Harry Potter, Naruto 1. The Appearance of Circumstance

**A/N: I had to write this after reading _Naruto and the Goblet of Fire_, a very entertaining and quite well-written story. I recommend it. ****I noticed that only Reidluver, author of the aforementioned crossover, has written (and is working on) a Naruto/Harry Potter crossover set during the Deathly Hallows, so I decided to as well. This is a Kakashi/OC one. The OC is from _Scarecrow's Spring Fields_ by me. WARNING! If you have read or are reading _Scarecrow's Spring Fields _or any of my other Naruto stories, this contains BIG spoilers! Read at your own risk, discretion, ect. Also, this is my first attempt at writing in the third person. I accept criticism and hypothetical cookies!**

**I now have a picture of Akumu up on my Deviant Art account! Look for "Akumu Kaguya, Kimimaro's Sister". It was painted on a program at my school using a reference pic of Hayley Williams. Please check it out! **

**_"Japanese" (or a spell)_**

**"English"**

* * *

"Oi, wake up."

A scrawny black-haired boy opened his dark green eyes. He was lying on a camp bed in a slightly dingy attic room. It was still dark outside, and a tiny, golf-ball sized owl slept in its cage with its head under a wing. A lightning-shaped scar on his forehead was prickling. He saw his redheaded, freckled best friend, who was looking at him like he was insane.

"Harry-you were muttering in your sleep."

Harry blinked sleepily. "Was I?"

His friend, Ron, snorted. "Yeah. 'Gregorovitch.' You kept saying 'Gregorovitch.'"

"Who's Gregorovitch?"

"I dunno, do I? You were the one saying it."

Harry rubbed his forehead, trying to soothe the itching of his scar. "I think he's abroad."

"Who, Gregorovitch?"

"Voldemort." AKA the greatest Dark wizard in history, the man that killed Harry's parents. "I think he's somewhere abroad, looking for Gregorovitch. It didn't look like anywhere in Britain."

"You reckon you were seeing into his mind again?"

Ron sounded worried.

"Do me a favor and don't tell Hermione," said Harry. Hermione was the third member of their trio, an extraordinarily intelligent witch with bushy brown hair. "Although how she expects me to stop seeing stuff in my sleep..."

He trailed off for a moment. "I think it has something to do with Quidditch. There's some connection, but I can't-I can't think what it is."

Ron looked skeptical. "Quidditch? Are you sure you're not thinking of Gorgovitch?"

"Who?"

"Dragomir Gorgovitch, Chaser, transferred to the Chudley Cannons for a record fee two years ago." Ron was a fan of the Quidditch team the Chudley Cannons. "Record holder for most Quaffle drops in a season."

"No," said Harry. "I'm definitely not thinking of Gorgovitch."

Ron grinned. "I try not to either. Well, happy birthday anyway."

"Wow-that's right, I forgot! I'm seventeen!"

Harry grabbed his wand, shooting spells left and right. His glasses poked him in the eye when he tried to summon them from a cluttered desk. Ron snorted his laughter.

"Slick!"

Harry proceeded to try tying the laces of his trainers by magic, which resulted in a gigantic knot. He and Ron began to try to unravel it by hand when there was a flash of white light. Harry and Ron blinked furiously, trying to clear up their eyes. When Harry regained his vision, he yelped loudly. Two people were on the messy, old-magazine-covered floor of the bedroom. They saw Harry and Ron, and both of them were standing with their backs to the wall in no time at all. They began speaking in a foreign language neither Harry nor Ron understood. Ron squeaked,"Hermione!"

Harry took Ron's frightened cue, screaming at the top of his lungs, "HERMIONE! HELP, HERMIONE!"

A loud thudding noise escalated, and the door to their room slammed open. Hermione entered the room with her hairbrush stuck to her head and her sweater half on over her top. Her mouth widened at the sight of the strange people. The man, who had gravity-defying silver hair and a blue cloth mask, straightened and said something that was gibberish to the boys. Hermione, on the other hand, replied in the same language. Both of the strange people relaxed visibly. Hermione said something else, then turned to the boys. "Harry, Ron, everything's fine. Hold on a second while I cast a translation spell."

Hermione dug out her wand, pointing it at the two people. The woman visibly stiffened, but relaxed again when the man with the mask laid a hand on her shoulder. Hermione cleared her throat. "_Translatio!_"

A blue beam shot out of her wand. It crackled over the two people, making them appear to be standing in a bolt of light. When it died away, the pair the spell had hit relaxed further. The man spoke.

"Did it work?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, it did. I'm Hermione Granger, and the boys behind me are Harry Potter" she pointed at each boy in turn, "And Ron Weasley. Who are you? You don't look like you came from here."

The man tilted his head. "No, I suppose not. I'm Kakashi Hatake, and this is Akumu Kaguya."

Harry noticed that the girl, who was wearing the same clothing as Kakashi, minus the mask and metal-plated bandana, had hair that was stark snow white. She stepped forward, speaking in a voice that, Harry thought, was crisp and fairly high-pitched, but sounded steely and immovable. "Yo. Are you kids really wizards?"

Ron had a look on his face reminiscent of when Fleur was in the room. Harry took over for him, saying "Yeah. What are you guys? You don't seem like wizards."

"We are shinobi. In more common terminology, ninja" said Akumu. Ron and Harry blinked. Ninja weren't real...were they?

The boys looked at Hermione for clarification. She immediately began speaking, sounding, as usual, like she had swallowed the textbook.

"Shinobi, or ninja, are legendary figures in Japanese mythology who, upon closer inspection, appear to be witches and wizards with the ability to expel their magic, or chakra, from any part of their body without the use of a wand. They are trained from an extraordinarily young age, and have abilities beyond those of even the most powerful wizard."

Akumu blinked, shocked. The girl had nailed the description of a ninja. Akumu had always had a soft spot for smart young girls. This one brought Sakura to mind in her speech and manner. Akumu walked slowly towards her. "Ano, Hermione-chan, where did you learn that?"

Hermione gulped. "I, uh, read it in _Hogwarts, A History. _Apparently a young shinobi named Hashirama Senju showed up out of the blue at Hogwarts almost a hundred years ago. There's an entire chapter on him in there. Apparently he was twelve years old and could beat the teachers of the time in under five minutes."

The ninja looked thunderstruck. "Did you say Hashirama Senju?"

Hermione nodded. "In the book, it said he could control wood and bend it to his will."

Akumu nodded. "That's right, he could."

"You know about him?"

"Of course," Akumu smirked. "He was our first Hokage, the leader of our village. Well before either Kakashi or myself were born, of course, but we know about him nonetheless."

Hermione looked like she was on the verge of saying something else, but Ron beat her to it. "Bloody hell! What's my mom gonna say?"

Harry looked at Ron with the same horrorstruck expression, and Hermione finally pulled her hairbrush away from her head. Akumu gently removed it from Hermione's hand and began gently brushing the messy side of her head. Hermione stood still, a little confused. Kakashi closed his visible eye, and somehow Hermione got the feeling he was smiling.

"Don't worry, Miss Granger. Akumu never had a younger sibling. She does things like this with both my former student Sakura and her student, Amaya."

Hermione relaxed for a single second until Ron's comment registered. "Oh my God! Mrs. Weasley!"

Akumu, finished with Hermione's hair, frowned. "Who's Mrs. Weasley?"

"Only my_ mother_," said Ron, nearly throwing himself at the white-haired shinobi in exasperation. "The Burrow is overstretched as it is, what's she gonna do about you two?"

Hermione, whose habit of answering any question she heard was too deeply ingrained to ignore, said, "Well, we could just tell her that they showed up out of nowhere. Maybe she actually read _Hogwarts, A History_. That's something neither of you," she rounded on the boys, " _ever_ bothered to do."

Hermione straightened up.

"I'll go downstairs and explain things to Mrs. Weasley. I'll come back up when we've settled things."

She walked towards the door, but stopped. "Oh, by the way, guys. From what I've read of shinobi, they could easily help us with you-know-what. Clue them in, ask for help-that is, if Ron's pride can take it."

With that, Hermione left the room.

Ron cleared his throat. "Well, anyway, Harry, happy birthday!"

The ninja watched as Ron handed Harry a rectangular package. Harry looked at it.

"A book? Bit of a departure from tradition, isn't it?"

Ron grinned. "No, it's pure gold! _Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches._ Fred and George gave me a copy. I just wish I'd had it last year, I would have known exactly how to get rid of Lavender and how to get going with-"

He stopped and cleared his throat again, turning to the ninja. "Well, anyway, it's not all wandwork, either. What Hermione was talking about earlier... We are sorta on the brink of an all-out magical war. This man, named," he gulped, "V-v-vold-e-mort, well, he, uh, is trying to take over. He's got all these followers and he almost pulled it off years and years ago, but he got stopped by Harry. Nobody, even Harry, is really sure why. Anyway, he might take down the Ministry of Magic, our government, any day."

To Ron and Harry's surprise both ninja laughed. Kakashi spoke, laughter evident in his eyes and voice, even though the rest of his face was covered. "One man? Creating a war on this kind of a scale? You must be joking. How many loyal followers are we talking about here?"

"Thirty or forty," said Harry, "But they're all really powerful Dark wizards, and-"

Akumu cut him off with a swipe of her hand and a derisive laugh. "Oh, please. Thirty or forty? By the time we were twelve, we had each killed twice that many powerful people."

Kakashi confirmed her statement. "We grew up during the Third Great Ninja War. I was four when I killed someone for the first time. By the time I was eight, at least three hundred Stone shinobi had died by my hand. I've lost count now."

Akumu nodded, tears of laughter streaming down her face. "I had to kill my closest family by the time I was six! If I hadn't, I wouldn't necessarily be alive today! Do you honestly think thirty or so people could stop me?"

Harry began to get angry. "Each one has killed loads of innocent, powerless people! Voldemort killed my parents!"

The ninja stopped laughing at that. Akumu's face fell, and Kakashi seemed to droop and wither. Akumu looked at Harry, and he saw a depth of sadness and emptiness there that he had only seen in one other face. Akumu's eyes looked like Dumbledore's the night he drank the potion in the cave, haunted, full of loneliness and hate, so dark for such light eyes. She spoke to him, her eyes never once leaving his extraordinarily similar ones. Her voice was nearly a whisper.

"So Voldemort killed your parents? How old were you, hm?"

Harry was taken aback. "I-I... I was only a year old. All I remember is a flash of green light, my father's voice, Voldemort's laugh, and my mother's screams."

Akumu shook her head. "That's what I would rather remember. When my parents died, I was four. I remember every drop of blood, each scream. Want to guess why?

Harry slowly shook his head, green eyes still locked on hers. What Akumu said next would be something Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived, would never forget.

"I remember it all because I was the one who killed them."

Harry and Ron stared, aghast, at the woman who had just admitted to killing the people who gave birth to her.

"Y-you..._killed_ your parents?"

Akumu nodded mutely. Ron launched a tirade worthy of Mrs. Weasley.

"HOW IN THE NAME OF MERLIN'S MOST BAGGY Y-FRONTS COULD YOU DO THAT? YOU SOUND LIKE YOU DON'T EVEN CARE!"

Akumu's face fell. "No, that's not true! Kakashi and I both feel remorse for every life we take. However, it is sometimes necessary, as shinobi, to kill someone. In the case of my parents, they were trying to lock me up and turn me into a love-starved machine willing to slaughter innocents for some attention. I killed them to get away from my clan!"

Harry, who had slammed Ron with a Silencing Jinx, asked, "Why would you do that?"

Akumu lost some of the anguish from her eyes, instead replacing it with cold deliberation.

"Simple. The Kaguya clan was basically a horde of savages that thrived on war and death. Even then, the days were gone when one clan could run about slaughtering all in their path. They understood _nothing _other than the sword. I was born with a genetic aberration that caused a coloring difference. Most Kaguya had brown hair and eyes, whereas mine are white and green, respectively. However, I was also born with more raw, pure power, as well as the talent to use and control it. I don't think you need to know everything. What is it Hermione wished you to explain to us?"

The wizards, being teenagers still, didn't notice that she had effectively changed the subject.

Ron blinked, thinking, like Harry, that the ninja weren't all bad, and maybe they'd had a good reason for everything they did. He removed Harry's jinx with a wave of his wand and said, "I think Harry should explain, he knows the most."

Harry took over reluctantly. "Oh, fine. Okay, Voldemort," Ron flinched, and Akumu quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing. "Well, he made these things called Horcruxes. They are basically pieces of his soul stored in an object. We need to find-"

Harry counted quickly in his head. "We need to find and destroy at least four more. Three of them are objects, and the fourth is a giant snake Voldemort has, called Nagini. They render Voldemort virtually immortal."

Kakashi looked at Akumu. "Is it just me, or does this guy sound a hell of a lot like Orochimaru?"

At this, Akumu's eyes widened. "Immortality, a giant snake, and a hunger for power...That's just creepy, Kakashi, it's almost like they're the same person!"

Kakashi nodded. "Well, at least used to be. Orochimaru is out of action for good, remember? He can't do much fighting with a bad leg, he's getting old, and not to mention Nanaho and Mikomi would just about explode if he tried."

"Good point. So, Harry, are you asking us to help you? I'm sure you are perfectly capable."

Harry frowned, not having a clue who the shinobi were talking about. "Well-We don't know where they are. We need to find them, not to mention figure out what we can use to destroy them. What did Hermione say would work again, Ron?"

"You're asking me? I dunno, mate. Wait-"

Ron furrowed his brow. "Something like 'Using something so destructive that the the Horcrux can't repair itself'. Something about putting it beyond magical repair."

Akumu, puzzled, said, "But, doesn't the piece of soul just go live in something else?"

"No," Harry said. "Actually, a soul is the exact opposite of a human. If you get killed, nothing happens to your soul."

"That's a comforting thought," said Kakashi.

Ron took over at that point. "Yeah, I guess it would be. See, if someone killed you right now, your soul would be fine, but a Horcrux's would, like, die when its container got destroyed. Harry, tell them about the diary!"

"Well, in our second year at Hogwarts-"

Kakashi snorted, and Akumu giggled. "Hog _whats_?"

"Hogwarts, it's the name of our school. Anyway, there was this diary that happened to house a piece of Voldemort's soul. I stabbed it with a fang from a creature called a basilisk. It was a snake even larger than Nagini. It could have taken out a house."

"And this snake was being controlled by the piece of Voldemort's soul?"

Kakashi looked at Akumu. "That sounds a lot like the old Orochimaru/Manda relationship. You know, Akumu, Orochimaru summons Manda, Manda destroys things, Manda gets killed?"

"Yeah. What happened to the diary when you stabbed it, Harry?"

"Well, it sort of..._died._ It poured ink like blood, and it was screaming."

"Just from a giant fang?"

"Basilisk venom has only one antidote, and it's really rare. A pheonix named Fawkes saved my life by crying."

"Crying?"

"Pheonix tears is the antidote."

The explanation continued for a bit, then Hermione re-entered the room. "Hey, everyone! Mrs. Weasley wants you all to come downstairs for breakfast! She really wants to meet Kakashi and Akumu!"

Kakashi turned to Akumu, holding out his arm. "Shall we, _gaki*_?"

Akumu slapped his arm away, grinning to take away the sting. "Get moving, _baka*_."

With that, they followed Ron and Harry down the stairs toward the kitchen, from which the smell of bacon was issuing to the sensitive shinobi noses. A plump woman with hair the same flaming red as Ron's was frying the bacon in a pan, and, as the ninja and wizards entered the room, she said, "Harry! Arthur told me to wish you a happy seventeenth! He had to leave early for work, but he'll be back for dinner. That's our present on the top."

She indicated a pile of parcels on the kitchen table at which another, clearly older redheaded boy, presumably also a Weasley and covered in scars that reminded Kakashi and Akumu of Ibiki, sat with a plump, short man with black hair, a little pointed beard, and high-heeled boots. Mrs. Weasley, who the ninja guessed the woman to be, turned, smiling, to them while Harry sat to open a smallish square parcel.

"And you must be Kakashi Hatake and Akumu Kaguya! Wonderful to meet you! I'm Molly Weasley, Ron's mother. Won't you sit down? Don't worry, we have space in plenty, nobody else except Bill and Monsieur Delacour are up yet!"

The shinobi looked amused at Mrs. Weasley's chipper demeanor, probably because neither of them was ever fully awake until they had at least two cups of coffee in their systems. She introduced them to Bill and Monsieur Delacour, whose accent was rather amusing to the ninja, though they thought he was a nice man anyway. Harry, meanwhile, had opened the package to find a gold watch with stars circling around the face instead of hands. It was slightly dented on the back, and appeared rather old. Mrs. Weasley watched Harry anxiously.

"It's traditional to give a wizard a watch when he comes of age. I'm afraid that one isn't new like Ron's, it was actually my brother Fabian's and he wasn't always terribly careful with his possessions, but-"

Harry had gotten up and hugged her. It was clear to the ninja that the boy had tried to put a great many unsaid things into the hug, and perhaps Mrs. Weasley had understood them. She blushed, patted Harry on the back, then waved her wand in a slightly random way, causing the half pack of bacon to flop out of the frying pan and fall towards the floor. It would have gotten there, too, but Kakashi swooped down and caught the bacon, flipping it back into the pan and nonchalantly wiping his gloved hand on his dark blue pants in under two seconds. At the sight of the gaping mouths of the wizards, Kakashi crinkled his eye again, exuding an air of comfort.

"I've missed too many meals to let something like that go to waste."

Akumu smacked him. "Yeah, right, of course! That is _such_ crap! You hate anything fried. You just saved it because you know I like bacon."

Kakashi rubbed his head, chuckling in a chastised way. Mrs. Weasley turned back to the bacon as Hermione, who had bolted upstairs, returned with a package.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" said Hermione, adding her present to the pile. "What did you get him?" she said to Ron, who appeared not to hear.

"Well, open them, Harry!"

Harry eagerly opened the packages as Akumu accepted a plate of bacon and fried eggs from Mrs. Weasley and Kakashi sprinkled salt over his three hard-boiled eggs.

Hermione had gotten Harry something that looked like a glass spinning top. Mrs. Weasley explained it as a sneakoscope, which Kakashi looked at with interest. Akumu didn't look interested until Harry unwrapped a large box of chocolates, at which point she licked her lips. Kakashi rolled his eyes, but said nothing. He instead asked Mrs. Weasley where the bathroom was, wandering off with his eggs and tunelessly whistling. Harry looked at Akumu with a question in his eyes. Akumu cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"Kakashi doesn't like to eat fast, but he also doesn't like to reveal his face. Don't worry about it."

Hermione stood, grabbing all the presents. "I'll pack these for you, Harry. I'm nearly done, just waiting for the rest of your underpants to come out of the wash, Ron." With that, she disappeared up the stairs.

As Ron spluttered and Harry and Akumu laughed at him, Kakashi reentered the room with his empty plate, which he promptly took to the sink and cleaned. He looked up, his visible eye narrowed, yet in a confused way. "Uh... why is Akumu doubled over laughing?"

He stared at Ron, who by this time had turned the color of a beet and sunk so low into his chair that Kakashi could only see his flaming red forehead below his flaming red hair. Harry managed to swallow his laughter, and tell Kakashi what Hermione had said. Kakashi snorted loudly, them banged Akumu on the back with such force that an African elephant would have staggered. As it was, Akumu straightened up rubbing her abused back and glaring daggers at Kakashi in an almost creepily accurate Mrs. Weasley-esque way.

The arrival of three more people made the kitchen far more crowded, more so when another pair of redheaded Weasleys, these two identical twin boys, bounded down the stairs with a cloud of noxious smoke billowing behind them. Harry and Ron excused themselves and left to find Hermione, leaving the ninja to be introduced and talk with Mrs. Weasely.

The three were disrupted minutes later. That is, Ron and Hermione were. Harry had gone into Ginny's room at her insistence, leaving Ron and Hermione to tramp upstairs. They were a landing away from Ron's room when Akumu appeared in front of them out of nowhere with a strange _dzzt _sound. Both teens jumped nearly a foot off the ground. Ron spluttered and collapsed in shock. Hermione manage to keep her head and began slapping Ron.

"Akumu! Where did you come from?"

The peridot-eyed woman grinned, finding Ron's fainting spell funny. "Oh, downstairs. Listen, we-Kakashi and I-talked to Molly-san. She said she would allow you to go on your mission if we went with you, but-"

Ron sat straight up, his cheeks bearing Hermione's handprints. "What? Huh? Blimey, Hermione, your hands hurt!"

Akumu offered a hand, which Ron took. She pulled him to his feet easily as Hermione put her hands on her hips.

"Oh, honestly, Ronald. It wasn't _that _scary."

Akumu just laughed and kept talking. "Anyway...Ron's mother has told Kakashi and I that we would be welcome additions to your party of adventurers, under the condition that-"

Ron interrupted the ninja again. "That's awesome! Wait, what condition?"

Hermione smacked him again. "Shut up and listen, she wasn't done!"

Akumu smiled. "Well, Ron, your mother says that she would require a demonstration of our abilities. So, Kakashi and I will be having a match in a bit, what you would call a duel. Get Harry and meet us outside in five minutes."

Without another word, she held up her right hand and disappeared in a cloud of smoke and a popping sound. Ron turned to Hermione.

"A ninja duel? Where are they going to do it, you reckon?"

"I don't know, Ron. Let's get Harry."

* * *

Akumu stood calmly outside the Burrow, Kakashi next to her. They had found that they could still speak Japanese even with Hermione's translation spell.

_"Kakashi? Do you really think we should be doing this?"_

_"What are you, nuts? We don't know how we got here, or even where we are. We went from taking a break in the forest to on the floor of Ron and Harry's room. We can't get home, and if we are in another dimension or time our summons won't work. Anyway, these wizards aren't exactly trained shinobi. I mean, I know you've noticed that they have just as much 'magic' as we do, if not more in some cases. Like that black-haired boy, Harry. He reminds me of Naruto...like he has two types of magic. However, it's clear that none of them know even half their potential, and are more like civilians in their thinking. They showed the same shock at the things we take for granted as we did to their magic."_

_"Well...I guess so. Are you sure you can't try to summon Pakkun? People might be worried...we could send a message.."_

_"No. Pakkun could be lost forever in a space-time multidimensional vortex, so it'd be a bad idea to try. We'll just have to stick it out and do our best. I don't know if you've noticed, but they don't seem to have summoning animals, which means they either don't have that ability or summoning contracts don't exist._

_"How exacty do you know they don't?"_

_"Scent. Here they come, Akumu."_

The ninja quieted as everyone currently staying at the Burrow moved out the front doors. Both Harry and a girl, also a Weasely, whose name appeared to be Ginny, were blushing and somewhat fidgety. The ninja ignored them and completed what introductions hadn't already been made. They moved off to a small field, bare of wedding decorations, but still inside the protection charms that ninja could easily detect. Akumu turned to the small crowd.

"Ah, I would suggest that you all stand back as far as you can while keeping you vision."

Fred and George, both of whom reminded the ninja of redheaded Naru-clones, grinned and bolted back to the house. They reappeared a moment later with several pairs of what looked like common binoculars, albeit with a great many knobs and dials.

"Omnioculars," announced Fred proudly. "They can record your duel so we can slow it down, play it back, stuff like that."

Kakashi looked at the Omnioculars with interest, but Akumu tapped him. "C'mon, Kakashi. Focus."

The ninja removed themselves fairly far away from the wizards, many of whom were now holding Omnioculars.

"All right." said Kakashi. "The rules this time...Don't destroy anything really big. No huge explosions. And neither of us are allowed to read."

Akumu began to pout. "Not even if we get bored?"

"Nope."

"Fine. Have it your way."

The ninja shifted into stances, or, more correctly, Akumu did. Kakashi just stood with his hand in his pockets. Akumu's unzipped flak jacket flapped in the slight wind, and George and Fred stared appreciatively at what was revealed by the vest, though still hidden by her high-necked navy shirt. When they got caught by Mrs. Weasley, they turned their attention to Kakashi.

Kakashi spoke, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Begin."

At that word, the ninja took off, demonstrating their taijutsu, almost all of which was nearly impossible to see and the rest unrecognizable. The whirling blades of star-shaped shuriken and triangular kunai flew from either shinobi, neither side landing a hit. Finally, after an exhausting-seeming ten minutes, Kakashi jumped back, sticking to the side of a tree and moving his hands extremely fast.

"_Ninja Art: Headhunter Technique!"_

He disappeared. Akumu rolled her eyes. "Oh, please..."

Before she got any further, however, Kakashi appeared out of nowhere, and Akumu was suddenly up to her neck in the earth. She sputtered at Kakashi, who turned to the goggling wizards.

"Looks like I win. Again."

Akumu, down in the dirt, screamed. "Yeah, yeah, whatever! Score's 60-40 now, Kakashi! Are you happy that you've beaten me TWENTY times more than I've beaten you!"

"Actually, yes."

"Great! You've got your satisfaction! Get me the HECK out of this hole!"

Kakashi effortlessly dislodged Akumu, who brushed her self off. "Sometimes I think I genuinely loathe you, Hatake."

"I love you too, Akumu."

"Buzz off."

The banter continued as the wizards took turns watching slowed-down portions of the duel. Mouths opened and gasps were heard as the ninja's power became evident. They had been moving faster than any broomstick the wizards had ever seen, and their strength was incredible. When the wizards finally put the Omnioculars down, the ninja were verbally sparring in Japanese. Hermione, the only one who understood them, turned pink with embarrasment.

_"Bastard!"_

_"Pain in the ass!"_

_"Idiot!"_

_"Brat!"_

_"Perverted old man!"_

_"Pig!"_

The ninja paused to catch their breath, and Mrs. Weasley walked over.

"You two really are amazing, I'm so impressed, Harry, Ron and Hermione will be so safe! Oh, I hope neither of you is hurt, but how could you be? You're both so strong!"

Kakashi turned to Mrs. Weasley, ignoring the red-faced Akumu. "Well, it's, uh, good that you think so, Molly-san. That really wasn't anything special, so-"

"Oh, nonsense, Kakashi! That was awe-inspiring! We wizards rarely participate in hand-to-hand combat, so it was really quite a treat! How on earth did you stick to the side of that birch, anyway?"

As Kakashi attempted to explain the mechanics of chakra and chakra manipulation, Akumu busied herself with scanning the magical perimeter. She stopped dead when she sensed the presence of three, maybe four, people. She wasn't positive on the number because she detected an animalistic, almost wolf-like chakra along with three human ones.

"Kakashi! I'm detecting multiple signatures, possibly hostile!"

Kakashi was by her side in an instant. "Where?"

"Just outside the perimeter, three, at least."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "Let them come. The reactions of our hosts will tell us if we should or should not to attack."

Five tense minutes later, a huge figure was seen tramping toward the Burrow with three far smaller figures in tow. Hermione had exclaimed that it was "Hagrid, Lupin, Tonks and Charlie", and reassured the ninja that they were not enemies. When asked how they could be sure, Hermione, as was her habit, told them that Hagrid was half-giant, making it impossible to transform into him by the use of Polyjuice Potion, which she also explained.

By the time introductions were made, it was time to set up dinner. Mrs. Weasley refused all help with cooking, instead marshaling everyone out to carry tables, which were set up in the front yard. As everyone ran about setting things up and fixing this tablecloth and that chair, the shinobi gazed at the stars momentarily.

Akumu spoke softly, her voice reminiscent of a moth's wings. _"I hope everyone's all right back home."_

Kakashi wound his arm over her shoulders, their comfortable closeness going unnoticed in the hurry of Harry's birthday dinner preparations.

_"Me too. In any case, we'd best help these kids as much as we can. I think we were brought here for some reason, since there was no warning for either side of the dimension, if that is what's going on. Besides, it's not like we're the only elite ninja in Leaf. Naruto is formidable even when he's half asleep, and Sakura can easily take out a building whenever she wants...and Sai is in control of ANBU now. Nothing's getting past them with him in command."_

* * *

**A/N: Whew! Done with Chapter One! Next up:_ Chapter 2: Pheonix Flame _**

**__*****Gaki=Brat**

**_*Baka=Idiot_**


	2. Phoenix Flame

**A/N: Welcome to Chapter Two of The Deathly Hallows: A Shinobi Element! **

**I would like to take a moment to thank the following wonderful reviewers:**

**First, my wonderful best buddy Jayde Malao, who makes a point of badgering me to exploding to make me upload! Since she gets huggles and presents every time I see her, she is already a bit spoiled...But, since she also knows where I live, I will allow her to pick one person she wants to be absolutely POSITIVE survives this whole ginormous story ordeal. **

**Second, the impossibly kind Sharpie-Addict, who has reviewed, favorited and alerted EVERY SINGLE ONE of my stories! I will reward you, my dear Sharpie-Addict, with a moment in the story you want.**

**And, last but most definitely NEVER least, Reidluver, author of Naruto and the Goblet of Fire and Naruto and the Deathly Hallows, both of which have inspired me for my stories! She has honestly critiqued this story, and I think she is being far too nice! I spend DAYS, yes DAYS, proofreading these things before I upload(which is why the updates are so slow)! She can ask for two moments in the story, if only to thank her for being an amazing authoress, and to encourage her to publish a mindblowing, three-years-on-the-New-York-Times-best-seller-list #1 novel that will trump all past and future novels, followed closely, hopefully, by my own!**

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The atmosphere surrounding the Burrow was jubilant, every person in high spirits. The setting up of Harry's birthday dinner was only interrupted twice. Once, when Mrs. Weasley brought out the huge, beach-ball-sized Snitch cake, and once, when the shinobi asked everyone to stop.

"I'd like to say something, please!"

That was Akumu, who had decided to jump onto Kakashi's shoulders. He was looking as put-upon as he could with a mask on, and was shifting his shoulders trying to stop Akumu's heels from digging into his body.

Everyone halted mid-move and looked at Akumu.

"Since my partner and I were not aware of Potter-sama's birthday, we would like to make up for it with a small gift."

Harry looked at her, interested. She clambered down from Kakashi's shoulders, making sure to step on his face as she did so. A white substance grew out from under her feet, forming into a blob.

"What's your favorite animal, Harry?"

Harry almost said "Lion", but then he thought of Sirius. His happy dog grin in his animal form, the shaggy, smelly black fur, his intelligent eyes.

"A dog. A big, shaggy black dog."

Akumu nodded, and the white blob formed into a clear dog shape. Harry, who was very close to her, saw the tiny details of fur and eyes, mouth and paws. It looked like Snuffles dipped in bleach. The dog's paws separated from the rest of the white substance, which disappeared, and Akumu picked the palm-sized figure up. She threw it high into the air, and as everyone gasped, Kakashi leapt into action.

Weaving handsigns so fast they were impossible to see, Kakashi cried, "_Fire Style: Pheonix Flower Jutsu!_"

Four small, fast-moving fireballs appeared one after the other a short distance away from Kakashi's mouth, each one hitting the still airborne figurine. It thudded to the ground, and Harry walked toward it. The dog shape was now charcoal black, just like Snuffles' fur had been. Harry picked it up gingerly, expecting it to be hot. Instead, it was cold and shone like it was painted, not burned.

Harry looked at the ninja, an unexplainable emotion welling up in him. "Thank you. It's absolutely perfect."

Akumu opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but stopped dead. She silently held up a hand in a gesture for silence.

A moment of tense quiet was broken by the arrival of a silver weasel. It materialized in front of Mrs. Weasley, and spoke in a mans' voice.

"Minister of Magic coming with me."

The weasel disappeared. Lupin and Tonks looked at Harry apologetically, and Lupin said hastily, "I'm sorry, Harry, but we shouldn't be here. We'll explain another time!" With that, Lupin grabbed Tonks' hand and they hopped over the fence, disappearing just outside the border. Akumu and Kakashi, who had been in front of them all moments earlier, had disappeared in the seconds it took for Lupin and Tonks to leave.

"Scrimgeour? Here?" Harry was confused.

As the wizards and Hagrid concentrated on the people who had appeared outside the gate, the shinobi were hidden in a tree. They had hoods pulled over their easily visible, shining hair, and conversed via sign language.

Akumu:_ Hey, genius, what the heck is a_ Minister of Magic?

Kakashi: _Must be the leader of their government, like a daimyo or one of the Gokage. Something about their reaction tells me this person appearing probably isn't a good thing. Let's watch and make sure they stay safe. Do you have any Kakuremi no Jutsu cloth with you?_

Akumu: _In my pack._

The two silently crept into the house, hiding themselves against the wall in the sitting room, easily able to see if anyone walked near. Almost immediately, someone did.

Or rather, _four _someones. Akumu and Kakashi silently watched Harry, Ron and Hermione walk into the room, followed by a tall older man who limped slightly. He looked scraggy and grim, his grizzled mane of hair quivering with every lurching step he took. Harry lit the lamps of the room with his wand, a feat that still surprised the shinobi as much as it disgusted them. For what ninja would rely on only a prettily carved stick alone? And still, how did such a thing work?

The strange man sat in a sagging, fraying old armchair, leaving the young wizards to squeeze together onto the sofa. The man spoke in a gravelly voice the second their bodies touched the fabric.

"I have some questions for the three of you, and I think it will be best if we do it individually. If you two"-he pointed at Harry and Hermione-"can wait upstairs, I will start with Ronald."

Akumu was about to leap out of hiding in protest against the Minister, but Harry beat her to it. "We're not going anywhere," he said as Hermione nodded vigorously. "You can speak to us together, or not at all."

Scrimgeour, for that's who it was, gave Harry a cold, appraising look. Kakashi could tell that he was debating whether or not it was worth opening hostilities so soon.

"Very well then, together," he said, shrugging. He cleared his throat. "I am here, as I'm sure you know, because of Albus Dumbledore's will."

The teenage wizards looked at each other, confusion clear on their faces.

"A surprise, apparently! You were not aware that Dumbledore had left you anything?"

"A-all of us?" asked Ron. "Me and Hermione too?"

"Yes, all of-"

But Harry interrupted.

"Dumbledore died over a month ago. Why has it taken this long to give us what he left us?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Hermione, before the Minister could say a word. "They wanted to examine whatever he's left us. You had no right to do that!" and though she glared angrily at the man, her voice shook slightly, betraying her true apprehension.

"I had every right," Scrimgeour said dismissively. "The Decree for Justifiable Confiscation gives the Ministry the power to confiscate the contents of a will-"

"That law was created to stop wizards passing on Dark artifacts," said Hermione, "and the Ministry is supposed to have powerful evidence that the deceased's possessions are illegal before seizing them! Are you telling me that you thought Dumbledore was trying to pass us something cursed?"

"Are you planning to follow a career in Magical Law, Miss Granger?"

"No, I'm not," retorted Hermione. "I'm hoping to do some good in the world!"

Ron laughed. The Minister's eyes flickered toward him and away again as Harry spoke.

"So why have you decided to let us have our things now? Can't think of a pretext to keep them?"

"No, it'll be because the thirty-one days are up," said Hermione at once. "They can't keep the objects longer than that unless they can prove that they're dangerous. Right?"

"Would you say you were close to Dumbledore, Ronald?" asked the Minister, ignoring Hermione. Ron, true to form, looked startled.

"Me? No-uh, that is, not really...it was always Harry who..."

He trailed off and glanced to Hermione, who was giving him an ice-coated stop-talking-this-instant sort of look, but the damage was already done. The Minister looked as if he had heard exactly what he had expected and _wanted_ to hear. He swooped like a bird of prey on Ron's answer.

"If you were not very close to Dumbledore, how do you account for the fact that he remembered you in his will? He made exceptionally few personal bequests. The vast majority of his possessions-his private library, his magical instruments, and other personal effects-were left to Hogwarts. Why do you think you were singled out?"

"I...dunno," said Ron. It was clear to the shinobi that he was making a complete fool of himself. "I...when I say we weren't close...I mean, I think he liked me..."

"You're being modest, Ron," said Hermione. "Dumbledore was very fond of you."

However, Scrimgeour appeared no longer to be listening. He put one hand inside his cloak and drew out a large drawstring pouch, almost like a shuriken bag. From it, he removed a scroll which he unrolled and read aloud. "_Ahem...The Last Will and Testament of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore..._Let's see here...ah."

He shook the parchment slightly. "_To Mr. Ronald Bilius Weasley, I leave my Deluminator, in the hope that he will remember me when he uses it."_

He took a small object from the bag that looked something like a silver cigarrette lighter, but Harry knew that it had the power to suck the light from an area or restore it with a simple click. The Minister leaned forward and passed the Deluminator to Ron, who took it, turning it over in his fingers and looking stunned.

"That is a valuable object," said the watching Minister. "It may even be unique. Certainly it's of Dumbledore's own design. Why would he have left you an item so rare?"

Rom just shook his head, seemingly confused.

"Dumbledore must have taught thousands of students," he continued. "But the only ones we know of that he remembered are you three. Why is that? To what use did he think you would put his Deluminator, Mr. Weasley?"

"Put out lights, I s'pose," mumbled Ron. "What else could I do with it?"

Evidently the Minister had no suggestions. He squinted at Ron for a moment, then turned back to Dumbledore's will.

_"To Miss Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard, _in the hope that she will find it entertaining and instructive."_

Scrimgeour now removed from the bag a small book that looked, to the ninja, as old as Lady Tsunade's ancient medical text nicknamed "The Kitchen Sink" by Naruto. Its binding was stained and peeling in places, and the pages were yellowed. Hermione took it from the Minister without a word. As she held it in her lap and gazed at it, a tear splashed onto the embossed title. Harry saw that it was in runes, which he had never learned to read.

"Why do you think Dumbledore left you that book, Miss Granger?" The Minister was determined to get answers.

"He...he knew I liked books," Hermione said thickly, mopping her eyes with her sleeve.

"But why this particular book?"

"I don't know, sir. He must have thought I'd enjoy it."

"Did you ever discuss codes or any other means of passing secret messages with Dumbledore?"

"No, I didn't," Hermione snapped as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "And if the Ministry hasn't found any hidden codes in this book after thirty-one days, I doubt I will."

She suppressed a sob, and Ron carefully extricated his arm to place it around her shoulders. Scrimgeour turned back to the will.

"This is a very interesting section..._t__o Mr. Harry James Potter, I give, first, the request that he keep safe the following item until which time he can return it to its proper owner."_

Scrimgeour looked at Harry. "Why he would request this of you, I do not know, however...hm..._To the followers of Hashirama Senju," _though no one noticed it, both hidden shinobi jumped in surprise, "_I leave an item given by your first lord many years ago into my keeping, and wish for it to be presented only to a woman of Konoha. In the hope that you will guard this spirit of the Leaf until such time as it can be taken to its home, I return to you the _Houka-Ha Kouhi_. Learn its secrets well, for the betterment of all the worlds."_

"I do not know what that means, but the item in question is quite harmless, and Hashirama Senju, whomever he may be, is not a registered wizard in any records, so I see no reason not to present it to you."

From the pouch, the Minister withdrew a small green sphere. Even Akumu, who waited with bated breath to see an item that had belonged to the great First Hokage, felt a little disappointed.

"It appears to be naught more than a marble, though its material is harder than diamond," said Scrimgeour as it dropped into Harry's palm. "Moving on...the bequest left to you, Mr. Potter..._Second, to Mr. Potter once more, I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill."_

As the Minister removed the tiny, walnut-sized golden ball, the pair of silver wings it possessed fluttered feebly, and Harry could not help feel an enormous sense of anticlimax.

"Why did Dumbledore leave you this Snitch?"

"I don't know," Harry said dejectedly. "To remind me what you can get if you...persevere or...something."

"Then you think this a mere symbolic keepsake?"

"I guess so," said Harry. "What else could it be?"

"I'm asking the questions," said Scrimgeour, shifting closer to the sofa. Dusk was falling in full outside; the marquee that dominated the yard towered a ghostly white above the hedges.

"I noticed that you birthday cake is shaped like a Snitch," Scrimgeour said to Harry. "Why is that?"

Hermione snorted derisively from her place on the sofa. "Oh, It can't be a reference to the fact that Harry's a great Seeker, that's too obvious! There must be a message from Dumbledore hidden in the icing!"

"I don't think there's anything hidden in the icing," said the Minister, "But a Snitch would be a wonderful hiding place for a small object, would it not? You know why, I'm sure."

Hidden behind the Kakuremi no Jutsu cloth, Akumu and Kakashi exchanged confused looks. They watched as Harry shrugged, convinced the weren't going to learn anything. Luckily for Akumu's insatiable curiosity, Hermione spoke, true to her habit of answering anything asked.

"Because Snitches have flesh memories."

"What?" chorused Harry and Ron, both of whom considered Hermione's Quidditch knowledge negligible.

"Correct" said the Minister. "A Snitch is not touched by bare skin before it is released, not even by its maker, who always wears gloves. It carries and enchantment which can be used to identify the first to lay hands upon it, in case of disputed capture. This Snitch-" he held up the tiny golden ball "-will remember your touch, Potter. I think that Dumbledore-who whatever his faults, had prodigious magical skill-may have enchanted this Snitch so that it will open for none aside from yourself."

Harry's heart was thudding irrationally, and he was sure the minister could hear it. Scrimgeour was right. How could he avoid taking it with his bare hand in front of the Minister?

"You say nothing," said Scrimgeour. "Perhaps you already know what the Snitch contains?

"No," said Harry, still wondering how to take the Snitch without actually touching it. He wished he really knew Legilimency, that he could use it. He could hear Hermione's brain whirring beside him.

"Take it,"hissed Scrimgeour.

Harry met the Minister's yellow eyes, and knew he had no option but to comply. He stretched out his palm, and as the still-struggling Snitch fell into his hand, its delicate silver wings fluttered once and lay still, folding around the tiny, walnut-sized golden body.

Harry waited a beat. "Well, that was dramatic," he said coolly. Both Ron and Hermione laughed.

"That's all, then, is it?" asked Hermione, making to remove herself from the sofa.

"Not quite," said Scrimgeour sourly. He now looked bad-tempered. "Dumbledore left you a third bequest, Potter."

"What is it?" asked Harry, his excitement rekindling.

Scrimgeour didn't even bother to read from the will this time.

"The sword of Godric Gryffindor," he said.

Hermione and Ron both stiffened. Harry looked around for a sign of the ruby hilt, but the sword was nowhere in sight. In any case, the pouch Scrimgeour held looked much too small to contain it.

"Where is it?" asked Harry warily.

Scrimgeour frowned slightly. "Unfortunately, that sword was not Dumbledore's to give away. It is an important historical artifact, and as such, belongs-"

"It belongs to Harry!" Hermione broke in. "It came to him, he pulled it out of the Sorting Hat-"

The poor shinobi were completely confused. Who was Godrick Griffin-door? What was so special about his sword? And what on the face of the Earth was a Sorting Hat? They continued watching, growing tenser by the minute.

"According to reliable historical sources," said the Minister, "the sword may present itself to any worthy Gryffindor. That does not make it the exclusive property of Mr. Potter, whatever Dumbledore may have decided."

Akumu watched the proceedings with an eagle's eye, noting the minute changes in body language and tone. She could tell, even better than Kakashi, that something bad was about to happen. She knew that was corny, too. Still, Akumu was a person who looked underneath the underneath, as it were. The highly specialized and carefully skill-sorted shinobi career had very few people in it who had reached the caliber of Kakashi, and even fewer with Akumu's skills. Her rare understanding of human and animal biology would have made her a wonderful medic, but her temper lent her talents to assault. And yet Kakashi could beat her in a fight. Akumu was the ultimate in contradictions.

As she scanned Scrimgeour's every move, watching each miniscule twitch of Harry's muscles, she thought, in the back of her mind, that it was a good thing that she was here to monitor. Kakashi was an elite, to be sure, but she was the one shinobi in the village who had the most understanding of the human mind. Strange, yet...useful. Her experiences early in her life led her to be easily able to deduct any person's thinking, or-as in the case of Kakashi's ninken-any thing's. Some would liken it to reading minds, but Akumu, for all her prowess and skill, was no psychic.

The discussions were becoming more heated by the minute, but Akumu finally snapped when she saw Harry's word-shaped scar.

"I don't like your methods, Minister. Remember?" Harry said coldly, holding up his clenched fist.

_I must not tell lies._

The words were scarred into the back of Harry's hand, in what was probably his own writing. The Minister's face grew red.

"You go too far!" he shouted, his wand appearing out of his sleeve. He angrily jabbed it into Harry's chest, only to be pulled away with enough force to slam him into the wall. He would have fought back, had Kakashi not been the one who grabbed him, yanking Scrimgeour away from Harry. Akumu was standing in front of the young wizards, one long-fingered, seemingly delicate hand leveled at Scrimgeour's head. The teens could not see what it was about her hand that scared Scrimgeour, but his face had turned a pasty white and his breathing accelerated. He swallowed twice, then spoke.

"Who are you people? How dare you attack-"

"Begging your pardon, sir, but _shut up,_" Akumu said, frowning. "We have better things to do than listen to the ramblings of career politicians."

Scrimgeour closed his mouth. Still keeping one hand extended in front of her, Akumu moved her other hand, palm open, towards Harry.

" The jewel, Mr. Potter."

_Jewel? _ Harry took a moment to process the request_. Oh, the marble_. He dropped the shimmering green ball into Akumu's hand, and she closed her palm around it, bringing that hand in front of her face. She held the glistening orb in the very tips of her fingers, and her hand angled left just enough to send shards of light through the sphere.

"I thank you, Minister, for returning this artifact to my comrade and I." She dropped it nonchalantly into the pocket of her vest. "However, I believe that even among you wizards, as with civilians, it is illegal to assault without provocation. Were this my home, and Mr. Potter a citizen, my partner would be doing far more than holding your arms behind your back."

"I demand to be told who you people are!"

Right then, everyone from outside burst in, Mr Weasley exclaiming "Is everything all right? We thought we heard-"

They all took in the strange tableau. "Raised...voices..."

Kakashi nodded to Mr. Weasley. "A minor misunderstanding, Arthur. However, I will continue to restrain Minister Scrimgeour in the interest of Harry's safety."

Attention shifted back to Scrimgeour and Akumu. Akumu smirked slightly. "If you are not intelligent enough to figure that out on your own, Minister, then perhaps your career choice is not the best."

Ron resisted an extremely strong urge to say "Owned."

Akumu continued her verbal assault. "In the interest of honesty, my name is Akumu and my partner is Kakashi. We are guardians of Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Granger. Guardians, in this sense, translates to _protectors. _Actions of an offensive nature towards our charges will not be tolerated. Agreed, Kakashi?"

"With no exceptions. Minister Scrimgeour, you must understand that your restraint is part of our operating policy, and no personal harm is meant."

Both shinobi spoke in a disconcerting, but perfect, monotone. Hermione guessed, correctly, that the entire purpose was to disarm and unsettle the Minister. She was unsettled, and she wasn't on the receiving end of the extraordinarily polite tirade. Kakashi had immense expressional freedom provided him by the mask, but just imagining Akumu's no doubt flawlessly emotionless face was disturbing.

Akumu dropped her hand slowly, but Scrimgeour's face did not regain its color. He began to open and close his mouth, and bore a strong resemblance to a dying fish. Kakashi slowly released the Minister's arms and backed away. The Minister finally seemed to realize his mouth was open, hastily shut it, and turned to leave. Before he did so, however, he spoke to Harry once more.

"I...regret your attitude, Mr. Potter."

He was gone. Akumu looked back at the teen wizards.

"That could certainly have gone better."

Kakashi gave an eye-crinkle of a smile. "Diplomacy probably isn't high on the list of school courses."

Mr. Weasley walked up. "Well, thank goodness you shinobi were here. That could have gotten ugly."

"Yes, yes, I agree," said Mrs. Weasley. "But I think we should probably start dinner now, Harry, everyone's awfully hungry..."

"Yeah...of course, Mrs. Weasley."

After a hasty meal, a slightly rushed chorus of "Happy Birthday" which the ninja hummed along to, and much gulping of cake, the party broke up prematurely. The ninja shot down Mrs. Weasley's attempts to convince them to sleep in the house, and they went to join Hagrid in setting up a tent in a nearby field. Harry, Ron and Hermione met in the room shared by the boys.

"Y'know, I wonder what that marble thing was," said Ron as Harry carefully placed the dog statue from the shinobi into the mokeskin pouch from Hagrid. "It didn't look like it had a bunch of secrets or anything, but I dunno. Have you ever heard of it, Hermione?"

Hermione frowned. "Well, I only know basic Japanese, but I know that _Houka-Ha Kouhi _translates to something like _Fire-Leaf Queen. _But no, I've never heard of something like that. It's really confusing...how could Dumbledore have gotten it from Hashirama Senju?"

"Simple," Akumu appeared in a puff of smoke. The wizards jumped. "Oops. Sory, didn't mean to scare you. But Kakashi and I figured out by asking Hagrid that Dumbledore was born more than a hundred years ago, and he and Shodai-sorry, the first Hokage-were probably about the same age."

Hermione nodded. "Of course! Dumbedore as already an adult in 1945, when he defeated Grindelwald! he was also going on fifty-55 years ago! That must be how he got it!"

Then she looked at Akumu. "Do you know what it does?"

Akumu removed the ball from her pocket, held it up and shook her head. "Unfortunately, though I know the name, the scrolls that contained info on how it worked and what it was for were destroyed in a civil war my home went through about four years ago. The only people who could read them were the Hokage, Tsunade, and the elders Homura and Koharu. Homura and Koharu were assassinated, and Lady Tsunade never actually read them as she was never told of their existence. We only found them after fire gutted the library. The only bits that survived were the first and last words, _The Houka-Ha Kouhi is _and _only in times of direst need. _The only other things we could dig up were a half-destroyed letter that said "_Lost during the time of Shodai" _and a notice in the Shodai's own hand that read_ "The Houka-Ha Kouhi cannot be used by mere men, remember to send overview to D." _In hindsight, it seems that Shodai and Dumbledore knew how to communicate with each other, and the mysterious "D" was actually Dumbledore."

Hermione, Harry and Ron were all surprised. Harry, listening to Akumu, then realized something.

"Hey, this is the Snitch I caught in my first Quidditch match, right?"

Hermione and Ron looked at him like he was crazy. He merely held up the Snitch. "Don't you remember? It's the one-"

"That you nearly swallowed!" said Hermione.

"Exactly!" said Harry, and he pressed his mouth to the Snitch, kissing it, nearly swallowing the cold metal ball. Nothing happened, however, and he took it out of his mouth, disappointed, until Akumu exclaimed, "There's writing on it! Look!"

And in fact, there was. Hermione read the thin, loopy writing out loud.

"_I Open at the Close._"

The writing disappeared. They all stared at the Snitch. They were all confused, but after twenty minutes of discussion, no one, not even Akumu, could make heads or tails of the cryptic message. Akumu then insisted they all go to bed, leaving herself with the parting words of "Everything has a purpose. The answer will become clear when it needs to, guys. Go to sleep."

The wizards, being asleep, would never have guessed at the conversation that took place inside the shinobi tent. Akumu overviewed the previous conversation with Kakashi, and he couldn't figure out the message either.

_"Akumu, I think there's going to be trouble tomorrow."_

_"Come off it, Kakashi. It's a wedding."_

_"Regardless, we should each have our supplies with us just in case."_

_"I know, I know."_

Kakashi smiled at Akumu. _"Relax. It's merely a precaution."_

_"If I were you, I would leave off the mask and make a less conspicuous henge."_

_"I plan on it. Good night."_

_"Night, baka."_

_"GAKI!"_

_"I said good night."_

And the shinobi fell into sleep.

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**With one eye open, of course. You can't really expect a shinobi to fall completely asleep on the job. Thanks to Reiduver, again, for all her inspiration. Sorry this chapter took so long, but you know how it is. School, work. Life in general. See ya next chapter: _The Separation and the Separated._**_  
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Harry Potter, Naruto, Adventure, Romance