetsu appeared, fixing Sasori with an intense gaze.

"Easier said then done, but it's doable**, **Oto's population is smaller then Hoshigakure's even."

"**What a shame, all that food gone to waste.**"

"True." Konan said ignoring the second comment, "if they expanded then they wouldn't be able to move as quickly, but Orochimaru has artificially created many unique ninja and brought some back from the brink of extinction and even with all of Sasori-san's puppets, they still outnumber us."

"So we get in, take as many of em down as possible and get the hell out." Kisame said.

Konan nodded. "The Moss nin will do the rest."

"How do you plan on getting them to assist us?" Sasori asked, intrigued.

"No one wants to be allied with Oto, they are a danger to every village and we can convince them that Oto made an aborted attack on one of their clans."

"That's the easy part." Kisame nodded in approval.

"But we need to time it carefully, we must leave a trail to the ravaged base without them interfering or they'll attack us."

"So when do we-"

Something snapped.

"Someone's coming." Kisame whispered.

"I'm feeling peckish**. Pleasant dreams." **Zetsu smiled, showing off his own deadly fangs.

The four shinobi vanished into the night, the rumbling ground and a muffled scream disturbing the otherwise peaceful clearing.

After a few moments, Zetsu signaled and the other three crept down from the trees.

Two ninja lay dead at his feet, both wearing Moss head bands.

Sasori knelt down and inspected the one Zetsu wasn't eating.

"This one, belongs to a clan who can bend smaller plants to his will in a similar way to Mokuton." His Lighter Half explained after swallowing.

Sasori nodded. "It seems the perfect opportunity has fallen into our laps."

He brought out his scroll and summoned the special kit that he used when he had to carry a corpse with him for a long time. He began mixing various ingredients into a syringe with practiced ease and injecting them in different areas of the man's body, he'd wait for a few minutes then inject the solution again.

"This is no time to start working on one of your freaky creation puppet boy." Kisame quipped.

Sasori didn't even spare him a glance. "It prevents the body from rotting."

The planned formed in Kisame's head. "While Sasori and Konan go after Orochimaru, I'll head to Kokegakure. After you've killed Orochimaru and crippled Oto, you can signal me with the Mirror and I'll create a henged mist servant and send it through the village, the corpse will be over its shoulder and we'll lead them right to the base."

Konan nodded. It was a good plan. They had already tried out the mirror in different situations to see if it put out a noticeable chakra flare and though the flare got stronger over distances it would not likely be noticeable when a small ninja village like Moss was in an uproar.

Sasori seemed almost reluctant to let his new prize go. But handed it over to Kisame once the solution settled in.

By that time, the sun was beginning to rise, lighting the sky in fiery pinks and oranges.

"Don't damage it." Sasori growled.

"You worry too much." Kisame called over his shoulder as the three ninja sped off in opposite directions.

The plan was in motion.

* * *

**Authoress:**

**Konan and Sasori will definitely catch up to Orochimaru in the next chapter.**

**Did Tonks leap out of the frying pan and into the fire? And won't Kisame have fun causing chaos in Hidden Moss. XD **


End file.
